More on Britishisms in AmE

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Gary Martin says unreservedly that "plumb" is correct and "plum" is
incorrect, i.e., in this case, he is an advocate of good-old-fashioned
prescriptivism (or bad-old-fashioned prescriptivism).

[Being excerpt]
That piece uses the 'plum tuckered out' spelling rather than 'plumb
tuckered out'. 'Plumb' is the correct spelling but the incorrect
version is still found - rather inexplicably, as 'plumb' means
'completely; absolutely; quite', whereas a 'plum' is an edible fruit.
[End excerpt]

Here is a short link to the entry about "Tuckered out" at The Phrase
Finder website. Perhaps this link will work:

http://bit.ly/Pq1Rq6

On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:04 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: More on Britishisms in AmE
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 11:35 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> The Phrase Finder website of Gary Martin has a relevant discussion.
>> The earliest example of the phrase "plum(b) tuckered out" that he
>> found was in 1871 and the "b" was omitted.
>
> "Page not found," sadly.
>
> What does he have to say about the etymology of the adverb, "plum"?
>
> FWIW, Missouri writers of note - e.g. Florida's Mark Twain and Saint
> Louis's Kate Chopin - went with _plumb_. It's probably reading their
> work from a young age, when my opinions were still malleable, that has
> caused me to prefer that spelling. Besides, it makes the WAG-semantics
> clearer: a line that is plumb straight is a very straight line.
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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