Things we say: December 2008 Archives

You might remember I asked for input on chintzy - if you knew what it meant, and if you considered it a Yorkism.

I asked that because a certain coworker of mine had never heard that before, and he swore it was because it was a Yorkism. I said there was no way, that it was used lots of places. (He's from Baltimore. It's like a whole 'nother country, I swear.)

I think it does get good use in York, though of course it's not from here. I'd venture to say that's because, even though we're a thrifty sort of people, we also like good-quality stuff. So we'll be the first to tell you if we think we've gotten something "chintzy."

It really is going to be a chintzy post.

Here's the question: Do you know what chintzy means? And is it a Yorkism? (Again, take Yorkism to mean something that is said a lot here and not necessarily said commonly elsewhere, but which isn't JUST from around here.)

I thought we were due for a couple of "light" posts... since I'm sure we all "ate heavy" over the holidays, right?

This one comes from faithful reader Jo. She'd mentioned in before, but in her response to my discout meat post, she used it again, and it reminded me.

It's "a go of" something. In her comment, she mentions that her quality but inexpensive ground beef went in part to make "a nice go of chili." We had talked before about making "a go of" iced tea instead of a pitcher.

Now, my question is, what's that come from? I couldn't find anything online. One idea I had is it might be short for a "go-around" or "go-round." (You know, a complete ... something is a go-round? So a complete "thing" of iced tea might be a "go" instead of a pitcher. A complete "thing" of chili might be a "go" instead of a pot.)

I don't know. Just an idea. Discuss!!