Today, I have been surfing the Internet for inspiration and reading other people's blogs. Then for some reason, I went to dictionary.com and found a silly game to play; it is called Match-Twelve. It displays twelve absolutely ridiculous words one at a time and you have to guess what they mean. It is multiple choice, of course!
The first word that popped up was "doohickey". Before this word popped up, I wasn't sure if I was going to play, but since that was one of my Dad's favorite silly words, I decided to play.
I haven't talked about my Dad on my blog yet, but he passed away in May of last year. My Dad was a highly intelligent man who was serious about a lot of things but he also had a silly side. He loved to use silly words and made up silly names for businesses. Some of them made sense......some of them didn't. For example, last century (that sounds weird) in Washington state there was an auto supply dealer called Shuck's. My Dad called it "Shuck, Shuck, Shuck, Shuck. Shucko's". Not just occasionally but every time; and with great enthusiasm. In fact, I can't recall a time when he called it Shuck's.
You may also remember the old department store similar to Kohl's called, Lamonts. My Dad called it "Laments", for this one, he had an explanation. It went like this, "Cuz every time yer Ma goes there, I Lament". And another funny thing, notice how his explanation was like something out of The Beverly Hillbillies? Well my Dad usually spoke with a slightly Americanized English accent because he was English and he had lived here since 1980. But occasionally that "Hillbilly" accent would come out when he said something silly.
Then there was (Costco) "Cost - a- lot - o" and the reason was, "Because when yer Ma goes there it costs me a lot 'o money!" (Fred Meyer) "Uncle Fred's", I never did understand that one. There was a neighborhood hardware store in town called McLendon's, my Dad called it "Aladdin's Cave" because it was a place that contained many interesting and valuable objects. (Pay N Save) "Pay N Spend" again, "Cuz yer Ma spends all my money when she goes there.
He also liked to make up silly names for people but he never used them in front of anyone but us. If you are reading this and you knew my Dad, let's just assume none of these names were for you! There was Dan, Dan, the Dirty Old Man, Arly Farly, Ermintrude, Dick Dastardly, Thingy, Odd, Disco Dave, Jane, Jane, Jane's a Pain, Laaaaar, and The Smells. He also had silly names for me such as Shrinky Dink, Worm and Limpet. He simply called my brother Lurch.
When I was growing up, he never made many comments about my music but when I was listening to The Cure, he would come into my room and say, "Are you listening to Bellyache again". He said "He always sounds like he has a bellyache."
And another random thing......hey didn't say "diagonal", he said "diaganerd". No reason, just because.
Once I got past the word "doohickey" on the game, none of the other words were that fun, nor did they remind me of my Dad. Overall, the game was pretty disappointing but this little trip down memory lane was fun. Thanks for sharing it with me!
I miss you Dad......and by the way, you are still making me laugh! |
7 comments:
Doohickey - the ultimate uncle Nic silky word! X
Your dad was such a gem. Thank you for sharing these with us, Sharon!
Thanks so much for stopping over to say hi, I am following back. Your dad sounds like he was a lot of fun to spend time with! Isn't it great how such simple things like a word, a sound, a sight or a smell can bring back so many great memories!?!?!? Hope you are having a great week!
I really enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing.
Ha! Your post made me smile :)
This is so endearing. What special AND funny memories you have. I'm sorry for your loss - that can't be easy. I loved all the names he used. Very VERY funny!
Oh how funny. I do this too- making up silly names for things and new words. I bet I would've liked your dad. Thank you so much for sharing him with us in this way : )
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