I have been sitting here remembering some of the things my parents used to say. Now I may live to regret this, but I am interesting in hearing what some of the rest of you remember.
One thing I remember is that there were times when I was a child when the conversation over dinner became more interesting than usual. It might be a tidbit introducing the topic of what some neighbor had done, or something that happened to a friend. As I began to take more notice than usual, too often I would hear my father saying calmly and decisively, "Fortunately, that's none of our business". Oh, shucks.
For some reason, I was reminded of my grandmother as I wrote about my family. She was born in Bremen, Germany, and spent all her life there, even through the second world war. After the war, things were still very difficult in Germany, so my parents put their pennies together and offered to send for Oma. To their relief, she accepted, and at age 87 got on a boat and came to America.
Although she spoke no English, she turned out to be a very adjustable lady. We loved having her with us. And she was there when Felix and I got married, a few years later. The celebration was held at the club house owned by the German hiking club my parents were a part of. (Now, I'm getting there, I'm getting there.) Food was provided by the German ladies, so there was plenty. After we ate, all gathered in the dance hall. We danced to recorded German waltzes, polkas, and what have you.
At one point, some of us noticed Oma, who was probably 89 at this point, dancing with a young man. Bless her heart, I don't think I had seen her dancing before. When we had a chance, we told her how impressed we were. "Oh," she said, " no one was dancing with him, and I felt sorry for him, so I asked him to dance."
A gathering place for Kulkas and those who were once Kulkas but due to unfortunate circumstances have had to accept life's curve ball and begin going by some other name.
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14 comments:
Wow, I hardly believe that the story would end like this. She was a very unique person. At her age, getting up and asked a young man to dance with her. The story could end differently. He could laugh at her or he could smile and said "no". She must have been a very confident person. Also, it must have been be a pretty challenging decision for her to decide to come to this country at that age. I respect her.
Thank you. I respected her a lot, too.
What a wonderful story! She sounds like a lovely lady, with a very sweet heart.
Now, for things my family often says. Well, for those of you that have been around my dad for any length of time, I am certain you have heard him say "Here's the deal" - accompanied by a single clap of the hands then rubbing them together.
Recently, my dad and Peter starting loosly talking about Pete coming to work with my dad after college. Pete was all gung-ho about the idea, until he realized that he didn't want to start everyday hearing "CLAP - rub rub rub - now here's the deal"...
Then there is my mom. She is famous for her fork waving speeches at dinner - Dusty does a wonderful impression. She will point her fork at someone - usually Dusty actually - and wave it around for emphasis as she says "Now Dusty, tomorrow morning, we need to be at school by (time) - that means you need to be up and dressed and ready to go by (fill in time)" Dusty has taken to completing her sentances since he has heard the line so many times. (Not that it gets him to school on time)
Aunt Bev has some tag lines, but I'll let the kids throw those in.
Funny I don't remember many from my growing up, except "Would you rather have gone to Kiddie-Land instead?" I swear Kiddie Land was a real place but I don't know what it was. Dad would say that when we were coming back from some vacation spot or event.
There was also "Look at the view!" as a precursor to passing gas. It was the punch line to some joke, but I don't know the joke.
You can see I'm a little in the dark.
I remember more from my grandparents - Western Sage's father and stepmom:
When getting ready to leave a restaurant: "Well, did we eat everything we paid for?"
In response to "how are you doing?" "Not so bad for running on three cylinders."
When playing cards, if someone was drawing a lot of cards from the pile, Grandpa would push the pile closer and say "Going shopping?"
Nanny's lines were "I don't want no shicken!" which was from a story about a chicken farmer who goes to a restaurant in the big city. When he finds out the special of the house is chicken, utters that line in his German accent.
And of course, "Abba Herman!" which was her response when she didn't like something Grandpa was doing - making a racy joke or dragging his sleeve in the butter.
Bev's lines:
-"Eat this, it'll help you go poo." (gross, I know, but it's said at every dinner).
-"I'm having a small personal crisis." (This is valid for everything from a broken nail to smallpox).
-"MAAAAAATTTT" (This is yelled down the stairs when the TV is not working).
Help me out, Stacy.
Funny, we still hear some of Abba Hermans lines. And "Abba Herman!" is totally going to be my new saying. Move over, "Mais non!"
I think you've pretty well covered Bev. Of course MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT is used pretty much any time something is going wrong. You may not remember this, A, but when we were growing up, she would yell his name whenever she needed something during the day (Pull the chain on the fan, clean something up, what have you). Evidently, it took her a second to remember he was at work. I always had to get her a funny look on that one. And then pull the chair over and reach the flour.
One of ours is "Your mom!" plus whatever addition seems appropiate at the time. It's a pretty catch-all phrase, if you ask me.
Par example: "Who likes the Dallas Cowboys anyways?" "YOUR MOM likes the Dallas Cowboys." Add an "In your face!" or what have you and you've got a pretty sophisticated conversation going.
Oh, and Uncle Matt and I have a few, such as the incredibly misleading "One. Giant. Boob." It relates back to a particular episode of What Not To Wear (Not that Uncle Matt watches that or anything. Ahem.) where Clinton is trying to relate to some poor woman what she looks like in her short sleeve mock-turtleneck. But you can't abuse the power of the "One. Giant. Boob." It's only to be brought out to describe the hilarity of something currently ensuing.
Then there's always "Stop that!" The only location that is allowed is at a table of some sorts, because that's where Uncle Matt always tries to figure out what I'm going to say before I have a chance to say it and pass off my magnificence as his own.
Not that it's really a saying, but one of UM's old stand-bys is the joke about the Yiddish cheerleader.
Well, my dad used to say "ache ka poosta!!" as an exclamation - as in when he picked up the rice bowl that was super hot - but then I guess he found out it meant a swear word? Peter - any more infor you can recall?
I LOVE the Jewish cheerleader joke. You know what? I got it from your Aunt Kathy's dad, Doc Friesendorf. How's that for some nepotistic blog posting?
In our family, we had "Me, me, dance with me!" It was a line from a Tomi dePaola story we read the kids when they were little tykes. We used to say that when one of them was being a little too selfish.
Don't forget "Co-operation, makin' it happen." as a sort of verbal pat-on-the-back for, well, good cooperation. That one was from a Sesame Street song.
And of course, "It isn't sharing if it isn't yours." I don't know where that came from, but we heard it a lot.
C'mon, Uncle Matt, there are whole hunks of this family who have not heard the Jewish cheerleader joke. Please?
Sorry, you can't put it on paper. The humor is literally in the telling. Like a throwback to ancient Jewish history, this one's strictly an oral tradition.
And I thought my days of "I can't tell you that" were over. Of course, in the old days it would be followed by "until you are older". And boy, am I older!
"It isn't sharing if it isn't yours" was mine. It first appeared when a rather rotund furry friend of ours tried to "share" the other animals food. That was a good one...
Aha, Sasha, now the remark makes sense. Thanks.
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