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Author Topic: Words and Grammar and Stuff  (Read 126236 times)

Bill Thompson

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #420 on: September 19, 2009, 05:03:48 PM »
So back to the master thing. I'm writing a story where a female character has achieved the rank of master in her field. When people talk to her they would address her as Master "Insert Name Here" correct? I know that the Mistress title is out there, but that doesn't seem right and it carries certain connotations with it. I hate when i get stumped on easy stuff like this.  :-[

Clovis8

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #421 on: September 19, 2009, 05:10:53 PM »
So back to the master thing. I'm writing a story where a female character has achieved the rank of master in her field. When people talk to her they would address her as Master "Insert Name Here" correct? I know that the Mistress title is out there, but that doesn't seem right and it carries certain connotations with it. I hate when i get stumped on easy stuff like this.  :-[

They would say master yes, in most contexts.

pixote

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #422 on: September 23, 2009, 12:26:54 AM »
And now I'm plumb out of secrets.

Is that b optional or what?

pixote
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Clovis8

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #423 on: September 23, 2009, 12:38:27 AM »
And now I'm plumb out of secrets.

Is that b optional or what?

pixote

"Plumb out?" is a contraction for "Plumb out of food?" A plumb is a lead weight; one most commonly finds the word in the combination plumb line, which is a device used by builders to ensure that things are truly vertical. Because when one uses a "plumb" one is testing the accuracy of something, the word has come to be used as an emphatic intensifier meaning "really" or "truly" or "completely".

so yes you need the "b".

pixote

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #424 on: September 23, 2009, 12:44:50 AM »
Plumb and plum seem pretty interchangeable in this context, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume 4 (thanks, Google Books!).

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pixote

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #425 on: September 23, 2009, 12:47:22 AM »
Quote from: New English Review
"Plumb out of luck" out-googles "plum out of luck", but most of the entries seem to be puns about plumbers, making trial by google less than watertight.
Heh.

pixote
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Clovis8

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #426 on: September 23, 2009, 12:47:23 AM »
Plumb and plum seem pretty interchangeable in this context, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume 4 (thanks, Google Books!).

pixote

Really? It seems plumb is the tool and plum is the fruit.

pixote

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #427 on: September 23, 2009, 12:49:14 AM »
Yeah, it's a variant.  But I assume plumb carried that meaning first, etymologically, in line with what you said.

pixote
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Clovis8

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #428 on: September 23, 2009, 12:50:27 AM »
Yeah, it's a variant.  But I assume plumb carried that meaning first, etymologically, in line with what you said.

pixote

The fluidity of language. One day's mistake is the next day's proper usage.

pixote

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Re: Words and Grammar and Stuff
« Reply #429 on: September 23, 2009, 12:58:36 AM »
Really? It seems plumb is the tool and plum is the fruit.


Heh, "plumb fagged."  That's genius.

The fluidity of language. One day's mistake is the next day's proper usage.
Haha, quite the high horse for a self-proclaimed awful speller.  (At least I think that was you.)

Anyway, hopefully someone can check OED and see what's really what.

Also, for the record, plum isn't always a noun.  It's also an adjective meaning "extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like: a plum job in the foreign service."  Whether that meaning derives from plumb as well, I'm not sure.

pixote
« Last Edit: September 23, 2009, 01:02:29 AM by pixote »
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