bag night
n.— «Perhaps “bag nights” could use further clarification, since it’s a backpacker’s term that, even then, is subject to personal preferences. Henceforth (how’s that for sounding official?), here are my qualifications for claiming a “bag night:” You must sleep outdoors overnight. You could be in a tent, in a shelter that’s open to the air, or even just outside with no protection. For me, well, I count what I call “primitive car camping,” another of my personal definitions. To me, it means camping in any of the above situations, but you are near a car. So you have access to some sup-plies. Now a regular campground with shower and toilet facilities does not qualify, to me. Most importantly, there’s a sleeping bag involved. Oh yeah, and sleeping overnight in the Jeep en route to a location does not count.» —“Time to start accumulating ‘bag nights’ for 2007″ by Lisa Brainard Republican-Leader (Preston, Minnesota) Jan. 16, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Following our conversation about the secret cup code of the old Harvey House restaurant chain, a listener in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shares a far more complicated and efficient restaurant code, the elaborate plate marking system used at Waffle House...
A French idiom that means “to sleep in” or “lie around lazily in bed after waking” is faire la grasse matinée, literally to “make the fat morning.” If you fall in love easily, you’re said to have un coeur...