Lug
Terry wrote to ask about the word lug, which is the name of the container used to haul cherries (the orchard produced 100 lugs of cherries). Additionally, she asked about lugging something up the stairs, an act of dragging. Finally, she wondered if the word luggage is at all connected to the first two.
The lug used to haul cherries, the luggage we pack for trips, and the act of dragging are connected. They come from an old Swedish word that meant to move something slowly and heavily, to drag it along.
Lug was also a long stick or pole that measured roughly six yards and was used to collect fruit by beating the branches to make the fruit fall. That same lug or stick was also used as a land measure. And the word lug was used as slang to designate a clumsy or not very bright person.
But the lug nuts used to secure a tire and the lug wrench used to tighten or loosen the lug nuts come from a different source. They came from a Scandinavian word that meant a projecting part. The original word meant the ear flaps of a hat.
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