Luke Alexander's blog

A recurring topic, at least between myself and whoever I was talking to, on a recent stag weekend was what exactly the purpose of the stag do is.  Which, for a classicist (albeit a largely retired one), can only lead to one inevitable question: what is the term’s origin?

The internet seems unusually reticent to suggest an answer, and so I suspect getting close to an answer will mean a couple of evenings in the British Library.  Some initial leads:

• ‘Stag’ has a now outmoded meaning of “man alone” (evidenced in mid 20th century American fiction and resurrected in the language of Mad Men, so it must be true).  Variations included ‘going stag’, meaning a man attending an event without a date.
• Much is made of the obvious point that a stag is a male animal with a lone tendency.  Which is fine, but doesn’t constitute a reason for it to become common parlance any more than a ‘bull weekend’ or a ‘cock weekend’ might.
• Not necessarily an answer to the above point, but the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology has an interesting note on the origins of the word stag itself.  The Old English word stagga or stacga (both reconstructed; not sure what from) may have had a purer meaning than our modern ‘stag’ – of ‘male animal’, compared with the Old Norse word staggr which meant ‘male bird’.  Excellent and very cool; but I’m not convinced its reinvention as a term for batchelorhood is due to the wide circulation of philological footnotes in 1920s New York.  Try again.
• By far the most popular origin story for the event itself is the Spartan wedding theory.  In prescis: Spartans held parties before weddings where male friends met and reminisced.  Ignoring the problem of the 2450 year age gap between these parties and their modern equivalent, it’s a bit fascile to suggest that the Spartans were the first to come up with this concept.  The habits of the Spartans were a constant fascination of the Greek historians, which was then refashioned as creepy Victorian anthropology about a hundred years ago, the remnants of which are now seen in badly researched internet anecdotes and primary school syllabuses.  The Spartans may be attention-grabbing, but the reality is that the practice of male meetings before weddings would have been extremely common across the Greek world, largely because social gatherings in the ancient world, especially at an aristocratic (and therefore history-worthy) level was consistently men-only.  That the groom might have a drink before his wedding is not an unusual idea, and that it would not include women is pretty much a certainty – not only in Sparta, but in Athens, Corinth, Thebes, and far far beyond the Greek world.

I’ve only really just started my digging – interested to see where it leads.  Just need to make sure I don’t go following any Celtic horned gods down any blind alleys.

Update: the Online Etymology Dictionary has the date of origin at 1848 in American English.

Some new experiences from this week, recorded for posterity (and mild SEO value):

• Went go-karting for the first time since I was eight years old.  Luckily, it was many times better than I remembered it being – which might be something to do with the professional set-up, and karts that didn’t feel like they were falling apart after two laps.  Also, my unfeasibly enthusiastic excitement over the fact that the track involved an  overpass.  Pretty cool.  Verdict: 9/10
• Found myself in Gamerbase, at the back of HMV at Picaddilly, for a three-hour PC gaming session which saw us thrashed by bots on easy mode in Counter Strike: Source, used as target practice on Team Fortress 2, and work ourselves into a situation where victory was impossible for any party in Warcraft III.  Excellent.  Verdict: 9/10
• Danced and drank at Espionage in Edinburgh, a place I have avoided through six separate visits to the capital.  Verdict: bit of a pit, but no worse than any of the Oxford dance pits which were subject to my occasional attendance while at university.  6/10
• Re-visited Opium and, simultaneously, my headbanging roots.  A fine establishment.  Verdict: 8/10
• Rocked up at Favela Chic on Old Street for some more dancing (excellent DJ; shattered from the weekend so mostly appreciated from a seated position with a beer…)
• Played Power Grid and Alhamra; both have been on my board game list for a while.  Verdicts: 9/10 for Power Grid, 8/10 for Alhamra.

Friday to Sunday was also, excitingly, my first bona fide stag , and was an excellent example of the genre, as I have come to know it through the twin media of film and television.  In fact, I had so recently seen The Hangover (verdict: 8/10) that any outcome not featuring blackouts and tigers in bedrooms was an unqualified success.  And so it was.