A Pain Under the Pinny

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, Grant. This is Lois calling from Newfoundland.

Hi, Lois. Welcome to the show.

Hi, Lois.

How are things there?

Hi, Martha. Thank you so much for having me.

A couple of weeks ago, I was out walking my dogs, and when I got back from walking them, I was thirsty, and they were hungry, and they were demanding food.

So I guzzled down a soft drink, and then I started getting their food ready.

And while I was getting it ready, I was chatting away to the dogs, like I always do.

And the gas from the soft drinks started moving around uncomfortably, and I told the dogs I had a pain in the pinny.

And they looked at me like I had two heads.

So I thought I’d better explain to them what I mean.

And I realized I don’t know what I mean.

Precisely. I’ve never heard of a penny outside of my mom or me using it.

A pain in the penny, and your dogs were befuddled.

First, what kind of dogs do you have? What are your little sweeties?

Standard poodles.

Oh, they’re really smart, but they had never heard that expression.

They had never heard that particular expression before. That stumped them.

Pain in the penny, P-I-N-N-Y, do you think?

I suspect so, yes.

Okay.

Yeah, well, that’s a phrase that you really don’t hear much in the United States at all.

But to have a pain in the penny or a pain under the penny is something that you’ll hear in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England.

It’s actually a pain in the pinafore.

Originally, you would pin a pinafore over a dress.

What’s super cool about that word is it’s very picturesque.

You pin it a four.

That is, you pin this apron in front of you.

So this covers the torso and it’s kind of the skirt area, right?

Yeah, it protects the front of your dress.

Like fastens around the neck and around the waist.

Yeah, and it’s like an apron that you would take off after you’ve finished cooking or something.

And so you hear this expression, I have a pain in the penny or I have a pain under the penny.

I think that one might be more common.

But it’s, you know, where your pinafore would go, that part that goes over your belly.

Do you think that this is kind of a way of not talking about parts of the body, kind of not impoletly mentioning?

Yeah, I think maybe mom would have been uncomfortable saying certain things.

So, you know, if she had a bit of gas, she probably wouldn’t want to say that.

That makes a lot of sense.

And here you are saying it on, you know, all North American radio.

Canada and the United States now know about your gas, Lois.

Well, I wonder where she picked it up.

I checked and none of her siblings had ever used that expression, apparently.

Well, it’s got a long history.

How far back would you say that goes, Martha?

At least to the late 19th century.

But again, you’re not going to hear it in the U.S.

Where was she from?

Oh, from Newfoundland, yeah.

Okay.

Like you, right?

So Newfoundland, Canada.

Yeah, absolutely.

Definitely the Commonwealth country,

So it makes sense that you and your mother would use it.

Definitely more common in Canada than the U.S.,

But it has faded, wouldn’t you say, Martha?

Oh, definitely.

Just not on the way out, pretty much.

Pinafores just are on the way out.

Right.

Oh, well, this is displaying my age now.

Will you still wear pinafores in your 40s?

That’s weird.

Oh, God bless you, Grant.

So, Lois, you can take this back to your dogs and explain the whole thing.

I absolutely will.

Thank you so much.

It’s our pleasure.

Yeah, thanks for calling.

Take care of yourself and give those doggies a treat for us, will you?

I certainly will.

All right, then.

Take care.

Thank you so much.

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