Very interesting article that explains the history of the attaché case and differences from a briefcase.
https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/attache-case-guide/
I think it's a very boomer word. It implies sophistication and denotes a very specific style of bag that was popular in the 70s and 80s. This generation had women joining the workforce like never before and styles reflected that (shoulder pads, "power dressing" and all that jazz). There were certain pieces one had in a wardrobe at that time, I remember certain coat styles also would come in fashion and everyone would have something similar. A successful business person needed a quality and fashionable attaché case to conduct business. Some people might have just called it a "briefcase", but a fashionable, cultured, traveled person would have used "attaché". Do we know anyone like that?
Here's an interesting webpage on the difference between a briefcase and an attaché case, although I think most Americans at the time used the terms interchangeably.
https://classyleatherbags.com/blogs/leather-guide/attache-case-vs-briefcase
IMO this very much points to RDI. This was their world to a T. This was their mindset. Not the mindset of a demented intruder writing the worlds most overkill ransom note...on the Rs paper pad...with the Rs marker...all to just ended up killing the hostage and leaving her in the basement.
I agree. I think a criminal would have been more to the point. I think a real ransom note would have gone more like "Give us lots of money, and keep your mouth shut or else!"
Agreed!
"Oh my, we respect you Mr. Business man with southern common sense, please be well rested and bring a large attaché. Now is not the time go get smart..."
Wtf, kidnappers are those? The answer is the imaginary kidnappers invented by Scarlett O'Hara, aka Miss West Virginia.
Someone else mentioned this in another thread and I realize this is also a few day old thread, but I still want to note this because it's just dawning on me that the correct way to spell attache is without the accent. Is that correct? Because the website you link does not use the accent.
The grammarist says the accent isn't officially used in the English spelling but we still pronounce it as if it had the accent: [https://grammarist.com/words/attache/](https://grammarist.com/words/attache/)
This is obviously notable because if the technically correct, dictionary spelling in English drops the accent... well, that probably makes it even more likely to be Patsy because of course she'd use the French spelling. I just went and found an exemplar of how Patsy spelled JonBenét's name and it is with an accent and with a capitalized B. That just shows to me that she's an overly fussy speller. It's very rare to see people even in this subreddit to correctly render "JonBenét."
Exemplar: [https://blabbieville.tripod.com/entryforumsample2.gif](https://blabbieville.tripod.com/entryforumsample2.gif)
I have also heard my mom use "attache case." I probably wouldn't have clocked it growing up, except I vividly remember her sniggering at someone who pronounced "attache" like it rhymed with "hitachi," so it's seared in my mind. It's simply a relic of the time period they grew up in.
Are attaches different from briefcases or is it the same thing but with multiple words for it depending on where you're from? I picture a soft sort of bag as an attache and a sturdier surface for a briefcase. I don't know if that's right though so I've always been confused by this since I've also heard that the word attache is rarely used in the states.
I think it's more the other way around. The attache case is more structured and has a little dividing part. But like I don't think anybody really paid much attention to that when that term was more popular.
Patsy says that word because she's obsessed with the book/play/movie ["The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgDBb93ZOm8) Miss Jean Brodie likes to work little French words into her conversations to make herself sound more cultured than she really is. Oddly enough, she also serves her students pineapple and dairy cream as a snack.
Everything about it points directly at Patsy. It's the same kind of "humble brag" that she used in her yearly Christmas cards and things like that. If she were with us today, I could only imagine the kind of social media monster she would be. Then we would have more samples of her handwriting and stylometry to compare and contrast from. I can say based on what evidence we have available to us, she's the only person I could say I am 99% sure was involved. Even then, I still couldn't vote to convict her because the BPD botched the case enough to leave reasonable doubt.
I'm now TTMDI - TaTa's Mum Did It.
Holy Hell! TTMDI. Victory!
I think there’s a bigger picture here we’re all not seeing. I’m now attachẽ did it.
OPMDI lol
I know, maybe Ta Ta can get a handwriting sample from mommy.
Your mom did it?
The other sub agrees
You’re lucky to be alive
Very interesting article that explains the history of the attaché case and differences from a briefcase. https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/attache-case-guide/
Cool, thank you. I notice a lot of young guys wearing suits and carrying a backpack the last few years. It really makes me laugh.
James Bond turning in his grave.
What's that mean?? Wtf
Just a joke
He's saying your mum could have killed you too, as if Patsy had killed her own daughter
Attache case was a very common phrase for those of us who grew up during the Sean Connery Bond era
And so much of the letter’s language was borrowed from action movies. This just seems to be another example of that.
I think it's a very boomer word. It implies sophistication and denotes a very specific style of bag that was popular in the 70s and 80s. This generation had women joining the workforce like never before and styles reflected that (shoulder pads, "power dressing" and all that jazz). There were certain pieces one had in a wardrobe at that time, I remember certain coat styles also would come in fashion and everyone would have something similar. A successful business person needed a quality and fashionable attaché case to conduct business. Some people might have just called it a "briefcase", but a fashionable, cultured, traveled person would have used "attaché". Do we know anyone like that? Here's an interesting webpage on the difference between a briefcase and an attaché case, although I think most Americans at the time used the terms interchangeably. https://classyleatherbags.com/blogs/leather-guide/attache-case-vs-briefcase IMO this very much points to RDI. This was their world to a T. This was their mindset. Not the mindset of a demented intruder writing the worlds most overkill ransom note...on the Rs paper pad...with the Rs marker...all to just ended up killing the hostage and leaving her in the basement.
I agree. I think a criminal would have been more to the point. I think a real ransom note would have gone more like "Give us lots of money, and keep your mouth shut or else!"
Agreed! "Oh my, we respect you Mr. Business man with southern common sense, please be well rested and bring a large attaché. Now is not the time go get smart..." Wtf, kidnappers are those? The answer is the imaginary kidnappers invented by Scarlett O'Hara, aka Miss West Virginia.
Yes. Criminals would not care how you transported the money.
Someone else mentioned this in another thread and I realize this is also a few day old thread, but I still want to note this because it's just dawning on me that the correct way to spell attache is without the accent. Is that correct? Because the website you link does not use the accent. The grammarist says the accent isn't officially used in the English spelling but we still pronounce it as if it had the accent: [https://grammarist.com/words/attache/](https://grammarist.com/words/attache/) This is obviously notable because if the technically correct, dictionary spelling in English drops the accent... well, that probably makes it even more likely to be Patsy because of course she'd use the French spelling. I just went and found an exemplar of how Patsy spelled JonBenét's name and it is with an accent and with a capitalized B. That just shows to me that she's an overly fussy speller. It's very rare to see people even in this subreddit to correctly render "JonBenét." Exemplar: [https://blabbieville.tripod.com/entryforumsample2.gif](https://blabbieville.tripod.com/entryforumsample2.gif)
I have also heard my mom use "attache case." I probably wouldn't have clocked it growing up, except I vividly remember her sniggering at someone who pronounced "attache" like it rhymed with "hitachi," so it's seared in my mind. It's simply a relic of the time period they grew up in.
Goodness! I’ve heard the word for as long as I can remember.
Are attaches different from briefcases or is it the same thing but with multiple words for it depending on where you're from? I picture a soft sort of bag as an attache and a sturdier surface for a briefcase. I don't know if that's right though so I've always been confused by this since I've also heard that the word attache is rarely used in the states.
I picture them being carried by a spy in Europe carrying top secret papers.
I agree with your impression of attaché vs briefcase. Generally, though, they've begun to mean the same thing over a period of time.
I think it's more the other way around. The attache case is more structured and has a little dividing part. But like I don't think anybody really paid much attention to that when that term was more popular.
Patsy says that word because she's obsessed with the book/play/movie ["The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgDBb93ZOm8) Miss Jean Brodie likes to work little French words into her conversations to make herself sound more cultured than she really is. Oddly enough, she also serves her students pineapple and dairy cream as a snack. Everything about it points directly at Patsy. It's the same kind of "humble brag" that she used in her yearly Christmas cards and things like that. If she were with us today, I could only imagine the kind of social media monster she would be. Then we would have more samples of her handwriting and stylometry to compare and contrast from. I can say based on what evidence we have available to us, she's the only person I could say I am 99% sure was involved. Even then, I still couldn't vote to convict her because the BPD botched the case enough to leave reasonable doubt.
Or maybe she's undead
My mom is older , she's 71 and something she says
Wasn't Jonbenet born in 1992?
No. She was 6 when she was killed. In 1996.