"reek"?

[Robin Hamilton]

Transparent in my idiolect.

Somewhere around the "fig[urative]" aspect of OED REEK v1:

<<
1. intr. Chiefly Sc., Irish English, and Eng. regional (north. and midl.) in
later use. Now rare.

    a. Of something burning or smouldering: to emit or give off smoke. Also
fig.

  Only literary in English non-regional use.
>>

For example, "He reeks (stinks, smells) of money," so usually used with a
negative connotation.

Non-metaphorically, I'd recognise it (literal smoke from a chimney), but
probably only in a literary and/or archaic (Scots) context -- "Lang may yir
lum reek!" (Long may your chimney smoke), or "Auld Reekie" as an
affectionate (??  !!!) name for Edinburgh in Burns and Fergusson in the
18thC.

If it's cropping up on the Dirty Digger's News Channel, mibee there's an
Australian connection somewhere.

            :-(

Robin

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Charles C Doyle" <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 2:53 PM
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject:      "reek"?

> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      "reek"?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The baseball commentator on the Fox network Saturday, extolling the
> qualities of the Braves' new first baseman, Derrek Lee, said:  "He reeks
> of class."
>
> --Charlie
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org