[Lexicog] plough mud

Tue May 25 17:23:51 UTC 2010

David,

In addition to regular Google searches, date restricting within Google Books
can help pinpoint when each spelling might have come into use. Google Books
doesn't have *every* book, of course, but it is a decent dipstick to go by.

"pluff mud" date:1801-1850<http://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=%22pluff+mud%22+date:1801-1850&btnG=Search+Books>
This returns a single hit, from *Report on the geology of South
Carolina<http://books.google.com/books?id=tTvPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA136&dq=%22pluff+mud%22+date:1800-1850&ei=_f77S47nKpiUlAT4xtmmDg&cd=1>,
1848:*

> It is called "pluff mud," and when dry it resembles this shale more nearly
> than any substance that I have seen.

"pluff mud" date:1851-1900<http://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=%22pluff+mud%22+date:1851-1900&btnG=Search+Books>
This returns 20+ hits, mostly from academic journals.

Applying the same technique with "plough mud" the earliest instance in
Google Books where it is used as a noun phrase is found in the 1898
novel *Simon
Dale*<http://books.google.com/books?id=aKYiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22plough+mud%22+date:1801-1900&dq=%22plough+mud%22+date:1801-1900&ei=4gP8S_m2EozolQS2vLXpDQ&cd=7>
:

> My stay in Norwich, if it had not made me a Londoner, had rubbed off some
> of the plough-mud from me,

Moving forward in time, "plough mud" between
1901-1950<http://books.google.com/books?q=%22plough+mud%22+date:1901-1950&btnG=Search+Books>
returns
only two instances from later printings of the same book. After
1950<http://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=%22plough+mud%22+date:1951-2010&btnG=Search+Books>
another
31 instances are found (but note that several clarify that it is pronounced
"pluff"). By comparison, there are more than 200 hits for "pluff mud" after
1950<http://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=%22pluff+mud%22+date:1901-2000&btnG=Search+Books>
.

Based on this, it would appear that "pluff mud" is the older spelling, is
consistently more common in writing, and has always been the pronunciation.
Why the spelling "plough mud" would have arisen, I can't say.

Best,
Rikker Dockum

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 11:41 PM, David Frank <david_frank at sil.org> wrote:

>
>
>  I still don't have much to go on. I did a Google search on "pluff mud"
> and I can see what it refers to, but I still haven't run across any clues as
> to the origin of the term. If you or Dick Watson have found something that
> particular, I would like to see it.
>
> -- David
>
>
>
> *From:* lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com [mailto:
> lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Frantz, Donald
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 25, 2010 12:03 PM
>
> *To:* lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Lexicog] plough mud
>
>
>
> Googling "pluff mud" seems to confirm Watson's suggestion.
>
>
>   ------------------------------
>
> On 25-May-10, at 8:22 AM, David Frank wrote:
>
>
> John --
>
> Yes, I imagine that "plough mud" is an Americanism, but in fact I believe
> the vast majority of Americans wouldn't know that term. As far as I can
> tell, its use is restricted to the Charleston area of South Carolina, which
> is on the southeastern U.S. coastline. For you non-Americans, Charleston is
> alongside Baltimore and Boston as one of the oldest cities and ports in what
> is now the United States.
>
> My interest in Charleston is that it is the port where most slaves were
> brought to these shores, and it is in the area where the Gullah language and
> culture got established. The person who asked me about "plough mud" has a
> book in press about Gullah, though I am not sure that word has anything to
> do with Gullah. When she asked me this question, we happened to be visiting
> the grave of Porgy, of *Porgy and Bess* fame.
>
> I don't think "plough mud" is a vulgar expression in terms of being crude,
> but it is vulgar in terms of being common language. Do a Google search on
> it. I found that the spelling "plough mud" got more hits than "pluff mud,"
> though neither one of them got a lot of hits. I didn't get anything for
> "plow mud."
>
> As to the question of why the spelling would be "plough mud" rather than
> "plow mud," I have two guesses. The first is that the spelling of "plough"
> might have been in use some, even on these shores. My KJV Bible that I have
> here uses the spelling "plow," but I am guessing that some KJV Bibles that
> were in use in the Charleston area in the past might have used the spelling
> "plough." That is just a guess, and I have to be careful about such guesses.
>
> My second guess is probably more likely, namely that "plough mud" doesn't
> really have anything to do with plowing. The person who asked me about the
> term did think it was associated with plowing, but the Google search I did
> didn't show up anything about using this mud in plowing or for fertilzer.
> That could be a folk etymology.
>
> If plough mud doesn't have an etymological connection with plowing, then
> there is another possibility pointed out to me this morning by my colleague
> Dick Watson. There is an old Scottish word "pluff" what means about the same
> thing as "puff." It could be spelled "plough" on analogy with "rough."
>
> So I have already told you more than I know, and I will wait to see if any
> more insights are coming.
>
> -- David Frank
>
>  
>
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