Have you ever been looking for just the right word, only to realize it doesn't exist in the English language? The early 20th century humorist Gelett Burgess created so many words he published his own dictionary. Families regularly use special vocabulary to explain things like that noise Aunt Zelda makes when eating. Today, we're talking with the author Paul Dickson about words and what they reveal about the way we see the world. We're hoping you'll join us too with your own "familisms." (Rebroadcast)
Your Family Vocabulary
Even though today's show is a rebroadcast, you can still be part of the conversation. Tell us about the words your family has invented. What do they mean and when do you use them? Are they recent inventions, or have they survived multiple generations?
My husband's family will call anyone who is taking too much time on their turn in a board game or card game "Uncle Brad" after a family member who is notorious for doing the same thing.
I thought my family was so weird for making up quirky names but apparently we're not alone. Since I was a kid my family referred to milk as 'uggy-muggy'. I don't know why or how but it persists to this day and has baffled a number of friends who frequent the house. Plus my mom made these muffin/pancake like concoctions for breakfast which she called 'evel-skeevers'. I thought it might be a real word but I've googled a number or variations on it and nothing has ever come up. P.S. The evel-skeevers are delicious!
valmy: VOL-mee
if you pass a couple passionately and disgustingly displaying their affection in public and you find yourself wishing to tell them to "go find a room", you have just witnessed a valmy display of affection.
my husband and i were on a road trip passing through nevada. we took a pit stop in a town called "valmy". we thought it was hilarious, and the sound of it made us think of making out...hee hee
I haven't seen that one up yet. In our family describe a stir-crazy, hormonal, horny young guy. As in 'The boy has sure been twiterpated ever since he met that gal.'
Like many parents, we encourage our children to eat their broccoli and other good-for-you foods. Do you know why? In our family, it's because they have nutricity!
Thirty years ago, one of my daughters -- I don't remember which one -- invented a word everyone in our family has used ever since. The word is NEZMOT. It has no meaning; it means everything.
Will you please hand me the nezmot?
Where did I leave my nezmot?
Wow, it's cold today!! My nezmots are freezing.
No matter the context, we all understand exactly what is being said. It is the universal perfect.
You know that horrible chunk of snow that collects under your fenders during the winter? My husband created "fender donks" to describe them.
Perfect!! I often forget not everyone knows this name.
We have one to describe when our under wear or clothes are bunching. It comes from my daughter when she was too little to know what t call it but old enough to get her panties bunched. It's ulli-ulli (or oolie-oolie)-- we've never written it so that is always how I've spelled it in my mind.
I know this is a repeat, but I have a couple of words/terms to add to the list. I use the term "d*(k flick" for a shoot 'em up, violent kind of film that men seem to enjoy. I also use the term "old husband's tale" to describe a mythical or questionable story. Both come out of my feminist beliefs.
Our family used a word that I believe is a variation of a word in Spanish for dirty. We used the word "osco," or "osco dog" (for emphasis) for something that was gross or scuzzy. The equivalent was the word "yuck!"
As I started think of any special words I have in my own family and circle of friends, I thought maybe I didn't really have any - but as you jogged my memory, I have richly enjoyed reminiscing over my words and the special meaning they have and connection they bring to those whom I associate. So Thank you! Here are a few to share:
"Dunphy" (actually a town in Nevada (not sure of the spelling)) - a substitute for a Dumb person or Dumb Act.
"that's Rich" - that's great, that's funny, etc.
"who's Pregnant?" - small town talk for "what's the gossip?"
"Outfit" - small town use as in your vehicle, not your item of clothing
"Don't have an Em-Er-GenCy" - This is a special one. It comes from my father who has an Asian-American friend who had trouble putting the right pronunciation on the word Emergency. I turned into a substitute for tantrum, etc. Also As I have been recalling these my words - I have been reflecting on my father, who passed away a year and a half ago. Just before his passing I was able to take a small history of my fathers words. I wrote down all of the sayings and words that my father used, and whenever I hear them it brings a special connection with my father at that moment. Words can bring you to a very special place, at any given moment. Isn't it Amazing!
As you had discussed briefly on your program, the phenomenon of "jump-rope songs" turning up all over the country simultaneously has fascinated my throughout my life. A funny example of this phenomenon:
While at college, my friends and I would be eating at the cafeteria, a few tables away from a group of Very good-looking guys, all with beard (very Full beards). This was funny, imagine 15 twenty-five year old, guys with 12" long beards. So we refered to them as the "Bearded Community". We met a guy a few months following, who had a beard - but we had not seen him at the cafeteria. We mentioned a guys name - an said something like - "from the Bearded Community". (Assuming just because he had a beard, he would know another guy that also had a beard) Well He did know him, and apparently we were not the only ones to reference the term "Bearded Community".
Thank you, I am looking forward to reading your book.
My husband has many. I don't know where he got them.
gourd=head
beak=nose (used for people's noses, but also for dogs' and cats' noses)
doe-cee-doe (as in the square dancer's call)= to turn around or do a u-turn. It's also been expanded by our kids to mean to move.
grazers=pot-luck junkies, or the women at my work who seem to eat all the time. I read that someone else used "grazing" for grocery store employee eating the produce.
breasts=nubbies
I'm not sure if the following fit or are truly his: wifey, hubby, ciggie.
My husband, ever since we got married almost 28 years ago, has said, "It's in the hubby book," anytime I questioned anything or asked where he got certain ideas. Our kids thought there WAS a "hubby book." Our youngest son asked to see it when he got serious about a girl.
From my childhood:
binky=pacifier (I grew up in Chicago and Texas. My mother is from Pennsylvania. I never heard this from ANYONE else until recently here in UTAH? Maybe it was a brand?
When I was about 4, I said that my friend had a "grinnery" look on her face. Our family still uses that adjective, and it's now second generation.
"Back on your head!" There was a joke many years ago in Reader's Digest about someone having their choice of places in hell and choosing one that didn't seem so bad, drinking coffee in a sewer. As it ends up, the people were on break and the devil came back and told them to get "back on your heads." Since that story probably 40 years ago, our family uses the phrase to say to get back to it, especially if it isn't a fun job. I'll bet many, MANY others do the same thing!
From work:
Administrivia=trivial administrative stuff that MUST be done. I hear this so much that I wonder if it has become a word?
Cubbie=short for cubicle. This one MUST be a word now. But I can't find out how to spell it!
Spickkey-wider=spider. From my friend who HATES "icky spiders!" She may have heard it someplace but she's used it her entire adult life, since college days.
From college
Perdiddle=a one head-lighted car seen at night coming towards you. (I found this one in the Urban dictionary.) We also had one for a tail-light out, but I can't remember it. Perdunckle?
When I was younger, I crocheted a winter cap with a rolled brim that is made of wool, is very warm, and has lasted forever. Somehow when the kids were little they started calling it my "egg-hat." I have no idea why. It IS a kind of egg-shell color, but the kids were too little to be using "egg-shell" as a color. Now the grandkids all call it Grandma-Yatz's egg hat. ("Grandma-Yatz" is another long story. I won't bore anyone with that one.)
Finally is a phenomenon more than a word: kids call dog breeds by their dog's name: Our family had a Golden Retriever and a Shih Tzu when the kids were young. The Goldie was "Chubby" and the Shih Tzu was "Denver." Now even our grandkids (oldest 12) call Golden Retrievers "Chubby-dogs" and Shih Tzu’s "Denver-dogs." I've noticed other families do that too. We've gone through several more Golden Retrievers and my daughters both have had a series of Shih Tzu’s but they are all Chubby-dogs or Denver-dogs.
01/11/2008 11:27:11 AM
