"cumberbund"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 11/19/2008 08:11 PM, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:

>DARE has both CUMMER and CUMBER as (seemingly rare) forms for 'pickled
>cucumbers'. No CUMBERBUND or CUMMERBUND.
>
>The only pronunciation of the term I've ever known is   with the B. Before
>the highschool prom, my saucy aunt cautioned me to be sure to enunciate the B
>clearly, lest people think I was being obscene.

I, having been well-educated in New York City, and Webster (New
World, Collegiate Edition) both know it only as "cummerbund", and
know it is from the Urdu and Persian for "loin band".  (My) Roget
doesn't have it, so I don't know what else I can call it.

Joel

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