Shining Me On

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Wendy Hawkins in Aloha, Oregon.

What’s up?

Well, I was just typing an email to somebody and I started to say something about,

Are you just shining me on?

And I suddenly hesitated and thought, I don’t know why that means what it means.

And I know that the word shine can sometimes be problematic, whether rightfully so,

Whether it earned the reputation or whether it’s actually used in a way that wasn’t

Originally offensive, but maybe it is today.

So I’d like to know where it comes from, how it means, what it means, and whether I should use it.

What was the context of the email?

Oh, just, you know, somebody proposing something that seemed a little bit bogus to me or something that I might also say,

Are you just blowing smoke up my skirt, which, again, is one that I might hesitate.

Yeah, I think I’d hesitate about that one a little more.

And so you’re worried that this might be offensive how?

Well, I know being married to a North Carolina man that the word shine was in the past at least used sometimes in offensive ways racially.

And if this has any, if this smacks of any of that, I wouldn’t want to use it.

Unfortunately, it’s still currently used that way.

Shine is an offensive term for a black person.

Yes, indeed.

That’s to be avoided.

But fortunately for you, it’s different from to shine someone on.

It’s a completely different word, different context.

And in fact, to shine someone on or to shine someone up or just to shine someone actually is recorded most often in the language of black Americans.

So it’s not it’s not something that they’ve used racially to apply to themselves at all.

So you’re safe with that.

Yeah. And it’s good that the meaning that you were using it to kind of bluff or delude or fool or to trick is that’s pretty much the most common meaning today.

But there are a number of meanings to shine someone on.

Because, you know, like a lot of slang, it’s variable, and it’s not incredibly fixed in the language.

You can use it to mean to ignore.

To ignore someone is to shine them on.

Huh.

How did it get to mean these things?

This is origin unknown.

Oh, I hate when you tell me that.

Well, Wendy, let me tell you.

I know what you mean.

Here’s the strongest lead that I have.

And I think it’s very solid, and I think it’s something we can probably believe in and say that no more work is required, okay?

But still, I’m not going to claim this as definitive.

There’s an expression to shine up to someone that’s much older, from the mid-1800s, whereas to shine someone on is from like the 1960s or so.

And to shine up to someone is to ingratiate yourself to them, particularly if you’re doing it in an insincere way.

And because it’s older and because it has a vague resemblance to the modern to shine someone on, I think that there’s probably a connection there.

And they probably both go back to the action of smiling.

That sounds a little bit like apple polishing or kissing up.

Yeah, being deceptive in both cases.

If you smile, you can be said to shine.

You have a smile, shine.

And you put on this false happy face while you’re blowing smoke, as you put it, right?

Right. So it’s the idea of falseness in both cases.

Yeah. And I think the key here is your face is literally shining with a smile while you’re telling the lie or you’re bluffing somebody.

It’s particularly used when you’re acting as if everything is great, even when it’s not.

Yeah.

Well, in any case, you’re on solid ground, and so use it in good health.

All right.

Thank you so much for your call, Wendy.

Yeah, I hope you got your money’s worth.

Absolutely.

A pleasure talking to you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Well, if there’s something you’ve got on the tip of your tongue or the tip of your pen

And you’re not sure that you should use it or say it, where are the people to ask?

The number to call is 1-877-929-9673.

That’s 1-877-Wayword.

Or send an email to words@waywordradio.org.