A phrase can be in general use in one or two regions only or generally used throughout Britain (give or take a few specific regions ie some regional difference).
I have never said that the term is never used at all or that there aren’t regions that may use it.
Are you particularly bored today and/or desparately want to get the last word? Do you even know people in South Yorkshire who use the term ‘pumpkin’ as a term of endearment?
Do you really believe that the term ‘pumpkin’ as a term of endearment is often used in most parts of Britain?
No more than usual
Yes
No, and I never said otherwise.
:o
So you just want the last word then?
Why the embarassed smiley?
Bumpkin didn’t come from pumpkin. (Probably that is; these word origin things are always subject to some speculation.) It (probably) came from “boomkin”, Dutch for little tree, and was used by the English to call the Dutch short. Note, that the English had many insults for the Dutch. In fact “yankees” probably comes from “Jan Cheese”, which for some reason was an insult to Dutch people living in the colonies. Somehow it got transferred to the other (future American) colonists as well.
If “pumpkin” meant foolish at some point, I suppose it was conflated with “bumpkin”, which had evolved into a synonym with yokel and hayseed. I have always thought of pumpkin and punkin as two separate words. If they’ve been conflated, then I blame a bunch of bumpkins for it.
You may be right Lyn. To me pumpkins is a always savoury thing though…mmmmmmmmmm.
Is it even in general use in south Yorkshire though? Having one or two people say it doesn’t mean it’s in general use.
I’m confused about these other pumpkins. The only things I’ve seen reffered to as pumpkins in NZ or Australia are the big orange things. Sure there are several different types but they all have a similar look, taste etc.
The ‘standard’ thing we call a pumpkin in NZ is round and has very dark green skin or creamy light green skin. We also have butternut pumpkins which are the gourd shaped ones. The big orange (Jack o lantern) ones I have rarely ever seen in NZ (that’s the Waikato or Auckland regions).
Yes, you’re right. I was very tired yesterday.