Message posted by JB737 on May 31, 2007 at 23:31:33 PST:

The definition I had in mind was:

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plain-Jane
adj.
Lacking adornment or pretension; basic or simple
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So Rob is right, "plain manila" or "plain vanilla" are close synonyms, though less idiomatic.

This two-word adjective can (like most others) be hyphenated or not as a matter of style choice. I chose to hyphenate it, so that it would less easily be confused as a typo of "plane" or "JANET".

If the boom had been extended or more visible, that would be both an adornment and a complexity, so the idiom would not fit.

JB737

In Reply to: Re: I believe its spelled..... posted by Rob Foster on May 31, 2007 at 10:23:14 PST:

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