pluff mud

English

Alternative forms

plough mud, pluff-mud

Etymology

From plough +‎ mud, referring to the mud's fertilising properties. The prevailing form reflects an extinct dialectal pronunciation of plough as /plʌf/.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌplʌf ˈmʌd/

Noun

pluff mud (uncountable)

(South Carolina) A kind of dark, sticky, and smelly mud associated with salt marshes.
- [1848, M. Tuomey, chapter VI, in Report on the Geology of South Carolina […] ‎^[1], Columbia S. C.: A. S. Johnston, page 136:
  There is a black mud, which is found in the marshes and other places in Charleston harbour. It is called "pluff mud", and when dry it resembles this shale more nearly than any substance I have seen.]
- 1868, N. A. Pratt, Ashley River Phosphates […] ‎^[2], Philadelphia: Inquirer Book & Job Print, page 11:
  The third or upper bed includes the peaty deposits, yellow sands and clays, etc., etc., which overlie the pluff mud.
- 1906 October, John Bennett, chapter XVIII, in The Treasure of Peyre Gaillard […] ‎^[3], New York: The Century Co., →ISBN, page 141:
  Sebbem day an' sebbem night you gorn; sebbem day an' sebbem night 'e bin dis-away: gorm up wid ma'sh-watah an' pluff-mud, daid-beat an' sleepin' like er stone on de flo' be-front de fiah!
- 2014 July 8, Anne Rivers Siddons, The Girls of August‎^[4], Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:
  A ribbon of sand and grass bisected the pluff mud, and on the other side a lovely glade opened, gleaming like an emerald.