"Out of pocket" = "missing some money"?

[James Smith]

I always taken "out of pocket" to mean basically the same thing as "petty cash", not "missing (some) money".  "Out of pocket expenses" = everyday, incidental, or trivial expenses paid for with cash.  Of course, such expenses can add up to a considerable sum and become "missing' in the sense that at the end of the month we have no idea where all our money has gone!

James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.


--- On Sun, 10/26/08, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

> From: Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject: "Out of pocket" = "out of touch"/"gone" (1909 or earlier)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date: Sunday, October 26, 2008, 3:47 PM
http://books.google.com/books?id=SU9bAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA110&dq=%22is+out+of+pocket%22+date:1900-1970&lr=&num=100&as_brr=3#PPA106,M1

> "Out of pocket" here seemingly means
> "disappeared" or "not locatable",
> rather than the usual "missing some money".

>
> -- Doug Wilson

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