Search: drag slang origin
Why: Some guy sitting 3 rows behind me has been wheezing like Darth Vader for the last 5 hours, so I can't really concentrate.
Do you remember that scene in A Very Brady Sequel when RuPaul (as guidance counselor Mrs. Cummings) says, "Jan, being a middle child can be a real... drag"? I bet you probably do, but if not, you can borrow my DVD.
Answer: Well, I don't know if I believe either of these. The "dragging" of heavy skirts:
or a lame acronym:The origin is thought to be from Victorian theatrical usage in reference to the dragging sensation of long skirts on the ground, an unfamiliar sensation to men. The usage is not found in print until the 1870s but must surely be older. Jonathon Green suggests that the gay implications did not arise until the 1920s, and that all the early citations in the Oxford English Dictionary refer to fancy dress.
"Drag queen" appeared in print in 1941. The verb is to "do drag." A folk etymology whose acronym basis reveals the late 20th-century bias, would make "drag" an abbreviation of "dressed as girl" in description of male transvestism.Source: World Wide Words, Wikipedia
The More You Know: Speaking of transvestites,
