"Purse" or "Handbag" or "Clutch"
The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In British English, it is still used to refer to a small coin bag. A "handbag" is a larger needed accessory, that holds items beyond currency, such as a woman's personal items and emergency items to survive on. American English typically uses the terms "purse" and "handbag" interchangeably. The term "handbag" began appearing in the early 1900s. Initially, it was most often used to refer to men's hand-luggage. Women's accessory bags grew larger and more complex during that period, and the term was attached to the women's accessory.
Read more about this topic: Handbag
Famous quotes containing the words purse and/or clutch:
“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy, rich, not gaudy,
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
““you were with me all day; stood with me, sat with me, talked with me, looked at me, ate with me, drank with me; and yet, your last act was to clutch for a monster, not only an innocent man, but the most pitiable of all men. So far may even the best man err, in judging the conduct of one with the recesses of whose condition he is not acquainted.””
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)