Legal Writing

Weird word usage

This sentence in a CNN.com report sent me to the dictionary:

Chelsea Clinton will spend three days there to strum up last-minute votes before the state's Tuesday caucuses, said a source from her mother's campaign.

Did I miss something? Can someone "strum up," instead of "drum up," support? The dictionaries I checked don't give that meaning for "strum." I guess the writer was reaching for a more melodic metaphor.

Read this definition of "drum" from the OED: 'To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to secure partisans, customers, etc.; with for' (Webster 1864). The Webster's New World College Dictionary defines "drum up" as "to get business by soliciting."

As light as Miss Clinton's touch must be, I do think she will "drum up," not "strum up," votes.

Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on February 17, 2008 (boomark / email).