"Plonques" : new etymythonym?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Disputing the prevailing derivation from _vin blanc_, "Ian Maclure" told the Newsgroup soc.history.war.misc on Jan. 7, 2000,

"Nope, 'Plonques' was a firm of French wine merchants noted for a
particularly vile type of Algerian Red they supplied to the French Army. Hence it has passed into English as a synonym for rancid tipple."  [ http://groups.google.com/group/soc.history.war.misc/browse_frm/thread/4c46d8bbd3a82891/4ff011921b3c4ab9?lnk=st&q=plonques&rnum=4&hl=en#4ff011921b3c4ab9 ]

This assertion appears at a few websites as well, including the ambitious "Miltary Slang For WWII and There Meanings" [http://www.freewebs.com/erdevision/slang.htm ].
I find no authoritative online references to the firm of Plonques nor, curiously, do I expect to find any elsewhere.



JL

I





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