Community Chat

[Toppers3]

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@AmyRD71 wrote:

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,

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This whole thread is bringing back so many fond and fun memories of all of my dear family members, too.

It's funny how I still use many of these same words today, and I don't even think about using them when I speak.

I say "bed clothes," too.

One of my great-grandmothers used to use the words petticoats and drawers when referring to lingerie. 

[kivah]

@Pook 

Gatkes is the Yiddish (Jewish) word for underpants. I used to hear that word growing up in NYC. Yiddish is similar to the German language --- so gatkes is probably commonly used in Eastern Europe - with variations in spelling/pronunciation..

[lovesrecess]

My. mother called our dresser the chiffonier...
My grandmother said we ate our ice cream "lickety split" which was her phrase for anything that was fast!

[Annabellethecat66]

@deepwaterdotter  The British still do use those same terms.  

When I worked at the Pentagon back in the 70's I worked with Brits and NZ, Austraila and Canada.

I was only in my early 20's and had not been anywhere.  I was the secretary to 2 Lt Colonels and 1 Major.  But the people I mentioned were also in my office.

Often we'd sit and talk.  They'd tease me because I didn't know what they were talking about.  The Wing Commander (who is a Lt Colonel in same as Air Force) would say, "Might I have a Lolly (piece of candy)".  There are many terms still used that we don't use in the US.

Even the spelling is different.  Talk about confusing.  I would try to figure out what they were referring to and when they handed me a letter, I had to figure out what it meant in the US.

All of them stole my heart.  They were so gentle and their words were so much better than the American words.

I used to tell the Wing Commander's secretary (we became really good friends), "You could say you were going to the Loo (bathroom) and it sounded lovely to me".  

My grandma who raised me was 1/2 American Indian.  She taught me many ways to treat sickness, etc.  I still use many of them today.