hacky-sack, n. orig. U.S.
Brit. /ˈhakɪsak/, U.S. /ˈhækiˌsæk/
Forms: 19– hackie-sack, 19– hackey-sack, 19– hacky-sack, 19– hackysack; Also with capital initials.
[‹ hacky (<hack v.1 + -y suffix6) + sack n.1, apparently after hack the sack. Compare:
| 2003 www.footbag.org 8 Jan. (O.E.D. Archive) Footbag is a modern American sport. It was invented in 1972 in Oregon City, Oregon, when John Stalberger met Mike Marshall, who had been kicking around a hand-made bean bag... They called the game, ‘Hack the Sack’... The two designed a product, which they trademarked the ‘Hacky Sack’... At the same time, they decided to create a ‘generic’ term for the sport itself, as opposed to their product, and they named the sport ‘footbag’. |
A type of small beanbag designed to be kicked in the air. Also: any of several individual or team games played with such an object. Cf. footbag n. at foot n. Additions
A proprietary name in the United States.
| 1978 Newsweek 22 May 69/1 It's Hacky Sack, a brand-new sports fad that its promoters hope will rival Frisbee and the Hula-Hoop. The object of Hacky Sack is to keep a soft, golf-ball-size bag in the air, using the knees and the feet, without letting the bag touch the ground or the player's upper body. 1981 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 6 Oct. tm2/1 Hacky Sack... For footbags used in a kicking game. 1984 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 12 Feb. i.28/1 At Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania it is called a Hacky Sack, at the University of Delaware a footbag. 1992 D. Coupland Shampoo Planet xlviii. 217 Blue-jeaned employees playing with hackeysacks during lunch hour. 2002 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 9 Mar. 22/2 Volleyball or kiwi cricket, frisbee, hacky sack, or petanque (the weather will determine the games chosen) on the New Brighton foreshore. |