E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Plum.
A plum bed (Devonshire). A soft bed, in which the down lies light.
1
The dough plums well (Devonshire). Rises well, and will not be heavy.
2
The cake is nice and plum (Devonshire). Light. (Plump, swelled out.)
3
He is worth a plum. The Spanish pluma means both plumage and wealth. Hence tiene pluma (he has feathered his nest). We arbitrarily place this deside-ratum at £100,000, and the man who has realised only £50,000 has got only half a plum. “Either a plum or a plumstone”—i.e. “Aut Cæsar aut nullus.”
