Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 10 months ago. Active 6 years, 5 months ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. In the UK, not only would she not have a pocketbook, but her purse , if she had one, would be a small container for money and maybe cards, but little else, that went into her handbag — Colin Fine.
Well, it might be weird if he's the only one who does it, but it's pretty natural for many people to say it at least in Southern AmE. Even to the extent that it is often pronounced 'pocky-book' — Mitch. A pocket book isn't a woman's purse only. Perhaps his statement is delivered jokingly? Similar to his wife calling the wallet he keeps in his pocket, a purse. She may say something like — "Get your purse honey, we're going shopping! Muse Why do some people call a billfold a wallet , eh?
Show 1 more comment. Active Oldest Votes. Her etymology of pocketbook mirrors answers given here already: Pocketbook was originally just that: a small book that could be carried in the pocket. 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.
Improve this answer. Callithumpian Callithumpian Add a comment. Sid Sid 2, 3 3 gold badges 23 23 silver badges 29 29 bronze badges. I don't think pocket money or suitcase are at all analogous. I might not actually put my pocket money in my pocket, but I could if I wanted to.
Ditto with my suitcase: if I really wanted to, I could certainly fill it with suits. Pocketbook , on the other hand, cannot accurately or even possibly describe any purse or handbag I have ever met. I thought a pocketbook is the small wallet you use to store your money and credit cards, and that it goes inside your purse or handbag and isn't the purse or handbag itself.
Tragicomic, that would be the logical usage, but New Englanders and possibly others, although none of the answers so far have addressed that question specifically use the term to mean the purse or handbag itself - they will happily talk of putting their wallet in their pocketbook, and other such topological impossibilities.
Topology is "stretchable" geometry, and a stretchable pocketbook could indeed contain a squashable wallet. Our purse goes into our handbag and carries our money, both coins and paper money.
A wallet is used by men and only carries paper money. An evening bag is called that, or perhaps a handbag if it has straps or a purse if it doesn't.
I believe handbag is more British usage, purse more North American. Much was and since the film with Meryl Streep is once again made of Mrs Thatcher's forceful use of her handbag, and I've never seen it referred to a purse in that context. The way Aunt Augusta repeats "in a handbag" with a combination of scorn, astonishment and condescension when she hears of this unfortunate origin of the foundling is a classic.
I'm from Massachusetts, people I know use "purse," "bag," and occasionally "pocketbook. Also, my grandmother is from Nova Scotia and I always laugh when she calls her wallet her "billfold" such a literal term.
My wife uses "bag" unless it is a small evening "purse. She would use "purse" for the small wallet-like thing she put in her "bag. I grew up in New York state, and my mother's everyday, workhorse carryall was always a pocketbook. On formal occasions she would carry her bare essentials in a tiny purse.
I think you're right: handbag is merchantspeak. My wife in Alaska carries her stuff in the pockets of her jeans. On formal occasions, she says to me, "Here, carry this for me. A handbag is a large version of a pocketbook.
There was a surprising amount of concurrence on these terms and no dissent 4 people polled, in New York. HunJohn Member Budapest. I suppose this question has already been asked and answered many times, but could somebody tell me the exact difference between the words 'wallet' and 'purse'? We were taught back in secondary school that wallets are excusively used by men.
Is that really true? I don't really think so because in the dictionaries I have, none of the definitions says that wallets are only for men. Thank you very much in advance and have a nice day. That might be the old convention, but to me the real difference is size and function. A purse has a bigger compartment with a zip or clip fastening where coins can be kept. Purses fit better into handbags, usually too bulky to put in your trouser pocket.
My purse is quite big and has the qualities of a wallet with added space for coins etc. English - South-East England. The 'exact' difference is both: in general, men have large, flat wallets and women have small, rounder purses.
Almost always they're very easy to tell apart; I can't recall seeing anything in a shop and wondering, is that a purse or a wallet? Also - although there may be such things - I can't recall seeing wallets intended for women or purses intended for men. A man might have a purse-like object for a narrow purpose: a coin purse, or a key purse.
Nowadays there is a perceptible movement towards similarity in the physical objects themselves, as both men and women carry cards, notes and coins.
I have seen men's wallets which match the description given by suzi br for a purse. The difference in terminology remains that the man's item is called a wallet and the woman's a purse.
Differences in style also exist. In the US, however, 'purse' seems to mean what we call a handbag in the UK. I don't know how you can tell that a wallet is intended for one gender or the other, they are functional and plain, usually.
Along with may things attributed to gender, it is not really the gender that is the issue, but convention tends to one way or the other In common with many other things in life: women don't mind using things that might be originally targeted at men, but lots of men get their knickers in a twist at the idea of using something that might have a faint whiff of femininity about it..
You can use what you want.. December 8th, Category: columns , December Dan S. Janet M. Harriet Baber. Beth Vansyckle. Julia Faraci. Please support The Word Detective. Makes a great gift! Click cover for more. Search us! To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks.
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