Definition
A catty squabble.
Origins
First appears in the UK in the 1980s. A jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase handbagging meaning a verbal dressing-down, in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.
See Also
- the handbags come out
- like rats in a sack
- the girls are fighting
How People Actually Use It
A catty fight. Derives from the more traditional "pistols at dawn", but with the selection of weapon implying that the participants are of the weaker sex. Works especially well if they're actually male.
""Dave and Bill just couldn't agree on which boy band was their favorite. Before we knew it, things got out of hand and it was time for handbags at dawn!""
Source: Urban Dictionary