Family Talk

Original Post Date: September 18th, 2006


The other day my son asked me if I’d buy freezesicles.

Now, you may have no idea what he’s talking about, but I do. Freezesicles are freeze pops, the frozen treat where you have to snip off the plastic top, bite the flavored ice, then suck the melted juice from the bottom? No nutritional value whatsoever, but tasty (my favorite is the green). He loves them.

But the word “freezesicles” got me thinking about how many words and phrases we use in our family no one else would have a clue about. Our own family vocabulary, if you will.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few, but I’m sure there’s more. It’s early, people. Work with me.

Nubbies.
Nubbies are bunnies in our family. I have no idea how this started, or why, but we rarely call bunnies by any other name.

Tut-tut.
It’s our phrase for a stormy/rainy sky. I can’t say we made this one up—it came straight from a Winnie the Pooh movie (‘Tut-tut, looks like rain”) when my daughter was little. But it stuck. Here in Cincinnati today? It’s very tut-tut.

Chop-chop.
This one may not be all that unique. It basically means hurry the heck up. (I just used this one on my daughter, who’s notoriously pokey in the morning, which reminded me of its existence.)

Folding beds.
My kids don’t make their beds, they “fold” their beds. Unusual, right? This one goes back years and years ago to when we lived in a one bedroom apartment with our son (just had one at the time). My husband and I gave the bedroom to the baby, and we slept on a fold-out couch in the living room. As part of our routine, every morning my son and I would fold up the bed, part game, part trying to get the housework done with a toddler underfoot. Then he’d ask to fold his bed, too, and we’d go in and make his bed. The tradition was born. All three of my kids “fold” their beds, and I’m kind of wondering if they’ll outgrow saying it eventually. And kind of hoping they don’t.

I know mine can’t be the only family with its own one-of-a-kind vocab words. Care to share yours?