Date:  Thu, 9 May 1996 17:45:59 +0000

From:  Grant Barrett <gbarrett[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]JERRYNET.COM>

Subject: RE>out-of-pocket



I'm also from Missouri, and I find "out of pocket" generally means "unpla=

nned" and is most often used in referring to money. "Unplanned" or "unexp=

ected" work in a general way in both your parents' uses, I think, though =

not as direct synonyms for "out of pocket".=20



Your parents might say "I'm sorry we couldn't be there because we were in=

 an unexpected place". Your friend might say "Those additional charges ar=

e for unexpected costs".



Unfortunately, I get the idea that "out of pocket" is one of those terms =

that has been used in one way so long that it will in the end only be use=

d to describe unexpected or unplanned expenses.=20



--------------------------------------

Date: 5/9/96 5:31 PM

To: Grant Barrett

From: Gregory J. Pulliam

My father from Hannibal, Missouri tells me of a dispute he's involved in

regarding the term out-of-pocket. He and my mother, who's from Omaha, NE=

,

use the term to mean "not being where one is supposed to be," as in "I'm

sorry we couldn't be there but we were out-of-pocket."

A friend of his uses the term to mean "out-of money." My wife and I use

the term to mean "unexpected and immediate cash" expenses.

Does anybody have any dialect region inoformation about these terms, or

other supporting or diverging uses?

Greg Pulliam

gpulliam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]charlie.iit.edu

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago