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Some unknown guy punched Brendan. Brendan appeared before V.P Trueman.

V.P Trueman: So you didn't know this boy?

Brendan: No sir, never seen him.

V.P Trueman: And he just hit you?

Brendan:Like I said, he asked for my lunch money first. Good thing I brown-bagged it.

In google, Brown-Bagged is related to sex, but here context is so different.

The Hawk
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1 Answers1

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As an international student in the U.S., I was puzzled first time I received an invitation to a "brown bag lunch seminar" in our department. Turned out, it means that lunch isn't served, but everybody was expected to bring their own lunch. And it would often be packed in a brown paper bag (they sell them in stores), hence the name.

So in this context "I brown-bagged it" means that Brendan didn't have any lunch money, but brought his own lunch with him (which may or may not have been in an actual brown bag).

zipirovich
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    You seem to be missing a reference. Try this: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/brown-bag+lunch – cobaltduck Jul 17 '17 at 12:29
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    @Flater Hiding alcohol isn't a requirement - it's simply illegal to drink alcohol in public in many places in the US. The brown bag, in that case, is usually a weak attempt to disguise the illegal activity. In any case, that isn't the meaning in OP's quote. The implied meaning is clear - that Brendan didn't have any lunch money because he instead brought a lunch with him. – J... Jul 17 '17 at 15:11
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    +1 You have the correct interpretation. The bully asked for Brendan's lunch money, but Brendan didn't have any because he had brought his lunch from home. It is unlikely in the extreme that a school kid would tell the vice principal (school official, often in charge of discipline) that he had been carrying a container of liquor. – 1006a Jul 17 '17 at 15:14
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    @Flater You're trying to apply grammar rules too strictly here. The phrasing I brown bagged it is sort of a colloquial or idiomatic expression. You might use it like Joe : Hey want to go out for lunch Jim?, Jim : Nah, I brown-bagged it today. Here, "it" refers to the lunch. – J... Jul 17 '17 at 15:17
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    @Flater To "brown bag it" is a common idiom, meaning to bring one's own lunch. – 1006a Jul 17 '17 at 15:17
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    Just to add the image, since it's a reference to the ubiquitous Brown Bags found in most American school cafeterias. – BruceWayne Jul 17 '17 at 17:09
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    In 4 years of employment I've never bothered to learn what a brown bag meeting was, I thought Brown Bag were a client of ours or something. Today I learned. – ESR Jul 18 '17 at 05:11
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    If he'd used a lunch-box instead, he would have had a handy weapon. – T.E.D. Jul 18 '17 at 15:30
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    @zipirovich, you'd hate our office. We host brown bag meetings where no one brings lunch and due to global dial ins they are often not even at lunchtime. For us it's come to mean an informal meeting where information conveyed is not directly related to work function. For instance, "We're going to tell them about the new campus plans through a series of brown bags". – Elby Cloud Jul 25 '17 at 19:59