Well, Burn My Clothes!

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Sue Steinacker. I’m calling in from Nome, Alaska.

Nome, Alaska. Welcome to the show, Sue.

Thank you. I’m excited to be here.

What’s on your mind?

Well, there is a phrase that my grandmother used to use, which got passed on to my mother. They’ve both long since passed away and never got an answer as to what it meant. But when my grandmother would eat something really delicious, she’d say, burn my clothing. So my mother would say the same thing, or she’d at least say my mother would say, burn my clothing. And I said, what do you think that means, Mom?

Did she?

My grandmother was quite a character. I said, did she make this up? Has it got a history to it? And my mother said, no, I have no idea. Her point was that whatever she was eating was so delicious that she died and gone to heaven, and the only thing left here were her clothes to be burned.

Well, it’s interesting that that was her version, because the far more common version is just, well, burn my clothes.

Oh, really?

Yes, yes. And we see that again and again. It strikes me that it’s similar to a lot of different expressions of astonishment. I’m looking at a collection of slang from the late 1940s. Well, blow my nose. Well, dash my buttons. Well, hush my mouth. Well, bash my binnacles. Well, put me to bed and call me early. Or well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.

But in the case of…

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of of a piece with those kinds of sayings that express astonishment. Or I think in the case of her expression, it’s the implication that something is so extreme, in her case something so delicious, that, yeah, you’re not going to need your clothes anymore. And I like your idea that maybe it was because she ascended to heaven or something and no clothes are going to be needed there.

Well, that was how my cousin interpreted it. So I thought, okay, well, that’s an interesting one. But that’s so interesting that this burn my clothing or burn my clothes has been used by others.

Oh, yeah, since the 1880s at least.

Really?

But not necessarily in relationship to eating something so good you’ve gone to heaven and there’s nothing left but your clothes?

No, but in terms of being astonished by something or as an expression of, an exclamation of remarking on something amazing or surprising.

Well, that’s great. I occasionally say it myself.

So we’ll keep it going.

Yeah.

Well, burn my clothes or burn my clothing, as you say.

Yeah, that’s what she would say. Burn my clothing.

Thanks for sharing your memories of her with us. She sounds like quite a one.

Well, thank you. I appreciate learning more about the origins of her sayings, as well as getting to share a little bit about this remarkable woman. So thank you very much.

Our pleasure.

Thank you, Sue.

Take care.

You too. Bye-bye.

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