diamond needle n [Folk-etym for darning needle n, prob with dining needle n as an intermediate step] seNY
A dragonfly n.
1982 Lang. in Society 11.413 seNY, In the New York area, there are three local terms for “dragon fly”: darning needle, dining needle, and diamond needle. Ibid 417, Our particular hypothesis, that darning needle moved to dining needle and then to diamond needle, is supported by the data. . . The move from dining to diamond has no phonetic explanation and we attributed it solely to the semantic inscrutability of dining needle. 2012 DARE File—Internet Brooklyn NY, I remember calling dragonflies “diamond-needles.” Brooklyn, 60s. 2015 Ibid Long Is. NY, Im not sure if this terminology was only used in my hood (bayshore/Brentwood) but does anyone remember calling a dragonfly a “Diamond Needle”?