Just wondering

[Lynne Murphy]

I discussed BrE and AmE sense of 'purse' and '(hand)bag' (and someone
brings up 'pocketbook' on my blog in Sept.(Self-promotion is an ugly
thing.)  Since then my 12-year-old goddaughter and her mother have informed
me that 'only old ladies say 'purse', we say 'bag').  They live in the
Rochester, NY area.  They're also prone to unsubstantiatable claims about
their own language usage and I heard my cousin from Indiana call her bag a
'purse' today, but I mention their claim anyway...

Lynne

--On Monday, January 1, 2007 1:22 pm -0600 Victoria Neufeldt
<v.neufeldt at SASKTEL.NET> wrote:

> I lived in the U.S. for about 16 years (1984-2000), in Cleveland and in
> Springfield, MA; I remember being struck by the use of _pocketbook_ for
> what I would call a handbag or purse.  In my experience in the U.S.,
> _pocketbook_ and _purse_ were synonymous.  _Pocketbook_ (an Americanism
> in this usage) seemed the standard term, far more common than _purse_.  I
> don't recall a distinction in usage based on age (i.e., I wasn't aware
> that _pocketbook_ was considered old-fashioned).  I think of _purse_ as
> being somewhat old-fashioned in Canada (haven't done any research on this
> though); my own general term is _handbag_ and that's probably the more
> common term in Canada as a whole.  _Pocketbook_ for me is restricted to
> its extended meaning of financial resources.  I agree with Wilson that
> _purse_ means _handbag_; if I want to refer to a small container for
> money, etc. that you carry in your pocket or purse/handbag, I would say
> _change purse_, never just _purse_.
>
> Victoria
>
> Victoria Neufeldt
> Editor, DSNA Newsletter
> 727 9th Street East
> Saskatoon, Sask.
> S7H 0M6
> Canada
> Tel: (306) 955-8910
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 8:00 PM
> Subject: Re: Just wondering
>
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Just wondering
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --
> -----
>>
>> 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
>> > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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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
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>



Dr M Lynne Murphy
Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
Linguistics and English Language
Arts B135
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QN

phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org