- This article is about purses and handbags. For the race track term, see Purse Distribution. For monetary reward in a competition, see prize money. Purse is also a pronunciation for the surname Peirce.
Purses, such as this one by Burberry, are fashion accessories with a function.
In American English, a purse is a small bag, also called a handbag.
In British English, a purse is a small money container similar to a wallet, but typically used by women and including a compartment for coins, with a handbag being considerably larger.
A purse or handbag is often fashionably-designed, and is used to hold a number of items such as a wallet, keys, tissues, makeup, a hairbrush, pepper spray and/or a gun.
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Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Variations
- 3 Popularity
- 4 Trivia
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History
Purses were carried by men in Biblical times over 2000 years ago. St. Mark's gospel 6:8 says:
And Jesus of Nazareth commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in [their] purse.
Variations
Purses are usually carried by women, though men sometimes carry one as a smaller alternative to a backpack; such a purse is sometimes self-consciously termed a "murse" (a portmanteau for a "man purse").
Crocodile skin handbags in a conservation exhibit at Bristol Zoo, England
Coin purses are small purses, just large enough to hold money and cards.
A medium-to-small-sized purse with a short handle, designed to be carried (clutched) in one's hand is often called a clutch.
A pocketbook is similar to a purse (in the British English sense), but allows the carrying of sheets of paper as well.
Popularity
Margaret Thatcher was a famous handbag carrier: her style of debate and discussion led to her being described in the UK as 'handbagging' her opponents, meaning that they had received some forthright words from her that left the recipient as metaphorically bruised as if she had physically swung her handbag and hit them.
Trivia
- A handbag was a key prop in the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Ernest, from which comes the famous line: "In a handbag!"
Categories: Containers | Clothing | Fashion
