strum up support

[Dennis Preston]

You must be an anarchist! "Drum up" is traditional, preferred,
correct. Not reason enough!

dInIs



>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>Subject:      Re: strum up support
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I was curious what the preferred version might be, so I found the entry
>at http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/928/strum-up/, where it says
>that "drum up" is considered correct.
>
>I don't think that's enough to make me stop using "strum up," though. Is
>there a specific reason why strum up support is dispreferred? It's still
>using a musical instrument and it sounds better since it employs
>alliteration..
>
>BB
>
>Andrea Morrow wrote:
>>  >From a CNN article today on Chelsea Clinton's role in the
>>presidential campaign:
>>
>>  Chelsea Clinton will spend three days there to strum up last-minute
>>  votes before the state's Tuesday caucuses, said a source from her
>>  mother's campaign.
>>
>>
>>http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/15/chelsea.clinton/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
>>
>>  A quick google search for "strum up support" turns up over a million
>>  hits, but most are obvious plays on words (a rock musician strums up
>>  support for his show, etc.)
>>
>>  I see this usage is already in the eggcorn database, but it's the
>>  first time I've seen it, and it seemed worth mentioning.
>>
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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