January 31, 2015

The tromp/tramp distinction

I don't use the word "tromp" very often, but some instinct made me say it in that post 2 posts down about shaming the upper-middle class into giving up their tax breaks. I thought guilt-tripping was "tromping about in the darker parts of our psyche."

Meade asked why I said "tromp," instead of "tramp," and I said "tromp" — which has a whiff of "stomp" — seems to suggest a heavier, clumsier stepping about in a more localized place, perhaps inside, and "tramp" seems more like a journey somewhere — maybe off into a landscape. Also, with "tramp," you might feel the leakage of slutty women and hobo men.

In the (unlinkable) OED, I discovered that "tromp" is a "variant... of tramp" that's mostly American dialect. Some notable examples make the Americanness really pop:
1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage x. 105 Yeh wanta go trompin' off.

1902 Dial. Notes 2 248 He tromped my toe.

1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary vi. 54 You'll tromp on a loose boa'd and find yoself downstairs befo you know hit....

1952 E. Ferber Giant xx. 334 You want to look out, Bick, she don't get tromped the way they're milling around today....

1962 J. Steinbeck Trav. with Charlie i. 12 About that time hurricane Donna was reported tromping her way out of the Caribbean.

1974 J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage v. 117 Edith heard Frau Reiner and the Chetniks whispering and tromping about in the living room....
I like how most of those examples confirm my sense that tromping happens in a more localized space — like your brain, when the guilt-trippers get there.

16 comments:

madAsHell said...

I've never slept with a tromp!!

traditionalguy said...

That was a Tromp L'Oeil of a etymological post.

Ann Althouse said...

Tromp Doyle -- that's what Walker did.

Walking, tromping, trumping...

Laslo Spatula said...

"... the leakage of slutty women and hobo men."

I need a mental paper towel for that.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

Tromp trumps Tramp.

I am Laslo.

traditionalguy said...

The Donald said he alone trumped Romney into quitting.

The Treading of feet means a host of enemies is coming near. That is why troops are marched by to impress watchers.

Scott said...

Trounce.

Danno said...

Remedial schooling by Althouse - Once upon a time I was hitchhiking out in the back roads of of greater Madison looking like quite the tramp. However, I was wearing a Packer Cheesehead and an "I Stand with Walker" sign, so Meade decided to pick me up for a ride back to town. I complemented him on his ride and he tromped on the pedal and the TT thew us back in our seats.

Got it!

Danno said...

s/b threw

FullMoon said...

"... the leakage of slutty women and hobo men."


Jesus, I just saw a picture of a crude urethral syringe used to treat gonorrhea aboard Blackbeards ship.AA musta seen it also


I am not a pirate

FWBuff said...

My father raised both cotton and sheep on our farm in Texas. As a boy, I had two chores that required me to "tromp" -- tromping cotton as we stripped it from the field so that we could fit more in the trailers and tromping wool as we sheared the sheep so that we could fit more fleeces in the sacks. We only used "tromp" for those tasks, both of which were limited to small areas!

Phil 314 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Phil 314 said...

Funny, when I first read this my mind went to "tramp" as in "trollop"

Laslo has gotten into my head.

richard mcenroe said...

You tromp through the snow to visit a tramp. Not hard....

Carter Wood said...

In German, "trampen" means to hitchhike, but I'm guessing that's a back-formation from the English.

Avidreader said...

1881 J C Harris Tales of Uncle Remus 57 "You'll trompel on dat bark twel hit won't be fit ter ter fling 'way let 'lone make hoss-collars out'n, said Uncle Remus, as the little boy came running into his cabin out of the rain."