When I first moved to Troy NY from downstate, I found that people used the word "bold" in the same way that I was used to using "bad" or "naughty", usually to children who are acting up:
"Tommy, stop pulling the cat's tail. You're being bold!" When I pointed out to people that this was unfamiliar to me, they looked at me like I had two heads. This appears to be VERY local usage-- I haven't heard people in nearby Albany or Schenectady use bold in this way.
An older usage was told to me by a Troy native, although I haven't heard it in modern use. People in South Troy apparently would say of a person with an overly inflated opinion of himself that "he thinks who he is". Doesn't make any linguistic sense at all, but I find it surprisingly descriptive for some reason. My wife and I are doing our utmost to revive this expression
Got any others?
) It took a bit of time to understand they were telling me that I was being obnoxious. And despite living here for the amount of time that I did (before moving all over creation, and then coming back), I never got used to the word being used in that way. I had forgotten about it's usage in that way until we came back here a little over a year ago and I heard someone say it...it still struck me as odd.
