rods and poles

[Allen Maberry]

In my experience a fishing pole and fishing rod are the same thing. When I was growing up (OR, 1950s-60s) the most common term was "fishin' pole" or just "pole" as in "grab your pole, I think you got a nibble". "Rod" or "rod and reel" sounds a bit more high class to me, as in "Rod and Gun Club." The exception would be for "fly-fishing rods" which I don't recall ever being referred to as "poles."

allen


On Tue, 1 Mar 2005, Martin, Katherine wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Martin, Katherine" <katherine.martin at OUP.COM>
> Subject:      rods and poles
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The OED (ed. 2) entry for pole n.1 includes the sense "a rudimentary
> fishing rod; esp. one used without fittings other than a line
> connected to the tip of the rod (now chiefly N. Amer.)"
>
> In my own usage (born and raised in VT), pole is simply a synonym for
> rod, without any implication of technological simplicity. It is the
> only term that I use, but I have the sense of there being some sort of
> register distinction here, with rod as the more formal, pole as the
> more colloquial.
>
> DARE doesn't note any regional usages here, and pole is not covered
> specifically in the angling sense in either M-W or Amer. Heritage.
>
> To test the "rudimentary" aspect, I searched proquest for "pole" and
> "reel", and found ample evidence of poles with reels, including some
> along the lines of the following, where the narrative uses "rod", but
> direct quotes feature "pole", though there are also examples of "pole"
> in straight reportage.
>
> 2004 _Field & Stream_ (South ed.) Feb. p. 28
>
> Hall's catfish tackle consists of stout 7-to-7-foot rods, Abu Garcia
> 7000 big-game baitcasting reels, and 40-pound-test Berkley Big Game
> monofilament... "When I see the tip of a pole quiver, I pick it up and
> engage the reel."
>
> Does anyone have further insight into this, specifically concerning a)
> whether "pole" does typically indicate a simpler sort of fishing rod;
> (b) whether there is a colloquial/standard dimension to pole/rod?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Katherine
> OED
>