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by MonkeyMalarky 1419 days ago
Really wondering about the origin of that phrase. The literal translation is "ass of bag"?
2 comments

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).
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".
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.
Or "way with one exit, and it's behind you."