nabs

nabs pronunciation

/NABZ/

Meaning

Those little cellophane sleeves of cracker sandwiches, usually orange squares with peanut butter in the middle. In Carolina and a lot of the rural South, you don't call them peanut butter crackers — you call them nabs. They live in glove boxes, lunch pails, and purse bottoms for when you're hungry enough to need something but not enough to stop for a meal.

How folks use it

• “Grab me a pack of nabs and a cold drink from the store.”
• “I keep nabs in the truck for when we're out too long between meals.”

Origin and etymology

Nabisco sold a nickel "Peanut Sandwich Packet" in 1924 and branded it NAB by 1928. Nabisco later quit the packets, but Southerners kept the name and stuck it on Lance ToastChee and other brands. Same habit as calling every soft drink a Coke — the label outlasted the original product.

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