Leslie from Hickory, North Carolina, is curious about an expression her grandmother used when the weather was particularly warm. Leslie never saw the expression spelled out, but she guesses it was hot as bringup, and pronounced with a soft g. Was that saying uniquely hers? The more common version is hot as brinjer, an expression that’s likely related to the Scots word breenge, which as a verb means “to rush forward recklessly” and as a noun means “a punch” or “a blow.” In the Scots language, a breengin is “a beating.” In Southern Appalachian dialect, brinjer appears in comparative phrases expressing something extreme, such as hot as brinjer, cold as brinjer, and in statements such as today’s a brinjer or it’s brinjin’ cold today. This is part of a complete episode.
When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
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