I wake up in the mornings thinking the strangest things. Today I was laying in bed, considering all the phrases my mother used when I was a child, that I’ve neglected to teach my own daughter. For instance:
Cutting-a-Shine – as in, “If that was my daughter cutting a shine in WalMart, I’d have spanked her good.” It was used interchangeably with “pitchin’ a fit”. I used it once while talking to JD and he looked at me like I’d suddenly had a stroke and was just randomly putting words together. He’s not country no matter what he tells you.
Showing Out- Ironically, this is a bridge term that I use, when someone “shows out” of a particular suit. But as a child, it meant cutting-a-shine cause you had an audience. “You’d better stop showing out in front of your Aunt Fay or I’m gonna spank you good.” In my defense, Aunt Fay started it.
Mess and Gom – As in, “All you kids do is mess and gom. If you don’t clean up this mess, I’m gonna spank you good.” Yeah, I thought it was stupid too. I googled it and it was described as everything from Gomorrah to gum to Irish for fool. Since we’re Irish, and foolish, I’m going for the last one.
You’re going to send us to the Poor House – Evidently, there once really was a Poor House, where the destitute went when they’d run out of all other options. I never really felt threatened though. Maybe cause I figured it couldn’t be much different than the one we lived in.
When the police come, tell them we’ve been here the whole time – Hey, I didn’t want to be spanked good.
So, what crazy things did your parents say?
I don’t remember the police one. You forgot the one Aunt T said, Don’t get married until your forty then don’t marry a man. Aunt T was ahead of her time on that one.
I am, too, country. YOU da one whut ain’t country.