Just wondering

[Sally Donlon]

I, who am from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, have gone round and round on
this very distinction for years with my first cousins, who are from
North Jersey. I carry a purse, which may or may not contain a
pocketbook (lady's clutch-type wallet); they carry pocketbooks, which
may or may not contain purses.

We, of course, both think we are correct.

sally o. donlon


On Dec 29, 2006, at 8:00 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> FWIW,my wife, who's from Wilkes-Barre, speaking of Pennsylavania.
> doesn't recognize any distinction between "purse" and "pocketbook."
>
> Also, FWIW, I don't consider what I call a "change purse" to be a
> purse in the sense meant here. If my wife asked me to get her purse,
> it would never occur to me to look inside her pocketbook for her
> change purse.
>
> IAC, I'd say that it's clear that, for some people, "pocketbook" and
> "purse" name distinct objects and cannot be interchanged. Whew! That's
> a load off my mind! ;-)
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 12/29/06, GSCole <gscole at ark.ship.edu> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       GSCole <gscole at ARK.SHIP.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Just wondering
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> In my mind, a purse is smaller than a pocketbook; a purse may be
>> carried
>> inside of a pocketbook.  A coin purse is the smallest purse of
>> which I'm
>> aware; small enough to be carried in a trouser side pocket.
>>
>> George Cole
>> Shippensburg University
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Brenda Lester
>> Sent: Fri 29-Dec-06 17:19
>> Subject:      Re: [ADS-L] Just wondering
>>
>> 2) "Pocketbook" and "purse" are interchangeable.
>>   I've always considered a purse to be smaller than a pocketbook. A
>> pocketbook has all your work-a-day junk in it; a purse is for a few
>> necessary items.
>>
>> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 2) Is there anyone for whom the words "pocketbook" and "purse" denote
>> different objects? Not "can" or 'could," but _do_.
>>
>> -Wilson
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>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
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