Community Chat

[AmyRD71]

My mother in law calls sheets, pillowcases and bedspread....bed clothes.  When she says the word push she says it as pooosh.  Had to ask hubby 1st time what she said,

[AmyRD71]

Oh and grandmother called a hair tie a gum band.  

[Drythe]

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@IamMrsG wrote:

My maternal grandparents were country farmers, i.e., "country" as in walk-behind-the-mule to plow the fields.  My grandmother used terms like "out yonder" for somewhere distant outside and "ice box" for the refrigerator.    Grandpa was a man of very few words.  

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@IamMrsG 

My Grandparents as well.

Also, ‘I laid by in my mind’ to do something, or think about something later.

Ghosts and spirits called ‘Haints’ a form of haunts.

So many memories. 😊

[SunValley]

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@Maltichonmom17 wrote:

When I was little, my grandfather called me Schnickelfritz, which I later found out was a German term of endearment for a child who a bit of a rascal or a little chatterbox. (I confess, it was probably all true 😄)

 All we knew of his family background was the Irish side  and I always wondered how I ended up with a German term of endearment as a nickname. A few years back, I started working on our family tree, and discovered that almost all of his maternal side were from Germany, who had emigrated here and settled in Pennsylvania.  Mystery solved. 

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My heritage on both sides is “Germans from Russia.” As first-generation Americans, my parents both grew up speaking German in their homes and churches. All of us kids were called Schnickelfritz, and my younger brothers fit the definition to a T. The couch was also a Davenport (a well-known maker of couches and lots of older folks called every couch a Davenport just like we say Kleenex for a tissue). Dinner was the noon meal, and supper was the evening meal. And mother carried a pocketbook.

[sunala]

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 wrote:

or used much or at all today. We are of German heritage. My maternal great grandmother was born in Germany. Both sides surnames are German.  My materal grandmother used to say red up a room,meaning straighten or clean up. She also made an egg dish that sounded like batch. Both my sister and I remember her making it. To me now it was a frittata. I have,  looked high and low can't find a reference to a recipe or cooking term other than a batch of cookies.

Paternal grandfather called the attic a garret.

Did your GPs have any words or phrases like that?

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@CrazyKittyLvr2- as a matter of fact, my grandfather, who was from Russia, called a flashlight a "searchlight" and a "torch." I loved when he said those words!

Fun topic!

[sunala]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

i STILL use the word pocketbook.

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@sunshine45  - of course! I do too. I've never called my pocketbook (or pockabook as we called them in Brooklyn) anything but. 

[visrn]

I'm originally from central/western PA and we always red up the room.  

[sunala]

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@haddon9 wrote:

My grandparents used a lot of Yiddish expressions.  When my grandmother wanted me to go to bed she would say, "gey shlofn"....Go to sleep.

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@haddon9- all my grandparents spoke Yiddish most of the time except when they came over to visit and then they tried to speak their best English. I still use many Yiddish words today that I incorporate into my daily vocabulary.

"Gey shlofn" was what my grandparents said every time they baby sat for me. I wanted to stay up and see what was going on!

These days "Gey shlofn" has been changed to "Gey Shluffy," and "Have sweet shluffies." And to this day, I am a "Shayna Punim." (pretty face). I use that one a lot with my daughter and granddaughter. I love Yiddish!

[Carmie]

When my father wanted peace and quiet he would tell us kids to "Amscray". I haven't heard that term for many years.

it means leave quickly or go away.

[Ms tyrion2]

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@Carmie wrote:

When my father wanted peace and quiet he would tell us kids to "Amscray". I haven't heard that term for many years.

it means leave quickly or go away.

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It was Pig Latin for scram.

You take the last part of the word and put it in front.

Popular in the 50s and 60s.

It is unnyfay!