| Mel Kopel of Windsor, Conn., writes to ask why food is served "piping hot" and a car fresh from the showroom floor is "spanking new" (as opposed to the "clanking old" clunker you traded in for it).
You could conjure up several tactile or visual explanations for "piping hot." After all, various types of pipes contain hot water, hot steam or hot tobacco. Or you might even surmise that the spirals of steam arising from a hot apple pie reminded someone of vertical pipes.
Alas, these are all pipe dreams. The key sensation behind this phrase is neither touch nor sight; it is sound.
Food that's hot sometimes makes a hissing or whistling sound as it emits steam or juices. This sizzling apparently caused someone to think of musical pipes -- flutes, piccolos, recorders, clarinets, bagpipes. So, a busy kitchen churning out steaming soups, stews, roasts and vegetables seemed like a wheezy woodwind ensemble.
As for "spanking new," many amateur word sleuths have succumbed to the "verben legend" -- that this term derives from the practice of spanking babies just after birth to start their breathing. And what could be newer than a seconds- old baby?
It's a charming explanation, but there's no evidence to support it. Etymologists propose three different origins of "spanking new," and none involves spanking anyone.
Some contend that the phrase derives from the Scandinavian word "spanke" (to strut). The idea being that something that struts is good or exceptionally fine and, by extension, striking or remarkable.
Hence, during the 1700s, people began speaking of a "spanking horse" and later of a "spanking pace." Soon they were using "spanking" as an adverb, meaning "extremely," as in "spanking new."
By contrast, the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins traces the term to a sailor's word for a fresh, lively breeze, the exemplification of newness.
Still others believe "spanking new" is a variation of "span new." As Charles Earle Funk notes in "Horsefeathers and Other Curious Words," an old meaning of "span" was "a chip freshly cut by a woodsman's ax," so "span new" meant "very new."
This meaning of "span" also pops up in another phrase for new or clean -- "spick-and-span." "Spick" is an old word for a spike just off the blacksmith's forge (presumably, piping hot).
I'm going with the Funky explanation. If you don't agree, spank me!
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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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