[2022-04-19] No place like home
In response to last night's post, a Jenesis reader wrote to say: "This reminds me of a 'saying' my Mother used if we were too busy [thrashing men to feed...or canning etc] .......she would say 'We'll just give the house a lick and a promise today'......and I still say that to myself sometimes!"
I wasn't familiar with the expression, so I searched its origins. Grammarphobia replied to a question from a person who said, "My mom, who is nearly 90, says things like this: 'The kitchen floor needs to be waxed, but I only have time to give it a lick and a promise.' Where does the phrase 'a lick and a promise' come from?" The website provided a number of sources for the term, including this one from the Oxford English Dictionary: "lick" refers to "a slight and hasty wash," while "promise" signifies an intention to do a better job in the future.
My friend's comment got me thinking about expressions and words I had heard as a kid, and still do occasionally when I go back home. I grew up in the Township of Lanark (now Lanark Highlands), near the tiny village of Ferguson Falls, in the county of Lanark. The Irish and Scottish roots of the area gave rise to many colourful expressions as well as pronunciations that I find amusing and quaint. Some of the words and expressions I present here are no doubt found beyond the Ottawa Valley, but I chose the ones I had heard frequently where I grew up (some of which I used myself), but rarely heard elsewhere, except perhaps in other places around the Valley. My list is based on a compilation of Ottawa Valley Expressions by Preston O'Grady and the Ottawa Valley to English Dictionary. The sample sentences come from my recollection or imagination.
Expressions
A far piece = a great distance
"We're looking for Ompah."
"Oh, that's a far piece."
Alls = All that
"Alls you gotta do is give it a swift kick in the arse."
At all, at all = said for emphasis
"Sorry to intrude."
"Not at all, not at all."
Bellyachin' = complaining
"Oh, quit your bellyachin'."
Bender, binge, rip, tear = a drinking session of several days
"The boys are goin' on a tear this weekend."
Blather or blatherin = talking nonsense or drivel
"Are you still blatherin' on about that?"
Blazes = hell
"What the blazes is that guy doin'?"
Bucko = my boy
"Now, wait one minute, bucko!"
Gallivantin' = going around from place to place seeking pleasure or entertainment
"Where you been gallivantin' all night?"
G'day-G'day = hello
"G'day-G'day. How she goin'?"
Give ‘er a go = try something new
"But I've never driven a skidoo."
"Oh, give 'er a go."
Guff = nonsense or ridiculous talk
"And I don't wanna hear no guff from you."
Holy liftin' = an exclamation of surprise
"Holy liftin'! Did you see the smoke comin' outta that car?"
Jeepers creepers = a euphemism for taking the Lord's name in vain
"Jeepers creepers. Stay on your side o' the road, buddy."
Just given'er = driving quickly with reckless abandon
"Did you see that idiot? He was just given'er."
Keep yer fork = instruction to keep your dinner fork because pie is being served for dessert
"Keep yer fork, there's pie!"
Mucky-muck = a person in authority
"I hear she's dating some big mucky-muck from the bank."
Shindig/Shingding = a party with lively dancing
"I hear there's a big shindig down at the Falls tonight."
As I've written before, I always thought the word was "shingding" until a university chum pointed out that the word is "shindig." In either case, I've never encountered the term outside the Ottawa Valley.
Skeeters/skits = mosquitoes
"Man, the skits are bad tonight. They'll eat you alive."
Slippy = slippery
"Careful crossin' the barnyard. It's slippy out there."
Spuds, taters, potacs, potaters, patayda = potatoes
"Looks like you got a good crop o' spuds there."
Talkin' through your hat = exaggerating
"Well, now you're just talkin' through your hat."
Thing-a-ma-jig/thing-a-ma-bob = general term used to replace a noun when words fail
"Gimme that thing-a-ma-jig."
"You mean a wrench?"
Two-fer = a case of 24 bottles of beer
"Can ya pick me up a two-fer if you're goin' to town?"
Up the line = up the Ottawa Valley (survey, railroad, highway)
"Do you know Gerry from up the line?"
Young lad = a boy or young male adult
"Who's that talkin' to Marjorie?"
"Oh that's Cecile's young lad."
Skewed pronunciations
Aigs = eggs
"We're outta aigs agin."
When I was young, my family bought five dozen imperfect eggs every week from the local egg farmer. Every Saturday morning, my sister went to the egg farmer's house, asking for "five dozen cracks please!" They cost 50 cents a dozen.
Bais (or beyes) = boys
"Looks like them bais are up to no good."
Blowna = balogna
"I'm sick of blowna sandwiches!"
Burries = berries
"I gotta go pick burries."
Cair = car
"Git in the cair. We're late."
Crick = creek
"The crick's all dried up this time o' year."
Fer sher = for sure
"Do you think it's worth fixin'?"
"Oh, fer sher."
Giant Tagger = Giant Tiger
"Can you pick me up some chips at Giant Tagger?"
Kittle = kettle
"Roy, put the kittle on. We got cumpne."
Pritineer = pretty near
"That guy pritineer runned me over."
Prolly = probably
"I'll prolly just head home after this."
Turrible = terrible
"I hear the barn burnt down. That's just turrible."
Winder = window
"Put the winder up, goshdarnit! The skits are coming in."
The list could no doubt go on and on. Indeed, you'll find many more entries in the two sources I noted.
There's a saying that you can take the girl out of the country but not the country out of the girl. I suppose that's true in my case, given how easy it was for me to come up with sentences to illustrate the various terms and pronunciations.
I share these to make you smile, to jog your memory about colourful expressions you grew up with, and to remind us all that "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
