fumble the bag

English

Etymology

Comes from a lyric in the 2017 song “I Get the Bag” by Gucci Mane, featuring Migos, with the word bag being a slang term for money.

Verb

fumble the bag (third-person singular simple present fumbles the bag, present participle fumbling the bag, simple past and past participle fumbled the bag)

1. (slang) To make unwise financial decisions that lead one to lose or not make more money.
   • 2020 May 7, Cydney Yeates, “Too Hot To Handle’s Kelz Dyke reveals how he spent his prize money – and of course, he was super sensible”, in Metro‎^[1], archived from the original on 2020-10-29:

     The accountant kept thousands of us entertained during his time on the show, with his unrelenting determination to not to fumble the bag – which stood at an impressive $100,000 (£81,000) when the series began.

   • 2021 February 15, Trent Fitzgerald, “Learn the Ways Not to Fumble the Bag According to Travis Scott”, in XXL‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-04-03:

     So while looking at his partnership deals, his lyrics and other aspects of his money-making moves, XXL highlights the ways not to fumble the bag according to Travis Scott's business moves. You can apply them to your own life to make a deal and, more importantly, secure the bag.

   • 2022 August 4, Katcy Stephan, “‘FBoy Island’ Stars Tamaris, Mia and Louise Break Down Finale Twist: ‘We Never Fumble the Bag’”, in Variety‎^[3], archived from the original on 2022-10-13:

     “All you need to know is that we never fumble the bag,” Mia adds, pre-empting any fan concerns that the ladies weren’t money-minded. “We’re always going to make sure all three of us are good before anything. So us fumbling the bag would just be awful. And that’s not who we are. We are strong, independent women.”

2. (slang, by extension) To miss out on an opportunity or to do a bad job using it.
   • 2019 August 27, Hannah Chambers, “The ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Producers Have Done Demi and Kristian So Dirty”, in Cosmpolitan‎^[4], archived from the original on 2022-06-26:

     [W]ith extremely varying degrees of success, the Bachelor Franchise has been trying to match people with their soul mates since 2002. Now, for the first time in 17 years, there’s a queer couple on the show...and the producers have majorly fumbled the bag.

   • 2020 August 28, Morgan Murrell, “Hulu Canceled "High Fidelity" Before Giving Fans Cherise Episodes, And I'm Ready To Throw Hands”, in BuzzFeed‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-07-14:

     Hulu really fumbled the bag when they canceled High Fidelity. So while they hold that L, I'll be begging other streaming services and networks to pick the series up.

   • 2021 July 13, “Lamar Odom Wants to Get Back with Khloe Kardashian, No Beef with Tristan [Thompson]”, in TMZ‎^[6], archived from the original on 2022-09-30:

     Lamar and Khloe were married from 2009 to 2016 ... and our sources say he thinks Tristan is fumbling the bag with Khloe. Quite frankly, we're told LO wanted to see where his comment might lead the exes.

   • 2022 May 3, Lexi McMenamin, “Democrats, Stop Telling Us to "Just Vote" to Save Abortion Rights”, in Teen Vogue‎^[7], archived from the original on 2023-06-04:

     Even though Supreme Court appointees aren’t democratically elected; even though his party controls the White House and Congress, the other two-thirds of the government’s system of checks and balances; even though some argue that former liberals on the court fumbled the bag by not handing off power; even though there are already plenty of elected abortion rights supporters in Congress who still weren’t able to stop this.

   • 2023 February 18, Quinn Allen, quoting Marshawn Lynch, “‘We fumbled the bag’: Marshawn Lynch reveals cold hard truth of Seahawks’ goal-line Super Bowl fail”, in ClutchPoints‎^[8], archived from the original on 2023-05-21:

     That was like the highest level of respect to the point we at the peak of our careers, with the opportunity to go head and start a dynasty, and then we fumbled the bag on the two-yard line.

Related terms

• secure the bag