Pone common?

[pat]

Alan, it seems from previous discussions on here that words that are well-known in one country but not others are usually classed as rare words. In fact, one I've mentioned before, rota, which is very common in the UK, is classed as rare for that reason. (By the way, is its American equivalent, roster, also rare?)

Pone appeared as a common word yesterday. What on earth is a pone? Aha, the link said it's chiefly southern US and it means johnnycake. Johnnycake? Pone? What?

[biggerbirdbrain]

We did have this discussion long ago, somewhere, I think. The word pone really is isolated to the American southern region. It is also known as johnny-cake, made from corn meal, and was more common during the Colonial period.

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia:

Jonnycake (also spelled "johnnycake," johnny cake, and "journey cake") is a baked cornmeal flatbread, and was a popular American pioneer staple food. The dough was set on a wooden board or barrel stave and placed at an angle in front of an open fire to bake.[1] The dough, made of cornmeal, salt, and water, was seldom sweetened since sugar was expensive and in short supply in early colonial America and on the frontier.

Modern johnnycake is popularly identified with Rhode Island foods. A 1776 diary of Thomas Vernon mentions "Jonny cake" while dining in Glocester, Rhode Island, on page 43. A modern jonnycake is usually made of lightly sweetened cornmeal and hot water and fried in butter, somewhat similar to fried polenta or thin wheat bread. Jonnycake is often served with maple syrup or other sweet toppings.

Hoecakes are a variant of jonnycakes. They are cooked on the blade of a hoe.

-- Here's a snippet from "The Diary of Thomas Vernon, a loyalist from Newport exiled in Glocester, Rhode Island in 1776," page 43. ...

Our supper,
milk and bread. Went to bed half after nine.
Tuesday, July 30, 1776. Arose exactly at six
o'clock. The wind northerly, and an appearance of
fair weather. It rained very hard in the night, attended
with heavy thunder and sharp lightning.
Our breakfast, tea, with Jonny cake and radishes.

[pat]

Goodness me. I obviously haven't lived have I? Pone and radishes. Sounds like a gourmet's delight!

[rogue_mother]

As patriotic an American as I am, I have to agree with you, Pat.  I don't think pone has been used commonly in the US since the days of the covered wagons.  Besides, I've never heard it used separately from the word corn.

[biggerbirdbrain]

Oh those Colonials ... talk about basic fare! And what a combo for breakfast. Thick gruel and stinky roots!  

[pat]

I've never noticed a stinky smell from radishes. Are ours sub-standard? Or super-standard even?

[rogue_mother]

Yours are probably just fresher!

[anonsi]

Though there is also the fact that common words should be known by decently well-read individuals.  I'm not from the southern US, nor did I grow up in the time period that it was most commonly used. However I've read more than my fair share of books that use the word.

Just another side to the argument.

[pat]

anonsi, I have to say that I've read well over 4,000 books in my life and never once come across the word. As you said, you've read more than your fair share that use the word (I must admit that does surprise me) so I reckon your share must have contained my share!

I still maintain that it's not a common word though.

[Toni]

Interesting.  I know the word pone, but as R-M says, always with corn.  I've only come across it reading and I didn't realise it was a cake, I thought it was a word for the whole cob. (here corn is called mielies, what comes in a can is called sweet corn.)

[Alan W]

You're quite right, Pat. Pone is not common at all. It seems that even in its home country, it has a regional character. Here is a description of a breakfast served up in Georgia from the O. Henry story "Hostages to Momus" (courtesy of Project Gutenberg):

That breakfast turned out to be composed of fried bacon and a yellowish edifice that proved up something between pound cake and flexible sandstone. The landlord calls it corn pone...

I became aware of the word as a youngster because of a song that was often played on the radio at one time about a man named Jubilation T. Cornpone. But I never knew what corn pone actually was - I assumed, like Toni, that it meant the same as corn cob.

Just to add to the linguistic confusion, in England the word corn is used to refer to any grain, while in America it refers to the product of a specific plant, known to the English as maize. (Because Australia follows the US usage in this matter, I was quite confused for a time when reading about the British Corn Laws - why had people in England been so agitated about the price of corn on the cob, I wondered.)

So I will drop pone as a common word, although I imagine a lot of regular players will have got used to it (without necessarily knowing what it means) because it has appeared in 48 daily puzzles so far.

Regarding your query about roster, Pat, it is classed as common. I don't see it as a specifically US word. It has a wider meaning than rota. For one thing, it can be used as a verb, which rota cannot. The Shorter Oxford gives the usage example:

Two inexperienced co-pilots had been rostered to fly together.

(The quote is from English writer Norman Dixon. The dictionary also gives two quotes using roster as a noun - one from an English writer and the other from an American.)

Rota (from the Latin for wheel) is used for a list of people or duties on a recurring schedule. Roster (from a Dutch word for a gridiron - related to roast) can be used for the same meaning, but has also been extended to any list of people. Searching on the websites of British newspapers yields hundreds of uses of the word roster. The most recent examples from The Times, both from last Friday, use the word for a recording company's list of artists:

Listen to the tracks on her recent CD, Between Me and the Wardrobe – which eventually found its way on to the Blue Note roster – and you find yourself thinking of Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and even the Kinks at times.

Gratuitous plugs for Sony Ericsson phones and strategically-placed posters advertising bands from the Universal roster...

I don't think rota could be used in either of these cases.

So I don't think roster is unknown in Britain, and I'm not persuaded it should be classed as rare.

[Linda]

My husband uses the word 'roster' regularly ... as in 'I'm rostered to work this Saturday night' ... pretty well known over here, I would say!