Does Your Family have its own Silly Vocabulary or Phrases?

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
Over the years many members of my family have changed words around or made up their own phrases and to this day we still use them. Outsiders must think we are crazy and many times we have to explain.
My Grandpa always called a record player a talking machine. When we had our own record players we often referred to it as our talking machine.
The hubby and I still say we are taping a show.
I called a magnifying glass a spy glass as a kid and we still do.
My son when he was little would say,yesterday night.
A cousin always called the silk edging on a blanket his twiddle. We use that one also
My Grandma would always say,"hang it on the Christmas tree" when we had a small item we didn't know what to do with.
My hubby is great for switching words.
Corn niblets become kibbles, Neapolitan ice cream become Napoleon, maggots becomes magnets.
We live next to the Walkers house who have moved out 5 families ago.
Do you have family words or phrases?
 

Rosalee.jpeg
We have a ship's figurehead woman mounted on the wall. Her name is Rosalee, but my son used to call her "Shipwreck Woman", so that's what we call her. She likes to wear a santa hat during the holidays, & a witches hat for halloween. She also wears half masks and sunglasses.
We have an oak clawfoot coffee table that my son always called the Tiger Table. It does look like it could pick itself up run away.
He called swashbuckling~"squash buckleing"
{nothing about my house is anything anyone would consider "normal"}
 

So many!!!

Hammerburgs for Hamburgers
Pespi for Pepsi
Blana for Banana
Heelaplocter, and alternately heckalopter, for helicopter

We lived for a long time in a small house with a bar separating the kitchen from the den. The kitchen was tiny. When I was cooking and the kids would gather round I'd yell "Other side of the bar!" to get them to clear out so I had room. To this day that phrase is still used by all of them to clear out the kitchen when they're cooking or prepping.

My son made up a word when he was very little to describe how he was feeling. "Schnerly." Meaning kinda ornery. We still use that word today. Just the other day I got a text response from one of my kids, after I questioned him about an abrupt answer. He apologized, said that he was just feeling kinda schnerly today.

You know that sound you make..that sort of buzzing in a kids, ear... to make them laugh? One of my boys referred to that when he was little as "talking scribble." Those of my kids with kids themselves refer to it that exact same way to their kids!

It's also started with the grands. My grandson calls the corner of the quilt, that he likes to snuggle with, as his penner. He can say corner now, but we still all refer to it as his penner.
 
My daughter, when in Kindergarten, brought home a painting she did with her first name on it. The paint had bled through to the other side of the paper to show "REBMA", her name backward. For awhile, she was writing her name that way. I still call her that sometimes, and address her cards that way :)
 
Wren said:
When my daughter was very tiny we used to speak to each other starting each word with a P, it always made her giggle and even today I’ll get the occasional text or e mail just saying ‘Pi pup poo’
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lol what's that in english wren ?
 
my two middle sons, then 5and 7, came home from a birthday party with favors which included water pistols. I reminded them those were “outside toys” and went to prepare supper. A few minutes later I heard them sneaking up behind me, trying to stifle giggles and I knew I was about to get squirted when the older urged the younger, “you better not. She’ll consecrate it.” 😆
 
My dad was the one who always played with words.

When he was in the USAF he belonged to the credit union. When he went to cash his checks, he'd say he was going to the Credit Onion. He'd always make my mom mad by pronouncing Chicago "Chicargo". Peanut butter was goober butter. He was stationed in Boca Raton back in the 1940's, so when he'd mention it he'd say Bo-Cree-Tone. We lived in Hawaii when I was a kid, which he pronounced Hi-wy-er (Hi wire) . Yellow was yeller.

My mom spoke with a noticeable German accent so she had all kinds of her own versions of words and phrases. All her "th" sounds were "d's". This and that were dis and dat. If she wanted to point out or specify something she was talking about, she'd say "dat ting der (dare)". When I'd get mouthy or act up and she'd threaten to smack me, rather than "I'll smack you one", it came out "I shmeck you one".

When I was in the 1st grade in Long Island, I and some other kids would have to go sit in this small room with tape recorders and headphones. We'd put the headphones on and listen to words then repeat them. I never thought about again until a few years ago, when it occurred to me that the lady we were visiting was a speech therapist. I had probably been talking like my mom.
 
Most stem from our childhood. The most peculiar to my family is the name for garbage bag twist ties. We call them 'hook-ups' because that's what my brother called them when he used them to hook his toy farm implements to his toy John Deere tractor.
 
My husband has a million corny lines such as “yabba dabba do, we’re here to serve you” and “big twinkles”, his military colleagues actually made him a laminated poster with all his phraseologies and he had it hanging on his office wall until he retired, he and his father have their own language and quite a bit of it stemmed from their military service and the slang used in that profession, they just amped it up quite a bit.
 
My Dad had his own language....I never knew what he was talking in Italian....As I got older my brother, who had Italian in school, told me
what Dad was saying....I then told my Dad, I know what you are talking about now, Dad....He said, OK P, I wont' say that language around you
any longer....Dad was a Military Man....At that time language was rude.....Maybe it's still now....I don't know.....
My Dad was a good man and went to work every day and on the weekend he would be in the Armory.....
Dad liked to call me Pattyatty…..He never ever yelled at me....He would yell at my brother's....He called my older brother Antny….He called my
little brother Momamia….(my brother was a handful) when he was young....But Dad was a happy Man....Bringing home his army friends and
not telling my mom....So mom had to get more food for his army friends.....They all loved to come to our house....
He was just in a different element...at that time....Dad lived till 89....Past away after 9/11....In Peace....
 

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