I love my family and how easily we play off of each other when it comes to banter. We always manage to crack each other up, so I hope you can get a chuckle out of a couple of these. And of course, what quotes lead to hysterics in your household or office environment?
Quoth the Vickerys…
1. Drink some water, eat some toast, brush our teeth and go to bed
My daughters were 10 years old and 8 years old when this first came up. They wanted to stay up late to watch Fat Albert, and their mom asked them “well, what are you going to do if I let you stay up and watch it”. They came up with this stroke of genius quip that combined all of the things Mom always insisted they do. They are in high school and college now, and they still use this line to get extra privileges.
2. What?
The message conveyed is dependent upon the speed of delivery and how many vowels in the word. Was there a distinct hiss at the end? Was it said with disgust…disdain…disbelief…or was it truly a question? Here is a video clip for your viewing pleasure. How many do you recognize from your own vocabulary?
3. Nice
Similar to #2, this 4-letter word has boundless potential to convey emotion or interest. My daughters know I do not intend to get looped into a long text discussion if my replies are simply “nice”. If I see a Camaro drive by, you may hear me say “Niiiice”. If one of my judo students applies a perfect throw after a little coaching you may hear me impulsively yell “NICE!!”. If I see boorish behavior you might hear me sarcastically say “Nice”.
4. The thing is…
This one comes out of my mouth several times in almost any conversation. My wife once said “the thing that bugs me is you say THE thing is when really it should be A thing is because there is more than one thing”. My answer to that concern was “yeah, but the thing is…”. Get it?
5. And another thing…
Is it a coincidence that this phrase comes from my wife? She is just “chock full” of information. She will finish one explanation or pass along a nugget of wisdom, and in the same breath start a new lesson with “and another thing”. So she never has The Thing because she is always coming up with Another Thing!
6. Analyzate
Our youngest daughter complained because she had to “analyzate” a book. The oldest naturally was ruthless in poking fun at this vocabulary faux pas. Being the supportive and caring father that I am, I joined in the merciless torture of our youngest child. We still poke fun at each other by saying “well, perhaps you should analyzate it”!
7. Fart! Snore!
Have you ever played the Taboo game? The key is to give clues to your partner so that they can guess a particular word without using any of the Taboo words as clues. Our daughters are almost telepathic in their ability to speed through these answers. However, they used to blurt out answers in the early years. In this case, the correct word was “Dream”. The clue given was “what do Mom and Dad do when they are not awake”. “Fart! Snore!” were the first two answers blurted out. Years later, somebody ceremonially blurts this out in every game. FYI, Mom and Dad do *not* do this (at least the flatulent part)!!
8. Really?!?
This word is best accompanied by a look of disbelief and hand gestures. It is often used when offering commentary on drivers who cut into your lane, with no signal, while on an icy road. Or how about when you are using a site shopping cart, and the site goes down when you are 90% complete? Lately, I say this every time I have to categorize a post I want to favorite on StumbleUpon. I love StumbleUpon, but requiring a category is annoying when the dropdown list is not complete. They need to have an “Other” or at least a “Social Media” category!
9. Interesting
80% of the time when we say “interesting” we mean it really isn’t interesting, but we are being polite and noncommittal. The exception is when I use it as a one-word introduction to a retweet! Then I am absolutely sincere 100% of the time (otherwise, I would not have retweeted the content).
10. Gerald Ford was eaten by wolves. He was delicious.
We love this entire Dana Carvey skit playing Tom Brokaw. My youngest daughter can nail the accent and everything. Pay attention around the 2:18 mark of the video for the eaten by wolves line. The video is much more hysterical for those of us who grew up listening to Tom Brokaw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ZKpq5QfDE
11. I’m busy
This one comes from my wife. It is used in cases like when you get into the car on a snowy day, and the gas gauge is on empty. Or you go looking for milk (or Oreos in my case) and come up empty. Or when she “can’t find the E” which means she could not find Internet Explorer on her desktop because I replaced it with the far better Google Chrome. If we complain, we get an “I’m Busy”. Of course it is said in such a good-natured way to always make us smile.
12. Good golly
OK, I am the culprit here. Once upon a time I even asked my wife “who says golly nowadays”. Less than 24 hours later someone did a picture-perfect lob over my head for a winner in tennis. I just looked at it and said “good golly”. I was flabbergasted! Apparently, I am the guy that says golly! I use “good golly” when I need extra emphasis. Go figure…
So let’s hear it. What are some of your favorite homegrown quotes? Anybody use the expression “Fixin’ to”? Another one that happens in our house – I am *SO* Facebook quoting you! Bring a smile with your comments, folks!
Featured image courtesy of betsyweber licensed via Creative Commons.
I love my wife and two daughters. I am blessed in that I also love my job as a principal and EVP of the Rocky Mountain Region for Mantis Technology Group. I am very excited about our Pulse Analytics SaaS social media monitoring solution for measuring consumer sentiment and supporting social engagement. I enjoy teaching and coaching. I graduated UT-Austin.
I figured out recently that the men in my life all have a little phrase or sound they say in response to almost everything. My husband says "huh." My son says "Tsk." My Dad says "Well, I'll be damned." We added them together to make a little catchphrase song that works for almost any occassion. "Huh. Tsk. Well, I'll be damned."
@profkrg Like a musical montage - I like it! I drive @kfvickery nuts when I say "Fine". How was dinner...fine. How was your day..."fine". The Mayan calendar stops at 2012..."fine" ;)
@deleted_2698155_BruceSallan1 And of course every family has "whatever". I almost made another video for the different uses of "nice" and "interesting"...
Brian, I loved this! In fact, I'm going to use the video to discuss paralanguage in my next Interpersonal or Intro to Comm class. Couldn't have asked for a better example! Thank you!
As of this weekend, we're all saying "huge-mongous!" because my 3-year-old said, "Mama, that apple is 'huge-mongous'!"
@chattyprof Have you seen the "View-mongous" used in a recent Sharp TV ad? Glad to help, Ellen.
A couple of the 3-10 year old type of words we had was (Yose-might rather than Yosemite). South Carolinia - notice the extra ending there, and Tuck-sun for Tucson.
And I have a couple of daughters who insisted the rest of the world must be wrong with pronunciation!
@dbvickery , nice list. I do love me some old-school Dana Carvey.
"How was today?" as in, is dinner-time going to be the next battle in a war that started at breakfast?
"what?" not in your usage, but as in, I am sorry, but I was not listening to anything you just said.
"Do you have to work tonight?" (from the wife) as in, are you going to strap a computer monitor to your face all evening, or can I expect a little help around here?
@jpJeremy I think we might have that version of "What" in our house, Jeremy. And Dana Carvey and Chris Farley - always Classic. Sometimes we get a "living in a van down by the river" quote opportunities.
As for the work tonight, that is a tough one. I telecommute, so I am always available for my family. And I telecommute, so it seems like I am "always on and connected". Definitely the delicate balance!
This post exemplifies everything that is GREAT about family!
We have so many "Fitz-isms" I wouldn't even know where to start. Currently, many of them revolve around Caturday. Thank meow very much. You can be corny at home & that is a good thing!
@PegFitzpatrick Thanks, Peggy. I love the concept of Fitz-isms! The "isms" are truly best when shared with family. You should hear some of the dinner conversations! In fact, my oldest daughter wrote her college entrance essay "why I love family dinner in the Vickery house". That choked me up knowing we had that type of lasting impact on our kids' values. All it costs is time...
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