Bag o' Nails
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Corruption of Bacchanals. A not uncommon inn-sign, The Devil and the Bag o* Nails, represents Pan, with his cloven hoofs and his horns, accompanied by satyrs.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Bag o' Nails” mean?
Corruption of Bacchanals. A not uncommon inn-sign, The Devil and the Bag o* Nails, represents Pan, with his cloven hoofs and his horns, accompanied by satyrs.
Is “Bag o' Nails” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.