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The Dad’s English

November 27, 2010

Mom and Dad

My dad had a way with the language. His expressions were colorful enough to amuse and confuse anyone. I thought I’d write a post where I could come back and add items to the Dad dictionary whenever I thought of them:

Medical
Organ recital: a long-winded discussion of one’s ailments
Collywobbles: a cold or flu

Food
A snort: liquor, probably brown
Axehandles: a vegetable side dish or maybe spaghetti
Buzzard: chicken or turkey
Hay: cereal
Horse: beef
Mud: coffee
Ptomaine Wagon: food truck (roach coach)
Slop and rocks: biscuits and gravy

Expressions of Disgust
“That’s enough to puke a dog off a gut wagon”
“Enough to gag a maggot.”

Expressions of Approval
“Slick as a whistle”

Descriptive
Sky-blue pink: his favorite color
A fur piece: a great distance
Kermit: the dog (short for “curr mutt”)

General Expressions about Okies (he worked in the oilfields, which were populated by people from Oklahoma)
Okie sheriff: speed bump
Okie chrome: silver spray paint

There are many, many more. I’ll be adding to the list.

14 Comments
  1. magpie's avatar
    November 27, 2010 13:46

    Axe handles?

    Some of these I’ve heard before. Axe handles mystifies me.

    Like

    • Suebob's avatar
      November 27, 2010 13:47

      Dad often said mystifying things, for reasons known only to him.

      Like

  2. cagey's avatar
    November 28, 2010 18:33

    LOVE. I think my favorite is Kermit. Seriously.

    Like

    • Suebob's avatar
      November 29, 2010 10:03

      That was a later-in-life invention. He applied it mostly to his Australian cattle dog, Poncho, whom he loved beyond measure.

      Like

  3. flutter's avatar
    November 28, 2010 20:46

    I think I love him Ptomaine Wagon made me snort

    Like

  4. Deb Rox's avatar
    November 30, 2010 14:49

    I love this with a big, big love.

    Like

    • Suebob's avatar
      November 30, 2010 16:21

      My family is nuts. Obviously. But the good kind.

      Like

  5. flurrious's avatar
    December 2, 2010 13:05

    Ha. Organ recital. I’m not going to be happy until I can work that into a conversation.

    Like

  6. Stinkypaw's avatar
    December 3, 2010 22:14

    I like ““Enough to gag a maggot.” might have to use that one!

    Like

  7. Ericka's avatar
    December 5, 2010 00:17

    hmm. my dad uses many of the same.

    and if you haven’t already, check out “shit my dad says.” that guy is hilarious.

    Like

  8. sheryl's avatar
    sheryl permalink
    December 8, 2010 11:01

    Thank you for sharing these. They’re wonderful.

    Like

    • Suebob's avatar
      December 8, 2010 11:18

      I wish I could remember all of them! My dad had a million.

      Like

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