My family is rather large, and tightly knit. We’ve developed a vocabulary of our own, so here’s a lesson.
wizzit – Contraction of “what is it,” pretty much used as a one-word sentence. Origin: John Paul Jaquith.
lelf – Expression of excitement or desire (though not necessarily sexual… you could “lelf” over a car or electronics). Origin: David or Stephen Jaquith.
runka – Expression of raw animal excitement… usually sexual. Origin: noise made by little doglike creature in Return of the Jedi (in Jabba’s palace).
MarWhy – Mary (Jaquith). Origin: teasing older brothers.
lunt – Musical noise played when morbidly obese people walk… the tune sounds like Little Rascals music.
fleh – (also “flenh”) expression of discontent or uncaring. Also has a sense of “right back at you!” e.g. “John Paul, chew with your mouth closed.” “Fleh! You chew with your mouth closed!” Origin: unknown.
ahoy – similar to “fleh,” but usually implying that you think the person is mentally retarded. e.g. “You were supposed to wash, and I was supposed to dry the dishes… ahoy!” Origin: Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon where Sam is stranded on an island and sees Bugs wash up on shore. “Ahoy, rabbit!” he yells, and this was misinterpreted as an insult by either John Paul or Mary. Sometimes used in its original “ahoy, rabbit” form, with the person’s name sometimes added after “rabbit.”
yoikes – mocking expression, said in a high wavering voice, indicating that someone is overreacting to something. Origin: one morning in church, John Paul was asleep on the pew. Someone gently tried to move him over a bit and he flailed in his sleep saying “yoikes!” (a variation on “yikes”). Very similar to sound made in “Scooby Doo,” but this developed independent of the show.
blork – used to indicate when something or someone that makes you want to barf. Origin: Stephen (?). (Thanks Mike! I can’t beleieve I forgot “blork!” Ahoy, Mark!)
blau – pronounced like “bl” + “ow” (as in, the noise you make when you get hurt). Blau is used to signify a loud outburst by an authority figure, usually in a disciplinary context (and usually by our father). It works as a verb as well as a noun (e.g. “I played video games when I was supposed to be doing yard work so dad blau’d me.”)
Does your family or circle of friends have any slang that isn’t really used outside that circle? Go ahead and share the list, and send a TrackBack to this entry!
Haha, this brings back memories. You forgot one though.
blork – used to indicate when something or someone that makes you want to barf. Origin: Stephen made it up I think. Not sure, we just kind of started saying it.
gleek: (v) To squirt saliva from the glands under your tongue. Most often done accidentally when yawning, but with practice can be done at will to annoy siblings or offspring. As in “Ack! You gleeked me!”
Can’t believe I haven’t seen this list yet.
Three comments:
1. The first instance of “Fleh” was from the first utterance of “Flehnese,” the language parents speak to each other. After the Divine Liturgy in Port Charlotte, Dad rolled down the car window to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Wood, who were in their car. He said, “Ehowhed,” and they said “are you – ok.” There was no real coherent verbal communication between them, yet it was mutually understood that Dad was to follow them to their place. I said, “whoa, did you hear that? They just went, ‘fleh, fleh fleh!’ and understood each other.” So I guess I invented “Fleh.”
2. John Paul invented “Ahoy.” Mary picked up on it quickly, being the recipient of the “insult.”
3. “Runka” doesn’t come from Jabba’s Palace. It actually comes from that old cheesy Click-And-Play pong game we had on the old Compaq. It’s the noise the lion character would make as he “Runka’d” the ping pong ball. Steve picked it up in “Loudmouth” to be a Jabba’s Palace noise, and I believe we attributed it to the Jabba’s Palace creature whenever we watched RotJ around the same time.