Carded vs Proofed

[Lynne Murphy]

--On Thursday, May 24, 2001 10:08 am +0000 AAllan at AOL.COM wrote:

> A New Yorker recently told me that there you are "proofed" when asked to
> show proof of age at a store. In the Midwest, and elsewhere, I've only
> heard "carded." What's the distribution of "proofed"?
> - Allan Metcalf

When I worked in a supermarket in high school, I had to wear a button that
said "PROOF WE MUST".  I had it in my collection of buttons in my dorm room
at UMass, and it bewildered and amused all the New England kids, who said
'carded' (and only 'carded').  I'm not even sure that "proof" extends down
into the NYC area.  (I worked for Wegmans, the western NY chain, which has
since spilt into central NY and Pennsylvania.)

I'm not sure how current 'proof' still is in NY.

Lynne


M Lynne Murphy
Lecturer in Linguistics
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

phone +44-(0)1273-678844
fax   +44-(0)1273-671320