Resa’s Pieces

June 25, 2023

I spent much of my life with Mark Twain, studying him, writing and speaking about him. Unlike what many of my students may have thought, I didn’t personally know him. My loss and his. What he thinks of me I don’t know. Perhaps I’ll learn one day. He did state, “Heaven for climate, hell for society.”

When it came to writing, he had lots of words about language, and I learned much about it teaching Twain. Language scholars will tell you language, both written and spoken, works on three levels: formal, informal, colloquial. It all depends on your audience. For a large educated audience, “cat” would be “feline.” For a group of regular folks, “cat.” For a small group of those close to you, family or friends, “Furball! Get your butt off my table!”

Every family has its own language: words the parents, children or friends understand, but outsiders of your tribe need translation.

My family calls our oldest vehicle, a 1997 Honda, the “dowager,” a formal name. Technically, it refers to a widow of a titled spouse, an “old lady” to use the colloquial. You might hear someone say, “Are we taking the dowager or the “kid”? You can surmise or guess that the “kid” is our 2022 Hyundai. The Honda hatchback has over 340,000 miles on it. And yes, it still runs.

At Christmas time you probably watch Ralphie’s tale of wanting a Red Ryder BB gun in the movie “A Christmas Story” based on Jean Shepherd’s novel. (I will always give you these details; I am still a teacher.) Remember their neighbors the Bumpus family with all the hounds that ate their Christmas dinner? You’ve seen the movie. It runs continuously Christmas Day on TBS. You can even visit the house used in the film in Cleveland. We have neighbors we call “Bumpuses.” They’ve never stolen our Christmas dinner, but you can imagine how they earned that name.

My nephew refers to small bits of food as “uchies.” That’s not a real word. I’m not even sure how to spell it. It might be crumbs of cake or some bacon bits. My family has even made a verb of it. “Don’t uchy the cookies!”

On the wealthiest part of town near where I live is a grocery store we refer to as “Brad Pitts.” Mr. Pitt has never shopped there, but it was once rumored he had purchased a house nearby. It was plausible as he grew up in this area. He was then married to Jennifer Aniston. I could imagine her pushing a cart past the canned goods, but never Angelina Jolie.

On a less affluent side of town is a store we call “Billy Bobs.” Think of a few characters Billy Bob Thornton has played. He could have portrayed a Bumpus. Then you can imagine some of the customers there. I realize Angelina was once married to Mr. Thornton. That coincidence has nothing to do with our choice of grocery stores. We are equal opportunity shoppers and use both.

Think about it. What are some examples of your family’s personal vocabulary? Formal, informal, colloquial? I’ve “peppered” this “thesis,”“article” or “blog “ with examples of all three. Can you find them? I told you I’m still a teacher. Take me out of the classroom, but I still got “class.”