This blog post is interactive and I would like everyone to participate. I am on a quest to catalog interesting words and phrases used only around your home. Every family has a few words or phrases which are used and known only to that family. These can be made-up words or real words in the dictionary which you remember being used in a unique way.
Remember when you were growing up and your mom always said “_________?” Remember how you thought everyone used that word in the same way? And remember how shocked you were when you let the word slip in a sentence and your friend said “What does that mean?” That’s what I’m talking about; the unusual and funny. Not common phrases like “Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” because everyone uses that one. These could be words and phrases originating in a particular region of the country (like Cajun) or from a particular time in history (like the Fifties). I’m talking about words you say to your kids now without thinking.
I’ll give you some examples from my childhood. Please pay attention to how I set this up. When you respond I would like you to set up yours the same way: the word; definition; use it in a sentence; who in your family initiated use of the word; and its possible origin. I want to use this for a future blog. I love studying forms of communication and am especially interested in dialects of speech influenced by region or by time.
OK. Here are three examples from my childhood:
Squinch. The kneading action a cat does with its front paws, usually accompanied by purring and drooling. “The cat is on my lap squinching my belly fat.” I heard my sister use this word all my life and thought it was a real word until I used it in public and discovered my friends had no clue what it meant. I love this word because it is so descriptive and sounds like what it is. I still use this word today.
Shwelk. To eat ones food so fast one cannot enjoy or even taste the food. Mom always used to say, “Don’t shwelk your food so.” Mom was Dutch/German and if you say this word often enough it sounds Germanic in origin. To me it also sounds like the name of a sea creature. I could use it in a children’s poem. “The shwelk and the clam went out play, under the sea one day…”
Good night nurse. An utterance of disgust or dismay when things don’t go as planned. “Good night nurse.” My dad used to say this (among other well chosen words) when he was upset. I have no idea how this phrase came to be used for an expression of disgust. It doesn’t make sense. I mean, what does saying good night to a nurse have to do with bad things happening?
I am looking forward to getting your responses. It should be fun. Just reply to my email alert, and thank you. By the way, Happy Easter! Rejoice in our Risen Savior.
