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The C Claw is an excellent tool when expressing frustraion with someone!

In contemplating what to write about for my next post, I recently found myself somewhat stumped. I started thinking about the many things that make up "our family". You know, the inside jokes that people outside of your family wouldn't "get". Favorite meals, pastimes and family sayings. That last one, family sayings, got my juices flowing. Is your family like mine (and many others, apparently) in that you have numerous sayings, words and phrases that would be insignificant - - even indecipherable - - to those outside of the family?

My husband was just telling us about how he'd heard a news story on NPR's Up to Date (that would be National Public Radio for those of you who don't listen to this great station!) on this very subject. Apparently, since the dawn of time, there have been words and sayings coined within families, some of which are passed down for generations. I especially love imitating various family members as they say certain phrases. Of course, those wouldn't come out well in print, so I won't bore you with those. However, I thought I'd take an opportunity to share some of our family's (often weird...) colloquialisms, many of which are known only to us. I'd love to hear some of yours, as well.

These will read something like a glossary of terms...

Baloneyish - started by Teen in Line (my second daughter) at the tender young age of about 2 1/2 when she found that her fingers were greasy/slimey. Apparently, she'd had that same sensation when she'd eaten a piece of baloney. Funny, 'cuz' I never even remember purchasing baloney. Needless, to say, the word stuck.

Used in a Sentence: "My hands got all baloneyish when I buttered my bread."

C Claw - used to express extreme frustration with someone else’s behavior and delivered by shaking one's hand in the air as pictured above, while hissing and with a disgusted facial expression; truly a sanity-preservation tactic. The originator of this cherished family tradition shall remain anonymous to protect her public ego (and to prevent me from getting the C Claw...)

Used in Context: After a particularly frustrating conversation with a teenage child, one might deliver the C Claw instead of cursing at the child.

Fluffines - the nourishing breakfast invented by my BSM (Big Strong Man) in an effort to come up with something different for our picky Princess in Waiting, who would prefer to eat something unique every morning of the week.

To Assemble: Spread one saltine cracker with peanut butter and another with marshmallow fluff. Smush them together. Ker-pow! You have a Fluffine. Repeat as desired.

Furple - a really, really mean snake. Coined by our then two-year-old, Teen in Line, who was always making up words that she found more fitting for various situations. It started out by her stating that "Furple rhymes with purple." When we asked what furple meant, we got the definition above. Again, it stuck. You wouldn't think you'd have much use for a word like this, but we manage to squeeze it in relatively often.

Used in Context: "Oh my gosh, I thought that was a furple for a minute." (I know, we're just weird...)

Kanee-she-slow - term used to request that whoever is leading the family (usually on a trip to a large city like NYC) on an excursion to please slow down. My BSM came up with this one on a trip to New York years ago when he got tired of hearing all of us complain, "SLOW DOWN!!!" He has a tendency to run us at a pace Richard Simmons would envy when we travel. The rest of us just want to relax!

Used in a Sentence: "Kaneesheslow! I can hardly keep up."

Pullmomalong - The phrase used to refer to the act of getting one's mother out of church / to leave a party / quit chatting at the grocery store. You get the idea. Coined by Princess in Waiting without her even realizing it was funny. She just strung the three words together so fast that it came out as one word.

Used in a Sentence: "Oh my gosh, we all came outside, so there's no one to pullmomalong!"

Uff da - normally used in exclamation to express frustration/surprise/exasperation. This is actually a true Swedish term, so we can't take the credit for it. We use it most often when we are visiting the North Woods with my sister and her family.

Used in a Sentence: "Uff da, it's hot out here." This could apply when the temperature exceeds 75 degrees in our beloved Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Winter Long Cold - jokingly refers to any type of malady one may currently be experiencing prior to taking a sip of someone else's drink or bite off their fork. Teen in Line first said this as in the phrase below (and not in jest) without really thinking about what she was saying. Now we won't ever let her live the words down...

Used in a Sentence: When asked if she is healthy before taking a sip of her mother's drink - "Yeah, (turning to the side and coughing and waving mother off) it's nothing." (Then taking a sip of mother's drink) "I just have this winter long cold."

What are some of your family's favorites?