What’s Up With 13 Thursday?
1. My son, Josh, knows how much I love lingo. When visiting him in Asheville, I take notes when he and his friends talk because I love to record their hip use of language. He got me some slang flashcards for Christmas. The first thing we did with them was test me to find out how many I already knew.
2. We had some lingo in my day too. Some of it has remained and some has evolved. I still say “wow” and “that blew my mind.” We used to say “split” when we were about to leave a place. Today they say “bounce.”
3. In the world of lingo cold is hot and bad is good.
4. My dad used a lot of hip lingo too, from the 30’s and 40’s. I found an interesting webpage called the Electric Eclectic that lists slang words from every decade. Like fashion, some slang comes back into style. My son and his friends sometimes call shoes “kicks.” On the Electric Eclectic website, I discovered that shoes were also called kicks in the 40’s. Fuddy duddy, city slicker, old hat, and have a ball all came from the 30’s and 40’s and have lasted to this day.
5. My husband, Joe, picked out some movies for us recently. He picked out one with Meg Ryan in it for me because it had a slang dictionary as part of the menu options. I won’t recommend the movie. It was too violent for my taste, and Meg Ryan seems to have boob-jobbed her face with implants or chemicals, making me queasy and wondering what she thought was wrong with her God-given beautiful face. It was New York City slang, and I learned some new words that I don’t think my son knows. According to the movie, “dixie cup” means disposal and “ground ball” means easy.
6. When Josh was in England this past summer he learned a lot of “Cockney Rhyming Slang.” Did you know that Cockney Rhyming Slang was used in the movie Narnia? The beaver used it when he invited the children in his lodge for a cup of “Rosie Lee,” which means tea.
7. I also got a new dictionary for Christmas. The first word I looked up was “BLOG.” It’s not there…yet.
8. I wrote a poem about losing my dad this week. I had been avoiding thinking about his death because when I do, it feels almost too big to approach. As I was typing it out and crying, a woman who is reading “The Jim and Dan Stories” emailed me to thank me for writing it. She reads my blog sometimes, and knew I had lost my dad. She was reading the story in the book about my parent’s 50th January anniversary and wanted to let me know she was thinking about my dad, my mother, and me.
9. Sometimes, writing a poem is to enter into a magical place from a specific point in time. It’s like taking a subway ride from Quincy into Boston. It has a route, a speed, and a destination. You can go back the next day and take the same ride, but it won’t be the same. The things you saw out the window one day probably won’t be there the next.
10. Part of the poem reads: I’m reminded he’s dead while looking at the crack in my bedroom ceiling… from burning a light bulb too bright… The blue paint is pulled back from its original color…Even with the light out I see it.
11. Last year my new calendar was a Wemoon one. It came as part of the payment for a poem I had published in the Wemoon Journal. This year my calendar was a gift from my brother, John, and features storm photos. I know he got it in memory of our older brother Jim, who was an avid weather enthusiast and has a dedication flag flying in his honor at The Blue Hill Weather Observatory, in Milton Massachusetts, where he volunteered before he passed away.
12. I keep records to the extent that I write them on my calendar… when to change the water filter and the timing belt in my car… how many fresh eggs I buy from my supplier each month…how many hours I worked. I write everything down on calendars and save them from year to year, that way I have a quick reference to everything that ever went on.
13. The only thing clean in my whole house right now is my calendar. Nothing is written on it yet.
Post Note: I’m wishing everyone a straight-up chilled New Year full of mad surprises. To find out what’s up with 13 Thursday, get down with Leanne at Artist by Nature. She’s the bomb. Keep it real. Peace out.
January 5th, 2006 9:42 am
You just can’t trust those mainstream dictionaries! 🙂
My 13 are up!
January 5th, 2006 11:30 am
Blog isn’t there yet? For shame 🙂
I use my calendar in the same way.
Word!
My 13 are up.
January 5th, 2006 11:42 am
Haha! Think I have to agree with you about the calender… its the only thing clean at my place to!
My 13 are up!
January 5th, 2006 11:55 am
Wow, there are LINGO flashcards??? LOL. Thanks for the slang website. I bookmarked it and plan to peruse it later.
I laughed when you said the only clean thing in your house is your calendar. I feel your pain sista’. My house is a mess too! LOL.
My 13 are up.
January 5th, 2006 12:05 pm
I never really looked at “slang” that way. I mean I’ve heard past slang Which I think is pretty Nifty. And I have used slang in the past which was like oh my gosh out of control. And I’m not to fond of the phat chat that goes on now!!!!
I hope you’re doing well.
Take care!
January 5th, 2006 12:28 pm
Oh, I love this post. Words, words, words!
My 13 is finally up.
January 5th, 2006 12:50 pm
I still say “Right on” which was actually a little old when I started :-0
When my oldest was in the NICU (she was born 16 weeks early) I used to go and sit with her every day for most of my waking hours. Pretty much if I wasn’t pumping, doing laundry or grabbing a quick bite, I was with her there for four months.
One day, when she was about 2 months old and doing really well, my husband was trying to get me out because I was a little stir crazy. He said, “Let’s make like a premature baby and head out early!” I laughed so hard I cried, and we went and had a nice dinner…and then came back 🙂 He’s goofy that way.
January 5th, 2006 12:51 pm
Oops, posted before I was done. That was just a story that “lingo” made me think of 🙂
I’ll go link you up. Loved your 13!
January 5th, 2006 2:21 pm
this post is off the chain!
January 5th, 2006 2:43 pm
You go girl!
January 5th, 2006 2:59 pm
DAMN SKIPPY! I love lingo, too!
I believe your sister visited my blog…tell her I said hello! I also left a quick note for her after the comment she had left.
Does she have a blog?
I’m sure I will visit tomorrow as well but incase I forget to mention it…have a wicked-cool weekend!
January 5th, 2006 3:08 pm
Ahahahah! I got those flash cards for my sister last year!! LOL!
You’re hella fresh Colleen!!
xoxo
January 5th, 2006 3:14 pm
I’m glad your parents got to celebrate their 50th…mine did, too.
We got my parents into the hall on the pretense of wishing a happy birthday to one of my brother’s friends. When Mom walked in and saw all her friends, the first thing she did was turn to us and say, “Oh, you @$$holes!!! That’s my Mom for you!
She always said she wanted to live long enough to celebrate their 60th, but that wasn’t to be.
January 5th, 2006 3:33 pm
Harmonia,
My sister Kathy AKA Ben has a blog “A Persistent Point of View” which is on my sidebar. I also have a sister Sherry who doesn’t have one but reads and does visit other blogs besides mine, especially Mommak’s.
Hey, I just typed their names in my blog search and all the posts about them come up. There is a nice one “Happy Birthday Sherry” which I like a lot.
Janet, My parents celebrated their 50th in 96. They were about to celebrate their 60th this January. The 50th was a surprise for them too, especially the part where I flew up from Virgina and stayed at Sherry’s house until the night of. My mother, who doesn’t miss a trick, may have suspected the party but me coming home was a complete surprise. I can still see them dancing the jitterbug in my mind. How is your dad doing?
January 5th, 2006 3:43 pm
That was a “tight” list! Jim and Dan Stories was a very thought provoking read..I agree ;0)
I still think about you and having to deal with the loss of so many family members. Wishing you peace my friend.
P.S. I cheated and put my 13 up before I went to bed so they’d be up early today…I didn’t have time to post before work!
January 5th, 2006 4:02 pm
I can’t wait to read your poem.
This list is “cool”. In maine they use the word “wicked” a lot. As in: Wicked Good.
January 5th, 2006 4:33 pm
yo homey,
i jus got dissed by my boss
fo being hella tight
wit my heady raps
but not so down with
bringin’ da love
to my peeps.
January 5th, 2006 8:10 pm
Yo Yo Yo my Aunt Coll-
If you rap wit’ cha son Josh, tell the kid get on sending his cousins the pics of us wit those flashcards…if he doesn’t send ’em thats wigady wigady wak, yo! 🙂 Word? Peace out homey. Check ya on the flip side.
January 5th, 2006 9:10 pm
With Nyssa everything good is “tight”. Mine are pretty lame. I do have a book called The Word Museum – The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten; it has very strange words, some sound remarkably like slang.
January 5th, 2006 10:14 pm
I just love reading your blog no matter what the post is.. Lingo.. My kids (3,5,&6)have started keeping up with the “lingo”. Suddenly they say “COOL”,”Awesome”,and “That rocks” all the time. I remember “awesome” being popular.
January 5th, 2006 11:50 pm
Very nice 13. I love language and you were elightening.
Also the snippet of the poem you shared is powerful stuff.
I did do my 13 but am only now out visiting other folks.
Mine is up at http://www.20six.co.uk/Enigma
January 5th, 2006 11:51 pm
Back at cha, kid. Here’s lookin’ at cha.
January 6th, 2006 12:39 am
Enjoyed reading your TT. I had to chuckle about #13.
My TT is up. 🙂
January 6th, 2006 1:30 am
I so enjoy reading your words, always, Colleen…And this 13 is no different..So interesting and full ..with much food for thought in every department!
Love it!
January 6th, 2006 3:07 pm
I too enjoy lingo and probably use way too much of it. 🙂
January 6th, 2006 9:51 pm
Not “wassup”? Cool flashcards! And thanks for the link to Electric Eclectic — I’ve added it to my own “writing, editing, and research resources” page, which now has a link to your page. (I distribute the resources page in the class I teach.) Very powerful poem excerpt.
January 7th, 2006 2:17 am
I’m here via Jen’s Hoard…
Interesting words… I think that I’ll stick with regular old english.
Loved your description of Meg’s “new” face. LOL!
here’s my 13
http://lillyput.blogspot.com
January 8th, 2006 12:40 am
Yo Col, I bounced for awhile as you know, but I’m back in action and getting caught up here at your blog. Thanks for mentioning mine in your response to Harmonia. It must have been Sherry who visited…but I promise to look in too.
It was wicked cool to see Molly post a comment !!! (my youngest daughter – for those who don’t know). She’s so neat. She had alotta fun with the flash cards when Josh and her other cousins all went out to dinner.
And BTW, Johnny sent me a calendar too. Mine featured Bush’s lingo…which would be a hoot, if it wasn’t so sad.
And hey, “even with the light out I see it.” All I can say to that line is “me too.”
January 9th, 2006 3:01 pm
What a clever way to post your 13. (I love your blog by the way) your latest 13 cracked me up. I never knew there were slang flashcards. Where did you find them? My son and I would have so much fun with that!
Sometimes the things that come out of his mouth…how did he learn that? (Not that it’s bad…) Who comes up with this stuff anyway? And my biggest problem…when did I get old? I just recently turned 30…not as old as I thought when I was 16! Sometimes I hear people talking and have no idea what they’re saying. I think it’s English. I need the flashcards 😀
My 13 are up. http://kimmyandjacob.blogspot.com