Monday, 24 October 2016

Words and phrases - Binky

GB recently pointed out that I hadn't blogged any words or phrases lately.  If time permitted I would continue to add to my Word blog.  But perhaps I should just add some here occasionally.  Here is today's  appropriate word -

Binky (pl. binkies)
In the Peanuts cartoon, Linus van Pelt
is rarely seen without his blanket

  • (informal) A stuffed animal, blanket, or toy that a small child is more attached to than any other, and often sleeps with.
  •  A high hop that a rabbit may perform when happy.
  • (US, informal) A baby's dummy (pacifier) In the U.S. and a number of other countries, BINKY is a brand of pacifiers, owned by Playtex Products, Inc.  (In the UK - or at least to me -Playtex only brings to mind 'the living bra' they used to advertise)
  • - 
    • Posted by Scriptor Senex at 03:15

    9 comments:

    1. yaya24 October 2016 at 04:01

      I've always thought Binky was that thing that was stuffed in a child's mouth so they wouldn't cry! I never used them with my kiddos but I know some kids get very attached to sucking on them and it's hard to take them off when they get bigger.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Scriptor Senex24 October 2016 at 05:50

        Yes, YaYa, that's the third definition - the pacifier. Apparently, Playtex got upset when the name was used not just for their brand name pacifiers but as a generic name for all pacifiers. (A bit like the fact that electric vacuum cleaners in the UK are often known as hoovers despite not being made by Hoover but by Electrolux or other companies.)

        Delete
    2. Librarian24 October 2016 at 07:41

      I had a binky, a hand-sewn rag doll my Mum had made for me. Its body was shaped like a small pillow and that is what I used it for. I slept on/with it for years, and my Mum had a hard time persuading me that it needed washing occasionally. Her name was Schlumbl.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Tabor24 October 2016 at 08:17

      Or kleenex being the name for tissues in the US.

      ReplyDelete
    4. DawnTreader24 October 2016 at 10:55

      I may have seen or heard the word in some baby-related context, but I'm pretty sure that I never heard the bunny-related definition before!

      ReplyDelete
    5. messymimi24 October 2016 at 11:18

      Or the way all facial tissues are now just known as kleenex, even if made by another company. Of course, down here we have to be different and call the pacifier a "bippy." No, i don't know when or how that started.

      ReplyDelete
    6. Marcheline25 October 2016 at 22:51

      Amazing all the funny words we make up for things, innit? Baba, binkie, wubby, nookie, chuk-chuk, nibbles, snarkle, tinkle, whoopie, wham-hammer. That last one is my nick-name for a spinning backfist in MMA fighting.

      ReplyDelete
    7. Graham Edwards26 October 2016 at 08:14

      Binky is a word I didn't know. However as for you Playtex only brings to mind their old adverts about living bras.

      ReplyDelete
    8. Heleen29 October 2016 at 00:14

      Thank you for having me (us) learn new words :-)
      Never would have thought of the meanings of 'binkies' you mentioned: a 'bink' in Dutch means a 'tough guy'!..

      And such a great picture of the high hopping rabbit! One of our two guinea piggies performs 'binkies', too, when happy, though in Dutch we name such a hop a 'bokkensprong' = 'male goat's hop/jump':-)

      ReplyDelete

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