"Plume in his vestments"

[Alison Murie]

On May 15, 2009, at 9:22 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "Plume in his vestments"
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>
> From the review by Wesley Morris of the movie "Angels & Demons", "g"
> magazine, May 15, 2009, page 7, col. 1:
>
> "OK, no movie whose climax includes a man of God plume, in his
> vestments, from the sky with a parachute is entirely serious."
>
> Either seriously asyntactic, or very clever (but still asyntactic)?
>
> 1)  Most simply, "plume" should have been "plummeting"?
>
> 2)  Perhaps "plume" (adj), in the sense 2.b. of "plume" (noun) = "b.
> fig. and in extended use. Often used with the suggestion of
> ostentatious display"?  Or -- less apt, I think -- 3.c. =
> "Self-satisfaction, triumph. rare".  Or "II. Any of various things
> resembling a feather or feathers in form or lightness" (the "man of
> God" floats gently down in his parachute?)
>
> Of course, the OED does not have :plume" as an adjective.  A coining?
>
> And if this, a verb is missing.
>
> 4)  Or an awry bon mot?  Trying to combine both images -- "plume" in
> display and "plummeting" in motion?  But it doesn't work, I suppose
> because one is adjectival and the other verbal.
>
> Joel
~~~~~~~~~
Plunge?
AM

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