I can't help it really. No, I mean really. It's in my blood. I come from a long line of hearty, down to earth, get your hands dirty, honest, and hard working men who have preceded me. I grew up watching them. . .and learning. It was inevitable that I would follow in their paths. With their vocabulary.
So, on the occasion when I slip-up, can I really be blamed?
Whenever she hears me use it, Mrs. LIAYF just sighs and corrects me. Gives me one of those motherly type looks. I'm sure all my Dad Blogging buddies know exactly what I mean.
She will say something like "Dish-cloth. It's a Dish-CLOTH, not a dish-rag!"
But after 40 plus years, can I really be expected to abandon all use of the word rag? It has a certain manly ring to it, doesn't it?? I'm trying. Honest I am.
So, on the occasion when I slip-up, can I really be blamed?
Whenever she hears me use it, Mrs. LIAYF just sighs and corrects me. Gives me one of those motherly type looks. I'm sure all my Dad Blogging buddies know exactly what I mean.
She will say something like "Dish-cloth. It's a Dish-CLOTH, not a dish-rag!"
But after 40 plus years, can I really be expected to abandon all use of the word rag? It has a certain manly ring to it, doesn't it?? I'm trying. Honest I am.
(A washcloth by any other name . . . .)
Another word that I get that look for, if used in the wrong context, is juice. Like the other evening when, during Lukas' bath, my little guy wanted me to blow him some more bubbles. I told him I needed to get a little more bubble juice on the wand. "It's SOLUTION. Bubble solution!"
How about you readers? What words has your significant other nixed from the household vocabulary in the interest of "propriety?"
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12 comments:
I hesitate even to get into this a it's probably too complex but:
In northern england we call the meal at 12 noon dinner, the meal at 5pm tea, and the snack at bedtime supper.
In southern England they call the meal at 12 noon lunch and the meal at 5pm either dinner or supper.
I am from the north, my wife is from the south. You would have thought that as we actually LIVE in the north then the northern way of describing meals would be adopted in our house. But for reasons that I still can't work out that is not the case and I am constantly confused about what meal I'm meant to be eating when.
I grew up in Louisiana. My wife, Ohio. I've had to relearn the entire English language!
Actually, in our house it's mostly me making corrections (or just mercilessly teasing until she stops).
Example: the device used to control the television REMOTELY from your chair? She calls it a converter, whereas the rest of western civilization calls it a remote. Whenever she asks me to pass her the converter, I reply by asking if she needs to go from miles to kilometers or kilometers to miles.
I am guilty of saying dish-rag just like you and the one word that I have to say I get made fun of (grew up in WV so have a slight hick accent) is the word coupon. I say QUE-pon and Paul insists it is COO-Pon....who cares as long as it saves us money ((GRIN))
I have given up all individuality when I step into the house. I get to leave all of that at work. It is cool being in construction, because it is like I have a split personality. The only time there is a conflict is when my wife calls me when I am on a job site or someone from work calls me at home. Other than that, I keep both worlds (and vocabularies) apart. It is like a switch in my head.
The kids (and wife) stare at me sometimes when I am "agitated" on the phone...with their mouths open. I started going outside to deal with work issues at home.
Yeah, I get ding'd by the missus for little stuff like that: rag vs. cloth, etc. It doesn't help that she was an English major and teaches high school English. And the fact that I also have an English degree makes it more inexcusable, in her eyes, when I don't name or describe things correctly.
Eh, I just think I killed those brain cells that monitored that stuff a long time ago...
Mrs. DC Urban Dad gets angry when I point with my pinky instead of my pointer.
But yo, that is a dishrag - no cloth there dude.
I can't think of anything I say that bothers my husband, but it drives me crazy when he pronounces the word "color" as "collar". He's from southern Ohio. Enough said.
My wife and I are both from San Diego, so we say everything the same (LIKE TOTALLY DUDE! Now let's go surf!)...EXCEPT for CAR. She says it with a New England sound. I think she does this just to piss me off.
And to clear things up...it IS a RAG.
@Dan - Ha! That is confusing. We have a supper/dinner issue here too, but it is usually between those who grew up in the country (supper)and those who grew up in elsewhere (dinner).
@Ed - You mean you had to 'learn' the English language, correct? lol.
@Scifi - A converter, really? I have never heard that one before.
@Being Us - I'm with you there. As long as it saves $$, call it whatever you want.
@MTAE - I like any word that subsitutes for 'pissed' or 'angry'. Just saying it a different way eases things. I usually use 'disconcerted'.
@FilmFather - I would think that having an English Degree would be much different than actually being an English teacher. She is probably used to correcting kids all the time, while you are just appreciating the language in all its forms for what it is. lol.
@DC - I knew I would get some support there. Gracias. Pointer? Really? Where is she from?
@Momo - Exactly how far south 'is' Southern Ohio anyway? I'm sure if he were to chime in he would spill the goods on you. lol.
@Super Mega - Oh, so you talk all cool like, like? Gotta love it. I always thought New Englanders must draw the attention of a lot of crows when talking about thier vehicles.
I have the exact same problem as Dan. I'm a good northern (English) lad and my partner is a soft southern girlie. (Fingers crossed she won't be reading this and I'll live to blog again...) My poor children get told we are having "dinner" and immediately are confused as to whether that will be around noon or 5pm. I've pretty much given up talking about having "dinner" and "tea" and instead refer to "lunch" and "dinner", in other words I have been defeated!
@Steve - Join the group of men all over the world who have been defeated by the wishes and opinions of thier better halves.
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