Word Associations Of The Off Kilter Kind
As could probably be surmised from a passing glance at the content contained in this blog over the last couple of years, our family has been known to maim a word or two in the quest of communication. The slang derived from our dwelling in the land of loggers and fisherman could probably fill a tome of definitive works or two, but honestly, that much definition might not be good for the furtherment of humanity.
Growing up it was quite normal to hear things like,"Look at that hooktender!" or "He took a foot to the flintlocks." on a normal basis. All communities have slang and a local twist on dialect, so that we had our own vernacular is nothing special, instead it is just our family's way with words that makes things a little bit more interesting in the odd on occasion.
That said, my son, the estimable Bobo, has proven to be quite a force in the using vocabulary in almost the right way department. When it is time to don leisure wear at the end of a long day or after ingesting a formidable meal, we have a saying that Bobo launched quite a few years ago when he was all cute and toddlery. My dad had just eaten a huge plate of something, and he was chattering about how he needed to go put on some Schweatz. Bobo, popped up from the other side of the couch and piped, "Yah! Papa needs to go put on his Big Yard Pants!"
Now, I knew what he was trying to say and burst into humor-flames. Dad, who is hardly ever at a loss for words just beheld the curly haired cutey with a look of almost awe, and the name has stuck. Who needs Big Lard Pants after a large meal with you can slip on a pair of Big Yard Pants instead.
Another fabulous Boboism happened when we were watching some reruns of funny videos. Watching all manner of people and animal calamity clips is probably our family's favorite pastime. While waiting for our parents to arrive on the day after Thanksgiving this year, my brother and I sat in the living room and beheld Youtube clips of accident and idiocy to pass the time. The kids and my husband drifted in to join us, for the sound of FAIL is like a Pied Piper's call to our ears.
A few years ago, during the viewing of some funny vids, a video of a man getting kicked in his nether bits flashed on the screen,
"Ohhhhhhh!" we all groaned, except for Bobo, who quipped,
"He got hit right in the technicals."
That descriptor has stuck.
Not that TV viewing is the only place where new words are dropped into our lexicon. Car rides are source of word birth as well. One time we were hurtling down the highway when our Bobo injected himself into our conversation that were having about a friend of ours.
"I know that guy! He's married to that lady, the misogynist!" he delivered this line with all the innocence and seriousness that a young pup who knows they are right can muster.
My husband looked perplexed. I was biting my cheeks and trying to keep my breathing under control. Our boy was just so proud to be part of a grown up conversation, and he was full of the I am right and used a big word to show it shine that I couldn't just burst his bubble.
"Yep, she is a massage therapist." I replied with barely contained mirth.
"Uh huh, that's what I said, a misogynist." he chirped.
Now, I try to be a good mom, I really do, but in that moment I faced forward and started braying like a donkey.
I then explained to my five year old what a misogynist was, however, the descriptor has remained in circulation.
There are many, many more bits of linguistical butchery that I could write about, and I am betting that many of you have an off kilter word or bit of slang that has popped up in your life as well. The way in which we communicate with each other is just so fascinating to me, and I am always amused with how each one of us associates things and relates to each other in this life on the verbal front. And on that note I shall leave this ramble, for I am off to run a branch of the repository of written communication for the day, the ol biblioteca!
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's non Big Yard Pants wearing iPhone.
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