bran(d)-new

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 11:17 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Benjamin Zimmer
> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> >
> > My latest Word Routes column is on "brand-new" vs. "bran-new":
> >
> > http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1626/
>
> IIRC, there's a pun on that in _The Wizard of Oz_. In the book, the
> Wizard grants the Scarecrow's wish by filling his head with bran
> instead of straw, thus giving him "bran-new brains".

Yes, as I mention in the final paragraph of the column.


--Ben Zimmer

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