Communication FUNdamentals - Family Words Contest! Does your family have it's own words for things?

Communication FUNdamentals

Nov. 17, 2007

Family Words Contest! Does your family have it's own words for things?

Posted in Communication FUNdamentals Contests-Events

Do you have words or terms that your family made up? Terms that only you use and understand? Come share the term and the story behind it this month and you could win a prize! I received this Arcamax email today from The Word Guy. He is such fun. This month he talks about how sometimes families make up their own words or terms for things that only have meaning to them.

What does your family call a backward somersault . . . or the chunks of mud that kids' boots leave on the kitchen floor . . . or a single sock without a mate?

The Hansens of St. Paul, Minn., call that back flip a "winter pepper." In the Howard Family of Brockton, Mass., those chunks are "mud waffles."

Sometimes we have family inside jokes that become terms we use amongst ourselves:

To the Enders Family of Langley, British Columbia, for instance, a gift for someone else that you really want for yourself is a "sheriff's badge." That's because an Enders son once gave his dad a cap pistol, whistle and sheriff's badge for Father's Day.

Does your family have terms or words you made up? Come share! Tell us what the term is and the story behind it. I will be giving away prizes for the most creative and fun Family Words. To enter, just post a comment here between now and the end of November. Depending upon the number of entries and the uniqueness of the stories behind them, I may award more than one winner a free copy of one of my lastest eBooks, The Play Book: A Play What You Mean Activities Book just in time for the holidays!

Have some fun this month and stop by this post often to check out all the fun responses I am sure we will have!

From JoJo's Purple Crayon...

• Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!

Comments

Nov. 17, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by PosterGirl

My youngest calls her blanket a chi-chi. My third child called elephants meh-meh's when he was younger and we still call elephants that. Once my second got a couple of phrases mixed together and told her daddy that her toy had "bit the ghost." My husband and I have a little lingo to say that someone doesn't understand our whacked out extended families. We say they are "two heads." That means that when they hear of some of the antics of our families and our growing up, they look at us like we have two heads because they just don't get it. That's it- I'm all tapped out!!

• Permanent Link

Nov. 17, 2007 - words

Posted by Anonymous

when i was a girl i used to call pea soup eyeball soup to this day if someone is making it they say i making eyeball soup

• Permanent Link

Nov. 18, 2007 - Family Words

Posted by Anonymous

My mom, my sister, and I use the term "doing a disco" for running around, putting things away.... you know, disco here, disco dare...

• Permanent Link

Nov. 19, 2007 - Fluttery and Flink

Posted by homeskool

My little brother loved the sound of words. Long, interesting sounding words were fun for him. He would substitute the word Fluttery for the word curious. Why? That's just what it reminds me of. But the best story was one summer my mom said that we were not allowed to say the word "Bored". she told us there was plenty to do, and we just had to find it, but the word "Bored" was outlawed. My little brother looked up at her, and replied, "Well, then, mom, since we can't say bored, I'm Flink" It has stuck ever since. If we don't have something to do, we are "Flink"

• Permanent Link

Nov. 19, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by doehillhomeschool

For birthdays we usually wish someone a "Ba-bobby-tu-tu". When we were little, a cousin of mine couldn't sing "Happy Birthday to you" so it came out--you guessed, "Ba-Bobby-Tu-Tu". After twentyfive years we still call each other on birthdays singing that song our way!

When I was little, I couldn't pronounce "Denise", my middle name. I would introduce myself as Gin "Two-Knees". That's a nickname [among others that I flatly refuse to put online] that's stuck.

When we say "ho-bud" around here, we are talking about riding in a car. My Great-grandfather used to tell about when his son, my Papaw, first rode in a car back in the 1920s. He was excited to stand on the running boards and ride down the road. When he got back, Great-Grandad asked him, "Well, son, how did you like it? " Papaw said, "Dad, it was fine except the dad-blame thing kept going 'ho-bud' over the bumps in the road!'

This isn't unique to us, but around here if someone is a gossip, they get tagged with "Mouth of the South."

What a fun contest, thanks!

• Permanent Link

Nov. 20, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by FoggyMountainFarm

The children refer to their brothers as "bubby". Not sure how it started, but the girls call their brothers that and the brothers call each other that.

blogged ya: http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2007/11/tuesday-edition-of-contests-galore_20.html

• Permanent Link

Nov. 21, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Titus2woman

OH GOOD! I made it in right by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin! and I must say that I LOVE your pic and About Me~it's been a while since I've visited, so they're new to me. (Having trouble with HSB blogs loading up.)

Anyway, family terms... We have sooo many that it's hard to choose! I like my Jamie's "like a chipmunk". It's to be used to describe an extreme~you can be hungry like a chipmunk, want something like a chipmunk, etc. He made this up a few years ago~maybe around five or six years old?

We also use Wacky World. This is the term to describe going out without drawers under yer pants and was often discovered while taking a young one to the potty in a public place. Dad or I would exclaim, "WHAT? You're WACKY WORLD!" LOL!

There's sooo many more where that came from.... http://titus2woman.wordpress.com/2007/06/23/silliness-41/

(((((HUGS))))) sandi

• Permanent Link

Nov. 27, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by psalm113v9

When our dd Lauren was a toddler we were getting ready to start a fire in our fireplace. I had run out of matches so my dh Thomas used a lighter with an extended nozzle. She watched him use his pointer finger to ignite the switch on the handle and said, "Look! Fire pinch!" We don't even remember to call it a lighter anymore. We just say, "I'm going to light some candles. Please bring me the fire pinch." LOL

The other funny name our family has for jaw breakers is "chew-chalkers." When I was a little kid my dad would go on an annual deer hunting trip with his friends. He loves jaw breakers, so we would buy him the kind that were individually wrapped, but connected together in a long 3 foot rope. We would put them in his hunting bag as a special treat. When I was old enough to drive, I thought I'd surprise him with some for his upcoming trip. I drove to the store, looked up and down the candy aisle, couldn't find any, then asked the clerk, "Do you have any chew-chalkers?" As soon as I asked the question I was so embarrassed! You should have seen the puzzled look on her face! Then I was so baffled that it took me a few seconds to remember the candy was really named Jaw Breakers! LOL

Blessings,
Karla

• Permanent Link

Nov. 30, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

My youngest couldn't say the word blanket so he called it his deet-deet. He still calls it that even though he can say blanket. When my daughter wants to know if something is true she asks "is that in true life?" This one isn't a "word" per say, but my husband and I use the sign (sign language) for the letter P when we need to go and we're in a crowd and don't want to say it outloud. When we are out in public and need to sanitize our hands we say "get out the secret sauce".
That's about it I guess. The true life phrase always makes us chuckle!

Laura

• Permanent Link

Dec. 2, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by CommunicationFUNdamentals

Congratulations DoeHillHomeschool! You are our winner!

Email jojo@artofeloquence.com to claim your prize!

JoJo

• Permanent Link

About Me

I was raised by two Atheists of Jewish heritage, married a non practicing Catholic and became a non denominational Christian due, in part, to some Amway meetings and a Jehovah's Witness who came to my door. My purple crayon writes with humor and almost always a little out of the lines. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This blog is my creative and fun way of sharing my thoughts on communication skills relating mostly to homeschooling and sharing and defending the faith. It also reveals a bit about how the Lord took this shy Agnostic girl and allowed her to find her voice and her purpose, a zany voice to the Christian community with insight as to what unbelievers need to hear about Christ Jesus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'll share news items, quotes, family friendly humor, tips, trivia, and my newest feature: Question of the Week. I invite you to come share your thoughts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For more creative fun with JoJo you can visit www.ArtofEloquence.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -Proverbs 25:11