Query: alleged word "mingya"

[Gerald Cohen]

   A friend sent me a query about an alleged word "mingya." Would
anyone have any information about it? The query appears below my
signoff.

    Also, many thanx for the responses to my earlier queries.

Gerald Cohen


[Message I received on "mingya"]:

>A bookselling colleague raised a question that none of us have been
>able to answer. I have checked my etymologies and on-line sites with
>no definitive answer. It may be entirely a regional use, but here
>goes, in case you or someone else can supply an answer:
>
>>  i need a definition of the word 'mingya.'
>>
>>  it's a commonly used expression here in the Merrimack valley
>>  and I would like to use it in a newspaper column for the new year.
>>  however the editor/publisher has no idea what it means,
>>  (not surprising)
>>  and we would like to have some inkling.
>
>Any help appreciated!
>