Many of the words that we use in our family are German words. All of my mom’s side of the family is from there any many of the words have stuck for using within English. One word in particular is “waschflekle” (which is probably not spelled right, since no one has really tried to spell it) waschflekle translated into wash cloth. The “le” on the end makes the word more unique because of the part of Germany that my family is from. In this part of Germany people tend to add a “le” as a sign of endearment. I actually never knew the word wash cloth until I was about twelve or thirteen. One of my friends asked me if we had a wash cloth and I thought she meant like a cloth to wash a car with. It took a while before I figured out what she really meant.
There are many other words that we use that are German, but that would take a long time to write about all of them. We have also developed words from names. Our dog has many nicknames, but I think that confuses her. Her name is Sugar and one of the main nicknames that she has is Woogie. Now, how on earth did Sugar turn into Woogie you might ask. Sugar turned in to Shugie, to Wooger, to Woogie. How those changed into one another I’m not sure, but it stuck. She is a Maltese, which is a small white dog. My dad now refers to all small white dogs as “Wooggies”.
Another word that mostly my mom and I use is “tasties”. This refers to all dried products used to make broth, mostly beef or chicken bouillon cubes or granules. I never knew that for the longest time that like me my mom also used to eat these as a kid. I know you might all think this is gross. I should have guessed that she did, because how else would I have known to eat them when I was in the need for some serious salt. Now that I think of it, I’m not really sure how the actual word “tasties” started to be used to mean the broth making stuff. I always just remember asking my mom if I wanted tasties or her asking me the same. Even though did this as a kid I don’t really saw tasties now yet I guess I did a lot when I was younger. Thinking on it now I’m not really sure what I call the granules or cubes used to make broth.
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3 comments:
It is interesting and kind of funny that the language your family uses can't really be spelled and doesn't really have an official spelling. I noticed that your family has a tendency to make up words which seems to reflect the personality of your family and how creative you can be together. I've noticed in other people's blogs that their language tends to be funny and yours is the same way. I think language helps connect families with humor, but also culture like in your case where you guys speak German words. I like the waschflekle, it's funny.
Your family is original with their language. They do not feel boxed in by norms and seem to quite frequently create their own language. It may be that your family is very quirky, rejecting normality as a form of living while embracing originality. The more times you can a word, the more points you get. The German heritage probably makes for this variation in words. I can appreciate your family trying to stay connected to your heritage by using words, however wrong they may be, to stay in touch with your history.
The use of German words among your family is awesome and would be especially good for your feelings of belonging because they are not only words that incorporate you but also because they reflect your heritage. It is interesting how you guys derive random words that stand for something else such as "woogies" for small dogs and tasties for salty snacks.
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