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green bag

English translation: special internal mail service

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:'green bag' [company-specific]
Selected answer:special internal mail service
Entered by: Tony M

21:54 Jul 1, 2014
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: green bag
I am currently translating a statement of Terms and Conditions for an employee who will start his work as a chef.

The document also includes information about the number of copies that must be made.

"One copy to be sent in green bag to Head Office"

what is this green bag? How should this actually be sent?

thanks for help in advance
Marta28
Local time: 07:12
special internal mail service
Explanation:
It is very common in large organizations to have their own internal courier or mail service, so that important documents etc. can be passed around quickly and easily between branches, from branches to head office, etc.

It just so happens that in this particular organization, this internal mail is carried in some kind of 'green bag' — it is typical to use some kind of satchel, pouch, mail-bag etc. in a distinctive colour, to avoid any possibility of confusion with external mail, for example. So the term 'green bag' might be regarded as metonymy for 'the internal mail service'.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 07:12
Grading comment
thank you all for the discussion - I have chosen this sugesstion :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +7special internal mail service
Tony M
5green bag
Charlesp
4mail bag
airmailrpl


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +7
special internal mail service


Explanation:
It is very common in large organizations to have their own internal courier or mail service, so that important documents etc. can be passed around quickly and easily between branches, from branches to head office, etc.

It just so happens that in this particular organization, this internal mail is carried in some kind of 'green bag' — it is typical to use some kind of satchel, pouch, mail-bag etc. in a distinctive colour, to avoid any possibility of confusion with external mail, for example. So the term 'green bag' might be regarded as metonymy for 'the internal mail service'.

Tony M
France
Local time: 07:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 309
Grading comment
thank you all for the discussion - I have chosen this sugesstion :)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty
30 mins
  -> Thanks, Jack!
agree  Sheila Wilson
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Sheila!
agree  Tina Vonhof (X)
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, Tina!
agree  Václav Pinkava: the colour coding may indicate priority or type of consignment within the internal mail
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Václav! Yes, quite!
neutral  Charlesp: Probably, though would one really say to their secretary "put this in the special internal mail service" ?
9 hrs
  -> No of course not! But Asker clearly didn't understand what it meant, so this was just by way of explanation for Asker's benefit.
agree  Charles Davis: Another possibility that occurs to me is that "green" means "ecological" ie. reusable (saving packaging materials), but this is pure speculation of course.
11 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles! Indeed, though I think that is unlikely in this specific context.
agree  AllegroTrans
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, C!
agree  Zsofia Koszegi-Nagy
2 days 23 hrs
  -> Thanks, Zsofia!
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
mail bag


Explanation:
green bag => mail bag

airmailrpl
Brazil
Local time: 02:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 88

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: Well yes — but you've missed out the key point that this is not just any mail bag, but a special internal service (identified by its green bag).
7 hrs
  -> the mail bags that we used in my company were always green and they were transported by the Post office as a special service
neutral  Charlesp: sounds plausable
10 hrs
  -> thank you
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
green bag


Explanation:
A green bag is a green bag.

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Note added at 11 hrs (2014-07-02 09:29:00 GMT)
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Could be a code for "archiving"

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Note added at 11 hrs (2014-07-02 09:32:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My point here, which seems to be missed, is that there is absolutely no way to know with any degree of certainty what a green bag is or what happens to a green bag or this particular green bag. A green bag is not a universal code for some particular usage; I doubt the CIA or MI6 uses green bags, but if they did, could you hazard a guess as to what it meant to send something in one of their "green bags"?

Charlesp
Sweden
Local time: 07:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: Yes, but their mail wouldn't go very far if they simply put it in a green handbag ;-) / Yes of course — but I think Asker wanted us to help her decode it ;-)
3 mins
  -> i agree, if someone was an outsider. But this code.
neutral  Sheila Wilson: not wrong; but not too useful to the asker either
2 hrs
  -> agreed. But actually I don't know what happens to the green bag. I wouldn't presume that it is sent express post, by special courier in a locked container, or otherwise.
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