A Hot Needle and Burning Thread

Hello, welcome to A Way with Words.

Hello.

Hi, who’s this?

This is Margaret Vann in Huntsville, Alabama.

Well, hello, Margaret. Welcome to the show.

Hey, Margaret. What’s up?

Well, my mother had a very interesting saying that always bothered me because it didn’t make sense.

But the saying was, when she was in a hurry to get something done, or was trying to hurry us to get something done, she says, we’ve got to do this with a burning needle and a hot thread.

Wow. And what did you picture?

Well, it didn’t make sense to me because I thought the needle should be burning and the thread should be hot.

I mean, the other way around.

The other way, yeah.

Well, yeah. Yeah. Usually when you hear this phrase, it’s the needle that’s hot and it’s the thread that’s burning.

And often you hear it as a red hot needle and a burning thread.

This phrase has been around for quite a while.

People often use it to refer to something that looks like it’s sewn with a red hot needle and a burning thread.

You know, somebody was sewing as fast as they could and it looks slapdash and sloppy.

You know, they got it done, but it ain’t pretty.

And Margaret, you’ll enjoy this.

There’s a jaunty tune from the 1950s called A Red Hot Needle.

It’s by Bob Willis in the Texas Playboys.

Oh, shit.

Yeah, it’s really cute.

It has this refrain that goes, I’m sewing up a coat of love with a red-hot needle and a burning thread.

I’m writing her a note of love with a red-hot pencil and a burning lead.

They go on to say, I’m in a hurry, got to make up time.

That’s why I’m using speed.

So the idea is they’re doing something really quickly because they’re really in love.

How cool is that?

That’s really cool.

And who was the group that did that song now?

That’s Bob Willis and the Texas Playboys.

And something else I really love about this expression is that in parts of the Caribbean, the phrase hot needle burn thread describes something that’s done in haste.

And I saw one dictionary citation that goes, that wedding got to be hot needle burning thread.

And the reason is that it’s because the bride is pregnant.

Oh.

Yeah, sometimes it’s burnt thread, so run up with hot needle and burnt thread.

It is already done.

Mother was born in Middlesbrough, Kentucky, and I think 1904.

And so I guess she heard it from her mama, who also was a Kentuckian.

But my sister and I were talking about it, and only she and I remembered it.

Well, thank you, Margaret, so much for sharing your memories of this.

Take care of yourself, and thanks for calling.

Thanks, Margaret.

Well, thank you.

Thanks for taking my call.

Bye-bye.

Take care.

Bye.

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