As a kid on Long Island I think we called these dining needles but I was never quite sure if the older kid who lived next door was saying dining or darning but my level of inquisitiveness was limited at that time. Now with the magic of google I found the following with an interesting point about Brooklyn!
“Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. In Brooklyn, dragonflies were called “Dining Needles” due to a local accent causing a lexical shift from the original slang “Darning Needle”. Dragonflies are sometimes colloquially called “devil’s darning needles”, as no differences exist between the two as they are one and the same.”
Wow!
As a kid on Long Island I think we called these dining needles but I was never quite sure if the older kid who lived next door was saying dining or darning but my level of inquisitiveness was limited at that time. Now with the magic of google I found the following with an interesting point about Brooklyn!
“Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. In Brooklyn, dragonflies were called “Dining Needles” due to a local accent causing a lexical shift from the original slang “Darning Needle”. Dragonflies are sometimes colloquially called “devil’s darning needles”, as no differences exist between the two as they are one and the same.”