Slang dictionary
fumble the bag
[fuhm-buhl th uh bag]
What does fumble the bag mean?
Fumble the bag comes from a lyric in the 2017 hip-hop song “I Get the Bag” by Gucci Mane, featuring Migos. To fumble the bag is to lose the money (the bag) you made or to make unwise investments with the money you already have, i.e. the bag. It’s also used for fumbling, or botching or bungling, something more generally.
Where does fumble the bag come from?
There many words rappers use to talk about their money. Guala, guap, rubber bands, paper—bag. The most important thing, for many MCs, is to secure the bag, or “get that pay check,” in a manner of speaking.
On 2017’s “I Get the Bag,” one of the members in the hip-hop trio Migos, Quavo, boasts with Gucci Mane on the chorus: “You get the bag and fumble it / I get the bag and flip it and tumble it (yeah) / Straight out the lot, 300 cash (cash) / And the car came with a blunt in it (yeah).“ In other words, he’s good with the money he’s earned. The song peaked at #25 on Billboard.
A fumbling the bag meme was the flavor of the week after the song came out. It features an image of Dexter from the cartoon Dexter’s Laboratory getting emotional to a picture of Migos’s member Quavo, as if he let down bag-handler extraordinaire for fumbling his bag.
Just don’t fumble the bag like Dexter did pic.twitter.com/t79NecXXBT
— Bootycall is still……….. Overrated (@DamnBogus) December 8, 2017
Urban Dictionary added the phrase fumble the bag in June 2018, nearly a year after the term peaked in search interest on Google.
Examples of fumble the bag
Who uses fumble the bag?
Fumbling the bag can spell losing that sweet, sweet social media clout or opportunities to make more money.
The phrase is commonly seen on social media in reference to Gucci Mane’s “I Get the Bag,” often including the song’s lyrics in a caption or punchline.
Meme Bomb
It’s mostly used as a slang way to talk about money, including bragging about how good you are with money or ragging on someone else for making bad decisions with theirs.
God, if you bless me like this I promise I won’t fumble the bag. pic.twitter.com/qEzWoJP7mv
— Lord of Richmond (@WokePapi) February 5, 2019
The internet, especially Twitter, began to apply fumble the bag to any situation where someone royally messed up. This application, where it essentially doubles as an expression for fumbling (cf. the sports-based fumble the ball or drop the ball), appears to be common outside of explicit references to “I Get the Bag.” Gucci Mane secured that bag, as it were.
she has the most anticipated album this year. we can’t fumble the bag y’all
— † (@champagneshit) January 17, 2019
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of fumble the bag like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of fumble the bag that will help our users expand their word mastery.