Friday, November 7, 2008

LUCYISMS – A LANGUAGE ALL HER OWN


We had a great time in Savannah which by the way I have renamed Santa Vannah in the spirit of Lucy. I have some great pictures of our day on the town including our carriage ride through the historic district that rivaled our dinner at the Lady and Sons for my favorite part of the trip. But those will have to wait until I get home as we are back at the lake now with no wireless connection. And It's just so dang restful here, I can't muster up the energy to go through all the steps it would take to get my pictures from my laptop to Daddy and Daisy's computer.

On the way back from Santa Vannah, we picked up our sister, Snips, from the airport in Jacksonville. This was the second time in Snips life she has been on an airplane and the first time to fly by herself. We were late. We had told her that we might be late because we were booked on a riverboat cruise and weren't sure exactly when we would be able to depart. She doesn't have a cell phone so it was not possible to communicate our estimated time of arrival. Smitty flew like the wind risking our lives getting a speeding ticket and feeling like a Nascar driver. None of us liked the idea of her sitting alone at the airport waiting for us. Once we arrived, we fell all over ourselves apologizing for our tardiness. She was quick to assure us that it was OK and she was fine with it. "No, no, don't worry about it, it's fine." Then she borrowed my cell phone to call her daughter to confirm her safe arrival. And she says, "I'm here. The sons of b*itches were late picking me up but I'm here." Let the games begin!

The three of us along with Pualani and MHS are staying at Daddy and Daisy's through the weekend. It's the first time we've all been together in over three years. Reminiscing is in high gear. It has been non-stop laughing, story-telling and some crying. But mostly we are just having a great time enjoying each others' company. Smitty and Snips are very funny people. I mean funny – haha, not funny strange. Though they are a bit strange too. I like to think of myself as somewhat humorous but these two really put me to shame. I have had tears of laughter in my eyes for two straight days now. And half the time I don't even know what they are talking about. I believe I've discussed here the fact that I'm a little slow to catch on sometimes (because I'm so pure of heart and all).

Anyway, many of our stories have been about our memories of Lucy, our mom. Lucy had a language all her own. Since we were raised by her we are all fluent in Lucyisms. Lucy's special expressions and words were so much a part of our vocabulary that I have, at times, used them without realizing that the general public wouldn't have any idea what I was saying. You need to understand before I go any further that Lucy was well-educated. Lucy was smart. And as I've mentioned before, Lucy was goofy. She loved mis-pronouncing words and making up her own. However, she wouldn't let us finish a sentence until we corrected our grammar. Even at 40 years old.

I mentioned during our walk down memory lane that I was planning a post that would feature Lucy's special language. Smitty, Snips, Daddy and MHS were quick to share their favorites to provide me with more material. It appears now that Smitty has co-starred in a blog post and is even getting messages here, he is no longer worried about my sanity. By the way, Pseudo, Smitty says hi.

So without further ado, here is a list of Lucyisms (phonetically) and an example of the word/term used in a sentence:

  • Pea Pills – You go ahead, I will just sit here on this bench and watch the pea pills.
  • Long sleeve ed pants – It's so cold today, I had to wear my long sleeve ed pants.
  • Aminals – Did you remember to feed the aminals? (There have been times in my life that I had to stop to think about which is the correct way to say this word)
  • Pedistrains – Be careful not to hit the pedistrains when you're driving.
  • Mergy (merge) – You should get in the right lane because we are about to mergy.
  • Naked ears (no earrings) – I can't believe I left the house with naked ears.
  • Toredder algetty (together already) – Are we toredder algetty?
  • Goomy (to look around aimlessly, as in shopping) – Let's go into Walmart and goomy a little bit.
  • Ganupse (wolf it down) – I gave the dog a cookie and she ganupsed it right down.
  • Marble orchard – He was buried in the marble orchard.
  • Feesakeyatrist – You're acting a little crazy, maybe you should see the feesakeyatrist.
  • Vitaminiums – Did you remember to take your vitaminiums?

And the list goes on. Maybe I will do Lucyisms, Part II another day. Do you have words or expressions that you use in your family that the rest of the world would have a hard time understanding? Or is it just us?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Feesakeyatrist" actually IS from I Love Lucy - it's how Ricky pronounced it (my mother was a die-hard I Love Lucy fan).

My mother did that kind of thing too - the words that come to mind immediately are:

Poopsies - babies were ALWAYS "Poopsies" to my mom. Don't ask me why.

Animules - my mother's version of "aminals."

Things were never pretty, they were either "beautimous" or "gorgemous."

I never had an uncle, either, I always had "Unkins" but I think that may be my fault; I couldn't pronounce the word as a very small child and my mother co-opted it.

I'm sure if I sat and thought about it I could come up with more.

We really MUST be related, because the "I'm here. The sons of b*itches were late picking me up but I'm here" thing? My youngest sister would have SO done that.

Pseudo said...

Great new words to add to my vocab. I like aminals.

and you are making me miss my siters big time. My younger sister lives in Jacksonville and I haven't seen her for 17 months. Both my issters are funnier than me, especially the younger one.

Pseudo said...

I really need to check for typos on my comments. I actually know how to spell sisters.

Anonymous said...

I loved marble orchard! That's a great one. And mergy, lol. We've invented some words that are based on what the three-year-old says, but I don't know if they'll last. My own parents were very 'correct' in their use of language, so I don't have any from my own childhood.

qtpie said...

My mom doesn't necessarily make up words for things, she makes up names for people. Examples:

Doojieflapper
Dimwadoodle
Snarklefart
Whatsinhimer
Farkwart short for Charlie Farkwart

I do it now also without even thinking about it. It's definitely a family thing!

Bear Naked said...

Thing-a-ma-jig and doohickie are words that I use every day.
Doesn't everyone?


Bear((( )))

Bookworm said...

Man, I didn't realize other families did this too. LOL For instance, instead of the "whole damn family" it was the "whole fam damily."

Oh, and scootch, as in "I'll scootch over so you can sit down."

Of course there's the whatchamacallit and OMG my grandpa, who was born in like 1906 and called Black people "coloreds" until the day he died in the 80s, called brazil nuts a name so un-PC I don't even dare type it here. He always called them "N-word toes" if you get my drift. He was a product of his generation!

If you were a smart-aleck you were a wisenheimer. My friend Louise says "naked ears" all the time, for going without earrings.

Oh, and my grandma used to say, "I've got to go to visit Mrs. Brown" when she would go to the bathroom! LOL

Lori said...

Sounds like you are all having a great time. I can just imagine the laughter your having. This is a great story and you tell it so well. I am sure we have words that we use in our family but none at the top of my head at this moment but it's got me thinkin.
Hope your weekend is great...such wonderful memories that your making.

Bookworm said...

Oh and one more that my friend Louise always says: When there's a car driving slow in front of her, she always says, "Come on now, Grandpa Sissysaw." But you have to prounounce Sissysaw with a lisp, so it actually comes out Thithythaw. It's really rather funny. But typing it? Not so much. LOL

Bookworm said...

Okay one more and I'm done; I promise. I keep thinking of things! LOL We always used to say "whosiewhats" when we couldn't think of someone's name. As in, "Mark's friend came by, you know, whosiewhats."

Duchessomnium said...

I always think figgings (fingers), hostible (hospital) and uffing (other) because that is what my older daughter used to say. Even now if I forget my gloves I think how cold my figgings are, and my daughter will be 25 in a couple of weeks.

My younger daughter, fourth child is five years younger than the next nearest sibling, eight years younger than her older sister and eleven younger than my eldest. She was, of course, terribly spoiled, and I used to tell her she was our pet.

She got VERY worked up about this from the age of about three, so, of course, I said it more often. She would reply with great indignation, "I am not a amimule! I am a person!"

I guess animal is a hard word to say.

btw I can read your blog so much more clearly now!

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Jan-None of us had any idea that feesakeyatrist was from I Love Lucy. I guess naming Mom that was even more appropriate than I thought. I somehow knew your family would have some of these special words. I think we are related.

Pseudo-I knew that you really knew how to spell it. Gotta love those typos. Glad I'm not the only one.

GF-Keep using them. Your kids will love it.

Qtpie-LOL. I can just see her. Yep, definitely related.

Bear-I know I do.

Mama-I recognized all of those too. Our family is growing.

Smiles-It's been great. Smitty left for the day and we were just commenting on how quiet it was today. He's our entertainment.

Julia-I love figgings. I may have to steal that one.

Anonymous said...

oh...i'm so late today...

my dad uses a lot of lucyisms too, which i think is typical of his family...they're collectively quite goofy...my mother's side, not so much...

some of dad's faves...
vo-ca-BULL-ary for vocabulary
off like terd of hurtles...
pransome hince

as i'm typing these, i'm thinking that some of them came from an old Red Skelton routine...hmmm...

of course i NEVER speak in these kind of terms, my language is always very proper and highbrow *cough* :)

oh, and your holiday sounds awesome!...isn't Savannah the location of 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'...i loved that movie

Bookworm said...

Btw: I gave you an award on my blog. Check it out :)

Anonymous said...

I say "naked ears" all the time when I forget my earrings. Until I was almost 50, I thought my Dad was saying "beebrun" when he didn't understand you, and then I found out he was only saying "beg your pardon" but really fast. LOL When someone is sick with an unknown something I call it the eppiezudick. My best friend growing up always called fajitas "fujytuz" so now I have to watch myself or I'll say it too when ordering. Also I call my grandchildren "goober smooches" when they are being silly. That's all I can think of for now.

I'm glad you're having a great time connecting with family and relaxing. BTW, you are texting me as I'm writing this. LOL

Anonymous said...

That was fantastic! I love that shit.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Thistle-I somehow knew you would have some. I really do think there is a family connection there somewhere.

Oh and you are right about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I took a picture of the house and will post it with my Savannah day post. I also loved that movie and John Cusack.

Lynn-Thanks for stopping by.

Mama-Thank you so much and I'll get right on that once I'm back at home.

MLS-I am loving the eppiezudick and goober smooches. LOL

Vodkamom- :-)

Anonymous said...

oh!...i'm so excited that you were there...it's on my 'places to go' list...can't wait to see the pics...and if you tell me saw The Lady Chablis or anything to do with her...uh...him i might just die LOL

and i heart John Cusack for so many movies and roles...

Anonymous said...

I laughed so hard at all of these. The only ones I can add are when my Mom would tell me she was going to send me to "fist city" and I kept wondering where this fifth city was. My son came home one day and told me a boy told him to flock his mom and since that day one of my friends and I have used the word flock in place of the f-bomb. Great post!

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Thistle-I big fat fuzzy heart with sparkles LOVE John Cusack.

Steppinthru-I might have to steal/borrow that flock substitution. LOL

Janet Green said...

I've just discovered SMB's blog and although I'm a bit late to this wonderful post I just thought I would share a couple of the phrases my wonderful Aunt Hazel used to use. (Every family has a crazy spinster aunt, right?) First of all, she was the one who taught us the "Beans, beans the musical fruit" song, which I'm sure thrilled my mother. If you asked her what vegetable we were having for dinner she would say, "Peas and carrots, and I want you to eat every carrot and pea in the dish." Embarrassing body parts were called "koppa-twee-twab." And the Fingerhut and Lillian Vernon catalogs were referred to as "cockey-lockey catalogs." My father-in-law, age 89, uses the reverse-sound phrases too. His favorites are "geddy to roe" (ready to go) and "sav a heat" (have a seat).