Fwd: [Lexicog] plough mud

Tue May 25 18:47:51 UTC 2010

Aloha from Maui
Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Crockett" <asigwan at yahoo.com>
> Date: May 25, 2010 7:46:55 AM HST
> To: <lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: RE: [Lexicog]  plough mud
> Reply-To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
>
>
> I checked with some friends from Charleston and here is what they  
> said in several emails numbered in order below:
>
>
>
> #1: From: R - All I know is that now, it is in fact pronounced  
> “pluff” and is a terrible and beautiful smell to me at the same  
> time.  Smells like the marsh. I have never heard it pronounced any  
> other way, and both of us have family that still say many things  
> the “old way.”
>
>
>
> #2: From R - The only place we have this stuff is in the marsh… 
> which is full of salt.  The only things we ever see growing there  
> are marsh grass and fiddler crabs.  Granted, there are a lot of old  
> rice patties in Charleston.  Still, they don’t grow in “pluff”  
> mud.  I cannot imagine plowing anything that grows in that stuff,  
> and it does seem very different from the dirt that is left behind  
> after normal plants are plowed (my grandparents were farmers).   
> Another thought is, having grown up visiting a low country farm a  
> lot, I never heard my grandparents refer to mud there as plow or  
> pluff mud.  W’s grandparents were farmers too (and W’s family lived  
> on the pluff mud).  He agrees that pluff mud is specific to the  
> marshes and is not connected to farming (at least now).  We will  
> call W’s dad who is the only person we know who might possibly have  
> some other take on this.  W suggests that you try and find the  
> German root of the word and see what you come up with.  We’ll let  
> you know if we get anything from W’s dad.
>
>
>
> #3: From R - Looked it up, and rice did, in fact, grow in pluff mud
>
>
>
> #4: From R's mom - I asked W's dad and he has no clue, but the  
> plough concept does not work for me.  Pluff Mud is salt water.   
> Marsh grass is about the only plant that grows in it.  Plowing it  
> makes no sense.  Below is a brief description of the rice  
> cultivation along coastal SC and from what you can see at places  
> like Middleton, there was no plowing that occurred.  Rice is the  
> only other thing that I am aware ever grew in pluff mud.  For  
> someone who has experienced getting his feet in the mud, it does  
> make a popping sound when the foot is pulled out.
>
>
>
> This prime, quality soil, abundant for hundreds of square miles  
> around Charleston, was one of the reasons that in the 1700's and  
> 1800's rice production became by far the city's most important  
> industry. The quality of the crop was unsurpassed, and several well- 
> known varieties came from the area, such as one known as Carolina  
> Gold.
>
> The soft soil couldn't support the types of farming machinery  
> available at the time. But in Charleston, where slave labor was  
> used to work the fields, this was not a major problem. Rice had  
> been being cultivated in Africa for hundreds of years so most of  
> the slaves arriving in Charleston already had the knowledge they  
> needed to be efficient workers.
>
> After the Civil War rice produced in Charleston could no longer  
> compete on the open market due to the expensive cost of labor to  
> work the fields. Louisiana, however, had soil very similar to  
> Charlestons' but not quite as soft. Machinery could be used there  
> and Louisiana still produces a large cash crop of rice each year.
>
> Middleton Place Plantation in Charleston still has a preserved  
> section of rice field which is kept up somewhat but not on a scale  
> large enough to be profitable. It is mainly used for education and  
> tourism purposes.
>
>
>
> #5: From R: I think my mom makes a good point here.  Also, my  
> mother in law says it's called pluff mud because of the sound it  
> makes when you walk on it.  I read somewhere else that “pluff” is  
> the sound things make when they fall in it. Very true.  Not sure if  
> this has anything to do with the name or if it is just common  
> thought, but that’s the word on the street at least.
>
>
>
> Crockett
>
>
>
>
>
> From: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com  
> [mailto:lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of David Frank
> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 10:23 PM
> To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Lexicog] plough mud
>
>
>
>
>
> I was in Charleston, SC, last week, a friend of mine who is a  
> researcher and an author but not a linguist asked me to help make  
> some sense out of the term "plough mud," pronounced and sometimes  
> spelled "pluff mud." You can do a Google search if you want to see  
> more about how the term is used. This term seems to be local to  
> Charleston.
>
> Plough mud is dark brown silty mud that reportedly can be used as  
> fertilizer. I was asked whether perhaps "plough" (plow) was  
> pronounced a couple hundred years ago with an /f/ sound at the end,  
> rhyming with English "rough." I said that I didn't know, but I  
> would try to find out.
>
> What we do know is that "plough mud" and "pluff mud" refer to the  
> same thing, and that the latter spelling is more representative of  
> its pronunciation.
>
> What we don't know is if this term really had anything to do with  
> plowing. That could be a folk etymology.
>
> Another thing I don't know is whether "plough" was ever pronounced,  
> in the past, perhaps dialectally, like "pluff." It is a reasonable  
> guess, based on analogy with "rough," but a reasonable guess isn't  
> good enough. In fact, the little bit of etymological research I  
> have done has not shown that to be a pronunciation.
>
> Does anyone reading this know the answer? Or else, does anybody  
> know how to find out the answer?
>
> -- David
>
>
>
>
>
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