It seems universal that families develop their own languages over time. Often we hold on to our children's mispronunciations and those become part of our normal, daily lexicons. People on Twitter are sharing their weirdest, funniest, and sweetest odd words and phrases, and it's fabulous.
It all started when Twitter user Iva Cheung asked the Twitterverse a simple question.
What words, expressions, or pronunciations are unique to your familiolect? Quote-tweet with your favourites!— Iva Cheung (@Iva Cheung)1515623288.0
If your family still speaks baby talk you're not alone.
@IvaCheung My dad still says cucchini instead of zucchini because my nephew said it that way as a child. We still think it’s adorable.— Tracy Torchetti (@Tracy Torchetti)1515642197.0
Sometimes a family's phrasing so perfectly captures the essence and meaning, better than the actual words ever could.
"Bottom event" = a baby has either parped or pooped (i.e. we heard something happen). https://t.co/mHbONZGkmY— NotInventedHere🇪🇺 (@NotInventedHere🇪🇺)1515712444.0
When eating chicken you have chicken bones left over. When eating pizza, pizza bones. Makes sense.
We used to refer to uneaten pizza crusts as "pizza bones". And my dad calls the room where is computer is the "comp… https://t.co/ZQ6DVadntX— Gwendolyn the first (@Gwendolyn the first)1515715777.0
It's possible that the remote control is the most nicknamed object in all of our houses.
My whole family calls the remote the tv box. No one ever knows what were talking about. https://t.co/F1KESaYEBf— Katie has yet to shut up about Matthew Swift (@Katie has yet to shut up about Matthew Swift)1515716116.0
Mmmm. Hostages for dinner.
@IvaCheung As a kid I pronounced sausages as “hostages”. God help anyone who hears us say “we’re having hostages fo… https://t.co/EeTv5mJ8dj— bébé yoda (@bébé yoda)1515783390.0
This one takes some 'splainin, but I love it.
@IvaCheung "Jackhandle" as a verb, meaning to get worked up about something you're imagining could happen, but hasn… https://t.co/92pSqVxryd— (((The Other David Cohen))) (@(((The Other David Cohen))))1515977524.0
Brilliant!
Both of these make perfect sense.
@IvaCheung A "plunk" is a spoonful of something due to the sound as it falls to the plate. We also call remotes "go… https://t.co/kUcefYw4TH— Nita (@Nita)1515990982.0
This family is serious about their silly words.
@IvaCheung We seriously have so many in my family that I wrote them all down in a dictionary for my dad's Christmas… https://t.co/3cyAkCMuXQ— Master Eva Mays 🖊️📖☕ (@Master Eva Mays 🖊️📖☕)1515708595.0
The silly word thing runs deep in this family.
@TheFallow @IvaCheung Well, since you asked...when my parents were dating they used to sign their letters "From you… https://t.co/7GNuS7EinI— Master Eva Mays 🖊️📖☕ (@Master Eva Mays 🖊️📖☕)1515749152.0
I'm sure it seems quite normal to them, but when future generations find their correspondence they'll have no idea what they're talking about.
@EvaIrrgarten @TheFallow @IvaCheung When my fiancée and I were dating I’d often end text or IM conversations with a… https://t.co/evAA2FI8ms— hibernating squidelefam (@hibernating squidelefam)1515878804.0
If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
@IvaCheung I can't tell you on Twitter 'cause we have a pact to use them as secret passwords/proof of life if we're… https://t.co/qh69BLlZ4a— Marcia #MaskingForAFriend Walker (@Marcia #MaskingForAFriend Walker)1515714977.0