4 ms·

The term cul-de-sac is not that uncommon in American English, given the amount of suburbs having them.

• MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
  Really wondering about the origin of that phrase. The literal translation is "ass of bag"?
  • bombcar 4y ago
    Fun fact: Tolkien hated English "borrowing" words from other languages that we had already - so he named his hero Bilbo Baggins (bag ends) of Bag End - where Bag End literally is the English for cul-de-sac (end of bag).
  • C4stor 4y ago
    Since a bag ("sac") has no exit hole ("cul"), and so a "cul-de-sac" is a (I guess 2nd degree ?) way of saying "way with no exit".
    • jaclaz 4y ago
      If you translate (instead of ass) cul as "bottom", it is more like the "bottom of a sack" (i.e. no-exit), if your interpretation was correct, it would be a no-cul-de-sac.
    • pessimizer 4y ago
      Or "way with one exit, and it's behind you."