I love you when you’re singin’ that song
and
I got a lump in my throat ’cause
YOU’RE GONNA SING THE WORDS WRONG
Vance Joy, Riptide
We get it wrong.
(Language, I mean.)
Repeatedly. Consistently.
(Mis-hearing. Conversational mondegreens.)
Sometimes accidentally.
Often “accidentally” (on purpose).
Which leads to…
Knee Moochies
{For clarity’s sake: ‘moochies’ are kisses. Smooches. With an -ies. And minus an ‘s’ at the beginning of the word.}
So one of the things that develops in long term relationships — at least, that is, if you are in a relationship with ME (any kind of relationship) — is that certain words take on new meanings. (One of my former colleagues and I refer to a particularly hideous and ill-paying post of employment as ‘Wal-mart’, for example.)
And in my marriage, certain words just become something entirely tangent to original line one of us is trying to take.
This is how, when shouting (toddler-like, complete with a stamped foot) “I NEED MOOCHIES!” at my husband one day, he replied with:
“Wait, what? KNEE moochies?”
And proceeded to kiss me on the knee.
So now, particularly if I am feeling like making odd demands on him (especially at bedtime), I point to my knee and say:
“KNEEMOCHIES!”
Which means I get kissed.
On my knee{s}.
Where are you getting kissed these days, hmmm?
.
I mentioned my musical intentions for 2024.
(Click the badge immediately above for details.)
Thus begins our concertina. 😉
Bending language, creating hybrid words, substituting incorrect words for similar ones, and altering idioms are all an integral part of my life. And not because I am the one always doing it. I ‘learned’ from my mother who was like a female Norm Crosby. ( of “You need to take electrocution lessons” fame) One of her perennials was referring to the actor Darrin McGavin as “Gavin McGavin”. But my Rosa is the real star here. She intentionally uses her ESL background to alter words and idioms so cleverly that my family has adopted several of her creations. Her best? Well, if someone is a bit clumsy, they really are a “Bully in Chinatown”. She also calls nasturtiums “Extortions”, and there are a lot more.
Also, in our house toes are “mushrooms” (long story), but so established is the term that my email “10 mushrooms” is a nod to my affinity for feet and toes and not a reference to hallucinogenic fungi as many think. And lastly, one of my own creations is “fuckinola”. It is a multipurpose word with just the right rhythm for nearly any occasion. (and of course, my penchant for mishearing and rewriting lyrics is well documented.)
If language wasn’t so much fun, who’d use it? 😉
Haha! I love “bully in chinatown”!
Another former blogger I know uses the term “faboo” for things that are fabulous and/or fabulously naughty.
One of the kids I work with (like, child student kid — not Gen Z or millenial coworkers kid) has taken up the word “copyrighting” and is using it (incorrectly) to blame/insult his classmates in a number of ways.
Love Knee Moochies! Me and bikss have some weird things we say too… Onaa is a thing we say to wish each other goodnight 🙂 It’s an abbreviation of “Or Not At All” which came about from the “sweet dreams… or not at all” phrase it started out as. Then it became, sweet dreams onaa. Then just Onaa. without the sweet dreams. And now it doesn’t even mean what it started out meaning. It just means goodnight! “Onaa daddy”. Like that. 🙂
It’s funny how phrases mutate and truncate, isn’t it? Onaa is adorable.
Pingback: Frigid - Temperature's Rising