Skip to main content

meaning - Why is a woman's purse called a "pocketbook"?


It's not a book, and it doesn't fit in anyone's pocket. Why does my brother-in-law insist on calling his wife's purse a pocketbook?


I'm interested in the etymology, and in the chronological and geographical distribution of this expression. My sister & I (raised in southern California, can't get used to such an obvious misnomer) vs. bro-in-law (raised in New England, doesn't understand why we're bothered) are only one data point, and only on the geographical scale.



Answer



From a blog entry at Separated by a Common Language, I learned that Luanne von Schneidemesser wrote about the word purse and its synonyms in a 1980 piece for American Speech. The article is dated, but addresses part of your question directly.


Her etymology of pocketbook mirrors answers given here already:



Pocketbook was originally just that: a small book that could be carried in the pocket. The OED shows that by 1685 it was understood also to be a "book for notes, memoranda, etc., intended to be carried in the pocket; a notebook; also, a book-like case of leather or the like, having compartments for papers, bank-notes, bills, etc." In the last meaning the DAE attests its use in the United States since 1816.



She then analyzes responses given from a 1000-person sample of Americans to the question, "What do you keep money in when you carry it around with you?", posed in a survey done for the Dictionary of American Regional English.


After a discussion of the distribution of wallet and billfold, she addresses purse, pocketbook, and handbag:



Purse, pocketbook, and handbag are all standard terms reported from all parts of the country. Yet purse, according to DARE's 569 responses, is not quite as frequent in the Northeast and coastal Atlantic states as it is to the west of those areas. In the eastern areas, pocketbook (395 responses) appears about as often as purse; but farther west, it becomes sparser. Both purse and pocketbook are distributed by age, community type, race, and education in correspondence with the total DARE sample.



This last point seems to rule out any significant generational differences among pocketbook respondents—30 years ago, that is.


Schneidemesser cites two other surveys in her piece. In one done for the Linguistic Atlas of New England, she notes a size distinction between purse and pocketbook with the former being considered a "small pouch or similar container for coins or other money," and the latter a "larger receptacle used to contain paper money as well as other articles," including a purse. In the second, for Elizabeth Bright's Word Geography of California and Nevada, she shows only 16 percent of respondents used the term pocketbook.


Purse and Its Synonyms, American Speech, Vol. 55, No. 1 [Spring, 1980], pp. 74-76


Edit 3/4/11:


An informal survey of five female family members (lifelong New Englanders) shows there may be some generational shift after all:


great-grandmother: pocketbook (reportedly)
grandmother: pocketbook/bag
mother: pocketbook/purse
sister: purse
niece: purse


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more