Just wondering

[Benjamin Barrett]

I have always believed a pocketbook is that super-wallet-like thing that
women have inside their purses.

Looking through Google images, though, it seems that I might be simply
wrong due to simply not having enough conversations with women about
bags. On about the 12th page of Google images, I found one image that
agrees with me:

http://www.rosholtmotorcycle.com/resources/pocketbook+and+purse.jpg

My sister, also a Seattleite, says that a pocketbook is a clutch-type
purse as opposed to a more bag-type. For reference, here is a picture of
what looks to be the origin of the purse meaning of "pocketbook":

http://www.kenmore.org/collections/photos/_pkbook.jpg

Benjamin Barrett
Orange Text, Inc.
message accomplished!
www.orangetext.com

Wilson Gray wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Just wondering
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 2) Is there anyone for whom the words "pocketbook" and "purse" denote
> different objects? Not "can" or 'could," but _do_.

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