Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRINDLE
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
BRINDLE:
Say it "BRIN dull."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
The words brindle and brindled often describe the fur coats of certain animals.
So do our words m_ttl_d ("spotted, blotched") and v_r__g_t_d ("spotted, patchy, diverse"). Can you recall both?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The English word "brindle" probably came from a Middle English or Old English word meaning "brown, as if burnt or branded." (Sources disagree a bit on this.)
Today, "brindle" and "brindled" both mean "streaked with brown."
Here's a brindle Mastiff puppy:
And a brindle cow:
And some brindle brick:
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Like many other words for colors and patterns, "brindle" is both an adjective and a noun: "this dog has brindle fur," "this dog is a brindle."
"Brindled," with the D at the end, is only an adjective: "this dog has brindled fur."
Other forms: none.
how to use it:
"Brindle" is one of those rare, sophisticated words that helps you get really precise.
Use it to describe animals and their fur and hides; people's faces, hair, and beards; landscapes; logs and trees, etc.
When you do, you're suggesting that the dark, streaky, brownish pattern you're describing seems, or truly is, natural--as if it were printed there by fire, or by DNA.
We don't really apply "brindle" or "brindled" figuratively, so if you're wanting to describe figurative streaks or splotches, you might pick the word mottled instead.
examples:
"A sleek, white, and brindled [dog] thrusts himself into the conversation... Its manners are disgusting, and it gobbles over its food."
— Rudyard Kipling, From Sea to Sea: Letters of Travel, 1913
"[The director Todd Haynes], a trim, boyish fifty-eight, with dishevelled brindle hair, was standing at the epicenter of his newest drama..."
— John Lahr, The New Yorker, 4 November 2019
has this page helped you understand "brindle"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "brindle" without saying "streaked" or "streaky."
try it out:
When you're reading fiction and you meet a character described as "brindled," it's often someone big, strong, rugged, and full of authority--someone who calls to mind the power of some brindled animal, like a dog, wolf, cow, horse, bear, or lion.
Here's John Trotwood Moore, making an especially clear comparison between man and beast:
A large dog, brindled and lean, walked complacently and condescendingly in, followed by his master. At a glance, the least imaginative could see that Jud Carpenter, the Whipper-in of the Acme Cotton Mills, and Bonaparte, his dog, were well mated.
The man was large, raw-boned and brindled, and he, also, walked in, complacently and condescendingly.
With this example in mind, talk about another character from a book or movie who you could describe as brindled. What personality traits seem to match this character's dark, streaky appearance? What animal(s) does this character remind you of?
Need help thinking of someone? How about Hagrid from Harry Potter, Chewbacca from Star Wars, or Ezekiel from The Walking Dead?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
This month, our game is called "Fix the Grand Spell which was Cast by Short Words."
(Or, in monstrously inflated terms, the game is called "Rewrite the Extraordinary Incantation which was Executed by Monosyllabic Vocables.")
In each issue, I'll offer a familiar quote that I've heartlessly hypertrophied with polysyllabic transplants. You'll restore the quote to its original version, with each word just one syllable long.
That is to say, I'll share a fat, fake draft of a famed quote; you'll say the trim real one.
For example, if I say "Exploit an opportunity while the situation allows," then you say, "Make hay while the sun shines." If I say, "Durations remedy every laceration," then you say, "Time heals all wounds."
From the previous issue:
"Senescence should conflagrate and harangue at nightfall." --> "Old age should burn and rave at close of day."
Try this last one today:
"Devitalized by duration and destiny, but resolute in volition
To attempt, to pursue, to discover, and not to capitulate."
Say that, but in words of one beat each.
Clues:
Where it's from: a poem.
The year we first heard it: 1833.
review this word:
A. SOLID.
B. SUPPLE.
C. SPOOLED.
2. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, one of the narrators tells us to "picture the forest." She describes it: "The trees are columns of slick, brindled bark like _____ overgrown beyond all reason."
A. creamy teacups
B. muscular animals
C. stalks of cauliflower
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
The words brindle and brindled often describe the fur coats of certain animals.
The English word "brindle" probably came from a Middle English or Old English word meaning "brown, as if burnt or branded." (Sources disagree a bit on this.)
Part of speech:
"Brindle" is one of those rare, sophisticated words that helps you get really precise.
"A sleek, white, and brindled [dog] thrusts himself into the conversation... Its manners are disgusting, and it gobbles over its food."
Explain the meaning of "brindle" without saying "streaked" or "streaky."
When you're reading fiction and you meet a character described as "brindled," it's often someone big, strong, rugged, and full of authority--someone who calls to mind the power of some brindled animal, like a dog, wolf, cow, horse, bear, or lion.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
|