Word Confusion: Plum versus Plumb

Posted October 22, 2020 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

This pair of word confusions — plum versus plumb — are heterographs (a subset of homophone).

Plum is primarily a fruit. As an adjective it’s highly desirable while as an adverb, it’s exactly.

Exactly is where I suspect the confusion comes in as the adverb form of plumb is the same as plum. Otherwise, plumb is all about measuring or working with water pipes, as a plumber.

Word Confusions…

…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Plum	Plumb
Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Collins Dictionary: plumb; Dictionary.com: plum, plumb
Plums and Nectarines by Serge Melki from Indianapolis, USA, is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — The plums are the plum colored ones…the purple.	Use Portuguese Plumb Bob by Quistnix is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Adverb; Noun Plural for the noun: plums	Adjective ¹; Adverb ¹; Noun ¹; Verb ¹, intransitive & transitive ² Plural for the noun and third person present verb: plumbs Past tense or past participle: plumbed Gerund or present participle: plumbing
Adjective: Extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like Adverb: [Mainly US; informal; also plumb] Exactly [North American; as submodifier] To a very high degree Extremely Noun: An oval fleshy fruit that is purple, reddish, or yellow when ripe and contains a flattish pointed pit [West Indian; usually with modifier] A small edible fruit from any of a number of trees [Also plum tree] A deciduous tree — there are several species in the genus Prunus, family Rosaceae, in particular P. domestica — that bears the plum A deep purple varying from bluish to reddish in color [Informal; usually as modifier] A highly desirable attainment, accomplishment, or acquisition, typically a job A sugarplum A raisin, as in a cake or pudding [Informal] An unanticipated large increase in money or property, as an unexpected legacy A windfall [Informal] An unanticipated large increase in money or property, as an unexpected legacy A windfall [Also displacer] A large stone used in massive concrete construction	Adjective: [Also plum] True according to a plumb line perpendicular Vertical [Informal; prenominal intensifier] Downright or absolute [Cricket; of the wicket] Level True Adverb: [Mainly US; informal; prenominal; amplifier; also plum] Exactly [North American; as submodifier] To a very high degree Extremely [Archaic] Vertically In a perpendicular or vertical direction Exactly, precisely, or directly [Informal] Completely or absolutely Noun: [Also plummet] A small mass of lead or other heavy material, as that suspended by a line and used to measure the depth of water or to ascertain a vertical line Verb, intransitive: [With adverbial; of water] Be of a specified depth To work as a plumber Verb, transitive: Measure the depth of a body of water ¹ Explore or experience fully or to extremes [Often followed by up] To test the alignment of or adjust to the vertical with a plumb line [British] Install an appliance such as a bath, toilet, or washing machine and connect to water and drainage pipes ² Install and connect water and drainage pipes in a building or room
Examples:
Adjective: It was a plum job in the foreign service. You wearing the plum blazer today? He landed a plum assistant producer’s job. Adverb: The helicopter crashed plum on the cabins. Greg and I plum forgot to back things up just in case. Both were meant to show cutting-edge technology, but now they are extremely campy, outdated relics of yesteryear and just a plum bad idea. Noun: I picked up some plums at the store. Buying paradise plum, icy mint, sky juice, suck-suck or busta through the fence. We’re planting some plum trees in the backyard. It was a pure silk shirt in shades of cream and soft plum. The country is likely to fall into the enemy’s hands like a ripe plum. You’ve landed quite the plum. “And visions of sugarplums danced in my head.” Have you made the plum pudding yet? The company offered bonuses and other plums. Plum Concrete is normally used on the uneven surface of the ground and another area, reducing the cost of construction.	Adjective: Better ensure that the baseboard is straight and plumb. It’s off plumb, Bert. This is a plumb nuisance, Harry. On the other side one of my friends lost his bet that England would win, so his stance is the umpire should be thanked for giving Browne a life as he was plumb lbw. Adverb: He’s the bassoonist who sits plumb in the middle of the wind section. They must both be plumb crazy. Drapery fell from their human forms plumb down. She was plumb mad. You’re plumb right. Noun: He traces a line in white paint along the wall beyond the leaves, then drops a plumb from a cord stretched between two metal poles posted on either side of the tree. Holding a target plumb is a very important worker skill when locating a layout point. Fortunately, the level has replaced the plumb bob. Verb, intransitive: At its deepest the lake scarcely plumbed seven feet. The next step up is a more comprehensive compact kitchen that is fully plumbed. I’m plumbing today. Verb, transitive: I plumbed the depth and found the bottom of the shelf to be seven meters down. She had plumbed the depths of depravity. They are valuable aids in plumbing the frames and keeping the side of the ship fair. He had plumbed in a second-hand washing machine. They frequently plumb the depths of loneliness, humiliation, and despair.
Derivatives:
Adjective: plumlike, plummier, plummiest, plummy	Adjective: plumbable, plumbless Noun: plumber, plumbing, plumbless, plumbness Verb, transitive: replumb
History of the Word:
Old English plūme, from the medieval Latin pruna, from the Latin prunum.	Middle English originally in the sense sounding lead, via the Old French from the Latin plumbum meaning lead. Late 19th century, in the sense work as a plumber in a back-formation from plumber.

C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions by exploring the index. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, and/or the Properly Punctuated.

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