# Where is the phrase "shining me on" in general use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800 "2007-07-07T02:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/1 "2007-07-07T02:23:37Z")
Today’s Dear Abby column used the phrase “shining me on” which I discovered, by use of Google, means to agree with someone even when you don’t agree with them. What parts of the counrty use this phrase? I live in Ohio, and lived for many years in Georgia, and have never heard the term before, but the number of Google hits indicates that it is pretty common somewhere. So, where? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/2 "2007-07-07T02:40:54Z")
I remember using it in Southern California in the 60’s but it has been a long time and many miles since I have heard it. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/3 "2007-07-07T08:01:08Z")
It is very common here in central Mississipppi. And, not just ‘agreeing with someone when you don’t agree with them’ but also encouraging someone to believe in something which isn’t true, or valid, or likely to come to pass. As in “he kept sayin’ he was gonna ask me to prom, but he was just shinin’ me on” or “he kept hollerin’ like he wanted to buy my truck but he was just shinin’ me on”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/4 "2007-07-07T11:14:38Z")
I vote for [Another piece of late 60s / early 70s lingo that’s making a comeback]. I guess in Central MS things happen slow enough the slang never left. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/5 "2007-07-07T11:18:41Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] It is very common here in central Mississipppi. And, not just ‘agreeing with someone when you don’t agree with them’ but also encouraging someone to believe in something which isn’t true, or valid, or likely to come to pass. As in “he kept sayin’ he was gonna ask me to prom, but he was just shinin’ me on” or “he kept hollerin’ like he wanted to buy my truck but he was just shinin’ me on”. [/QUOTE] What NinetyWt said. It was in use in norcal in the 1970’s. Dunno about now. Shining me on is a good form of bullshit. As in, he was bullshitting me. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/6 "2007-07-07T11:20:18Z")
My mother still uses it, mostly when she thinks I’m blowing her off. She’s in her late 50s, from Southern California. Robin, who frequently blows her mother off ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/7 "2007-07-07T14:56:43Z")
East Coast here. Never heard of it. For **NinetyWt** ’s meaning, I’d saying “leading me on”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/8 "2007-07-07T15:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] What NinetyWt said. It was in use in norcal in the 1970’s. Dunno about now. Shining me on is a good form of bullshit. As in, he was bullshitting me. [/QUOTE] **NinetyWt** has the version I have heard, too, in Alabama and Tennessee, but I wouldn’t consider it as a “common” expression, certainly not as common as “bullshit” or even some of these that convey similar things: yanking one’s chain feeding one a line leading one on owning somebody gaslighting somebody The phrase has a tinge of quaintness as far as I’m concerned and a sort of datedness in these parts. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/9 "2007-07-07T15:43:34Z")
A related question: is “steal away” still used anywhere? The term seemed quite common in 1970s-era rock songs, but I never hear it in common use. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/10 "2007-07-07T15:44:05Z")
Southern California in the '70s. Haven’t heard (or used) it in decades. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/11 "2007-07-07T21:13:15Z")
I went to college in San Diego from 1975 to 1980, and I often heard the expression “shine (something) on”, with (something) usually an early class or just anything the speaker didn’t want to do. But I never heard of “shining someone on”. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/12 "2007-07-07T21:22:32Z")
I’m from Southern Ontario, and I’d never heard of the phrase before reading this thread. I’ve not heard anyone down here say it, either. Nor “gaslighting.” ---
**Author:** ![wendigo1974](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@wendigo1974](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendigo1974)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/13 "2007-07-07T21:29:40Z")
I’ve only heard the phrase used in film by the young John Connor in Terminator 2, he’s supposed to be a Californian 😑 ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/14 "2007-07-08T04:03:11Z")
There’s also the song “Shine It All On” by E/Eels (not sure when it came out), which seems to imply lying to oneself or pretending something does not exist. I’m not sure where E is from, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-phrase-shining-me-on-in-general-use/410800/15 "2007-07-08T11:42:19Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] I’m from Southern Ontario, and I’d never heard of the phrase before reading this thread. I’ve not heard anyone down here say it, either. Nor “gaslighting.” [/QUOTE] If you ever see that it’ll be on on TCM or Retro or an oldies movies channel, you owe it to yourself to see [Gaslight (1944)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036855/) with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. The term has been used for much simpler ploys and ruses, but its origin probably precedes the notion in the movie.