A Real Blinger

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

This is Jan, and I’m calling from Carmel, Indiana.

Well, Jan, welcome to the program.

Hi, Jan.

Thank you.

I have a question about a word that I heard in the context of large storms when I was growing up. My mother used to say, well, this one’s going to be a real blinger.

So the word is blinger.

-huh.

And what did she mean by that?

She meant that it was something out of the ordinary. Usually it meant it was going to be a grand event, a lot of winds. It usually came up quickly and unexpected. And it was used very infrequently. It was only, you know, for special weather conditions.

-huh.

Blinger.

And so it’s spelled like finger but with B-L?

Yeah, right.

Exactly.

And so what’s your question about it?

I just wondered if you knew if that word existed or the origin of it, and I was wondering if it had a regional existence or something like that.

-huh, or maybe just your family used it, huh?

Right.

When was your mother born, do you know?

My mother was born in 1920, and her parents had immigrated from England. And they lived, originally they lived in Canada near Hespler, and then they emigrated over to Detroit. So that’s where I grew up was in Detroit.

Well, I love this word, don’t you?

It’s great. It’s really, it’s been a curiosity with me for years. And my mother is gone now, so I can’t question her about it. But it’s got a lot of descriptive quality to it.

Yeah, it’s a blinger of a word, right?

That’s right.

Yeah.

Well, you’d be happy to know that it is a word. And you’re right that you don’t see it in most dictionaries. But you will find it every once in a while. It’s in the Dictionary of American Regional English, for example.

Okay.

And it’s used mostly in the Northeast, according to that dictionary. And it means, as you said, an extreme or outstanding example of its kind. There’s one citation in this dictionary from 1949 that says, it’s talking about people who caught colds, and it says 179 of them developed real blingers.

Okay, okay.

So it’s something out of the ordinary then again.

Yeah, exactly. Something that’s really outstanding. It goes back much further than that. I’ve seen it back as far as 1897, talking about a good-looking girl.

Wow.

Yeah, the quote there is, a blinger, a stunner, the handsomest girl I ever set eyes on.

She must be something, huh?

That’s really interesting.

Interesting. I’m glad that you guys are able to identify this, because every time I try to search it on the Internet, it gets muddled up with all the word that bling means now, you know, the newer meaning, and that pops up, and I can’t find any reference to it.

Yeah, there’s no connection between bling-bling, as in the hip-hop term, and this blinger.

No, no, they’re totally different.

Okay, well, I’m just tickled to death that you guys knew.

I kind of thought you would be the source.

We are a blinger of a source. Come on.

And when we’re not the source, we know where to check.

That’s right. That’s exactly right.

Thank you so much for giving us a call, Jan.

Okay, well, thank you for taking my call.

Okay.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Well, if you have a family word or phrase that you’re curious about, give us a call. The number is 1-877-929-9673 or send those emails to words@waywordradio.org.