North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

To Stephan and anyone else still interested in this discussion.

You misunderstand my intentions and assertions.  After you presented your dictionary definitions I did not question the correctness of those definitions just where the usage was being employed.  I never assumed that my belief that this usage was limited to the less knowledgeable public was correct, which is why I asked for input from other members.  I was obviously trying to communicate my own uncertainty.

I find your tone unnecessarily combative and can only assume that my original posting appeared the same to you for which I apologize.

As far as commercial growers in CA and how they use the word prune, I suspect that the reason for it is that the vast majority of their product has been used for drying.  If their product was primarily used fresh they might have a different usage.  California's fresh crop of plums is primarily Japanese types, I believe, so it is logical that their usage would evolve to this shorthand.  This is just a guess, and I welcome any contradictory information.  I don't have a lot of ego investment here.  Honest!