I was raised in a family of Jehovah's Witnesses, so growing up there wasn't much to family outside of that, and once I left the religion there wasn't much to family at all. Therefore, the majority of words and phrases related to my family are also related to that religion. To start, the religion is known as "the truth". This is because they believe it to be the one and only true option for a religion. One may be "in the truth" if they are a member, and if they are not, they are known as "worldly" (being one who chooses worldly pleasures over the religion). Another word that is very common in my family, especially in regards to me, is "disfellowshipping". When one commits a sin that is inexcusable by the rules of the religion or when one decides to leave the religion for good, they are disfellowshipped. This is what caused the rift between my family and I because when one is disfellowshipped, no one in the religion is allowed to speak to the person because they are thought to be a terrible influence, capable of pulling others out of the religion as well.
Aside from these religious words, there are a few words unique to my family that I remember from my childhood. One of these is "tat". This was used as a substitute word for "animal". When my older brother was a child, he apparently referred to all of our pets as "tats", and keep in mind that none of these animals were cats. My parents started using it when they spoke to him, and it stuck with their next two children as well.
When I was very young, I was somewhat rude. I would tell my mother outrightly when I thought someone was ugly. It took awhile for her to get me to stop, so until I could, she insisted that I said someone was a "sweet spirit" as opposed to ugly. This is something that stuck in my family as well, but adapted to refer to someone who had an unattractive personality. Another term which was coined by my childhood was "triple b". I had an obsession with naming my stuffed animals with three names, all beginning with the letter "B". My mother started calling all of my stuffed animals "triple b's" because she could never remember their names. The phrase stuck until I outgrew my stuffed animals, but it is still used when a younger family member has one around.
A very close friend of mine had a child a few years ago, and I have assisted her in raising him ever since he was born. I therefore consider these people my family and will use one of the terms her son, Arlo, has been taught. For awhile, Arlo said the word "butt" a lot. He knows that it can be kind of offensive without being vulgar, so he used to use it often. He's now only allowed to use the phrase "special buns" when referring to this word, and it's something we always use in the house.
Finally, "those mets" is another phrase that is common in my family. Whenever my parents would start fighting or saying something unkind about another family member and someone in the room didn't want to hear about it, they would say "those mets" as a codeword to change the subject. It came from the saying, "How about those mets?", but was shortened to be less obvious.
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Response to Rachel- During my sophmore year of college, Jehovah's Witnesses came to my door, knocking with the word of their opinion of God. I let them in, interested in the variety of religion and diversity in beliefs. They returned once a week after that, wanting to converse, hoping to "earn" my soul. They were kind people, but we differed to much on religion to genuinly have a conversation on the subject without turning into a friendly argument. After many repeats, I began to pick up upon their language and true interests. I am curious if there is an underside to the church that I sensed was there, but was not told in public. They were kind, but there was a need to their kindness. I will talk to you about it in class sometime Rach, if you want.
Response for class- The language used by the lachelfaced author was religion-based as well as a childhood grasp on language. There was intensive background information before the sayings were presented. This was needed, as most people do not know about the religion she grew up in. There was an interest in history, presented as detached, which related to the language used. This all comes back to relate to her family belonging (in this case, non-belonging) The post was a wonderful telling of family, which is the common source of language particulars.
I used to instead of too in my first post. Whoops
I have to admit that I laughed out loud, really loud, about the "special buns" phrase. I have a 3 year old, and he's saying things that aren't necessarily kosher to say at ceraain times. And, I play around with subsitituting words for him, but usually don't, just because I'm like whatever, penis is penis. big deal. But my mom is the opposite. Like, my mom insists on having his "area" "fee fee" and I have no clue where that came from, unless it's my mom's weird french-ness shining through. Anyway, I thought that was funny, and I could relate. The tat for animals thing is so cute. From an outsider's perpective, although it seems like religious differences made things not quite as close as it could be, now, it sounds like growing up you have fond memories and these words and phrases showcase those memories. So, thanks for sharing them. Especially the "sweet spirit" part. I personally told fat people they were fat for a while to their face. Too bad my mom didn't have me substitute words. I just got spanked, haha!
That's too bad... I heard these two girls referring to me as a "sweet spirit" just the other day. I took it as a compliment at the time, but now I know what they truly meant... but I really like your story (are these stories?... I don't know what else to call them). It is unfortunate that your family's religion is so strict, but it seems like you still had some pretty good memories concerning language use in your family. I too thought the "special buns" phrase was hilarious. I also find it funny that you had such a disciplined, yet stylish method by which you named your stuffed animals; however, I don't blame your mom for simplifying it. "Those mets" is an excellent phrase as well. It's a much more civilized, yet subtle way of changing the subject.
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