Cutting a Head Shine

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi there, how are you doing today?

I’m good, how are you?

Good, my name is Jane Smith and it is so fictitious sounding, but trust me, it’s real and I’m real.

Well, Jane, we’re glad to talk to you. Where are you calling from?

I’m calling from Elk Park, North Carolina, way up in the mountains.

We’re just not on the edge of Tennessee and North Carolina in the upper portion.

But we have grown up with many what I think are funny sayings over the years.

But one I just had to share with you is when I was a young girl.

My great uncle, he always had this phrase that when he was referring to a small child or a child that was misbehaving, and he was telling somebody about it later, he would say, now, youngins, I’m telling you, that child was cutting a head shine.

And it’s like, as a young girl, I’m thinking, what in the world would a head shine look like?

So here I’m still trying to, even as an adult, to figure out in my mind, visually, what cutting a head shine would look like.

So maybe you can help me.

So what are you imagining, that all the children are becoming bald from their antics?

Well, you know, that was my first thought, too.

Are they standing on their heads, spinning around like some demonic thing, you know, or something?

That’s the only thing I could come up with.

So what the thing would be is, okay, is any of the listeners able to put some kind of action, visual picture to this saying?

That would be very interesting.

Oh, my.

That is wonderful.

Well, now I have a question for you, Jane. Did he ever use head in any other kind of way?

Not that I remember.

Okay. The reason I ask that is because in the Smoky Mountains, the term head is sometimes used as an adjective to mean like the most outstanding of its kind, the best.

And I’m thinking that the word shine has been used since at least the 1830s to mean like a trick or a caper or a prank.

And so you might talk about somebody cutting a shine or cutting shines.

That’s true.

That’s true.

I had not thought about that.

That’s exactly true.

Okay.

All right.

So I’m thinking that maybe cutting a head shine is cutting just the shine to end all shines.

Like the finale.

Yeah, exactly.

With the fireworks and the Bollywood ending.

That is funny.

Do you know cut a dido or to pull a dido?

I’ve never heard that one, though.

It means the same thing.

You talk about a child cutting didos or pulling a dido.

Okay, they’re just connected.

Maybe that was the city-fied version of it.

No, it’s British and country, but okay.

But it’s all funny, and I do enjoy your show.

Oh, well, Jane, we enjoy hearing from you.

I’ve always said I always melt at the sound of an East Tennessee, West Carolina accent.

My dad was from Kannapolis.

Actually, he was born at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain there in a log cabin.

So you sound like home.

Absolutely.

We can fix you up.

You’ve got my number.

All right.

I’m going to hike in the Smokies this summer, so I may just call you.

Do call me.

I’m telling you, we could have so much fun.

And I’ve got a list of more things I could tell you.

The state will be on fire.

You two together.

Oh, Jane and I are going to be cutting a head shine.

We will cut a head shine.

A dual head shine.

Jane, you’re a treat.

Thanks for calling us.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me.

All right.

See you later.

Bye-bye.

Yeah, I see.

You’re packing your bags already, aren’t you?

I am.

I am.

She just sounds like…

You’re going to go up in the woods, pick blackberries in August, poke in the spring.

We might drink some splo juice or some panther sweat.

On the porch, right, looking down in the holler.

I get it.

Oh, those are my daddy’s people.

Call us.

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