.. this gives us a short insight into the etymology of brand-new but it is the usage that concerns me .. when should/can/do we use brand-new in preference to simply new .. is it governed by the noun to be qualified ?? .. looking at the etymology of brand-new can we only use that term correctly in referring to something that can be branded ?? .. this is patently not the case as I commonly hear people say, for instance, I started a brand-new job today." or We have a brand-new boss." .. a look in Eric Partridge's Usage and Abusage doesn't contrast the two words but does add some width by introducing the variation bran-new .. hmmm this is getting deeper than I wanted but >>Archived Topic
0 Posts
Posted - 14 Jul 1998 : 00:00:00
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What is the difference between 'new' and 'brand new'?
Submitted by David Johnson (Concord - U.S.A.)
Jonathon Green
0 Posts
Posted - 16 Jul 1998 : 08:00:00
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Brand-new comes from the imagery of the iron foundary. It refers to the
piece of metal that is new from the brand, i.e. something, usu. a piece of
wood, that has been burning on the hearth; thus the term means as if fresh
and glowing from the furnace.
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Jonathon Green
.. it seems to boil down to whether something can be newer than new and if that is so then maybe that is where we use brand-new .. wot think ye wizards ??? ..BRAND-NEW.}
BRAN-NEW.} (Teut. brand new.) Quite new.
This word is provincial in the North of England, and is used in colloquial language in other parts, as well as in the United States. Mr. Todd suggests whether the expression may not have been originally brent-new, or bren-new, from the Saxon brennan, to burn, equivalent in meaning to fire-new, i. e., anything new from the forge; hence the secondary sense, just finished, quite new. The Dutch expression is explained by Kilian by vier-new.--Forby--Brockett.
Dr. Jamieson calls this a Scottish word.
---- Waes me, I hae forgot,
With hast of coming off; to fetch my coat.
What shall I do? It was almaist brand new;
'Tis but a hellier since't came off the clew.--Ross's Helenore, p. 53.
Source:Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett (1848)
WoZ of Aus 14/03/06