I was always under the impression that I knew how to speak, and could communicate fairly well with the other members of my species. Sadly, it seems I have been deluding myself.
Not only can I not understand people who have moved here from Newfoundland, but I have found out recently that I can’t decipher rap songs, or some toddler-eez (the language of the ankle biters).
I got to thinking about dictionaries, and how I am using them more and more often these days. One of the card ladies is from Newfoundland, and sometimes she will turn a phrase that is unfamiliar with the rest of us. In my desire to know some more “sayings”, I went to the bookstore to see if they had a dictionary of regional lingos.
I found out there is a “Newfie” dictionary that will help you decode the language of the people from Newfoundland. Go figure. You may want to know, that the phrase “There’s more meat on Good Friday” means that “she is one skinny person”. Good to know, just in case you might have to converse with someone from Newfoundland who happens to be anorexic.
Now a days there is a dictionary for every occasion.
There’s an “Urban” dictionary. I guess this one is for “townies” not applicable to those who live in the country. It contains such gems as:
“Nerd – do – well”: A financially successful geek.
“Troubabore”: a bad street musician … optional: “troubasnore” (this one must be really bad)
And this word which is totally fitting:
“Harmaceutical”: A medication FDA approved and released for public consumption by a pharmaceutical company, only to be re-called and be the subject of a class-action lawsuit because of its previously unreported dangers.
Online you can find a picture dictionary to help out the kiddies in order to learn the right word for the right situation.
My favorite word here is “Angry”. This picture really prepares them for the real world.
Nothing like teaching them a little road rage early in life, I always say.
There’s always the helpful talking dyslexic dictionary where you can look up such words as “daft”… with just a click on the picture (which personally offends me) the pronunciation is spoken out loud by, you guessed it, a woman. (this is the actual picture) Ohhhh. So that’s what daft looks like. Oh yeah, I remember seeing that same expression on some of my best friends.
Who would have guessed that so many specialized dictionaries exist.
I checked out the Hip Hop dictionary in order to try and decipher a song I was listening to, and learned that “Can’t scrap a lick” means “Can’t fight at all”. The rest of the song hasn’t been decoded by me yet, but the wording I fear, is not for Christian ears. It doesn’t look good.
Here are a few nuggets and their meanings from other fun dictionaries that I have scoped out:
Ikea: the Swedish word for particle board, and /or the Swedish phrase for “see if you can put this stuff together”.
“Facility Fishing”…. the act of searching for a washroom.
Hubby and I used to “Twurk” on Saturday nights, sometimes all night when we were young and in love. Now we rarely “Twurk”, since we are not in very good physical shape and we don’t have the energy for that. Did you guess that to “Twurk” means to dance? I bet you didn’t.
So, I guess I still have a lot to learn, as far as communicating with my fellow man, is concerned. I may have to resort to sign language, but until then, I will keep my trusty dictionary handy. By the looks of it, I’m gonna need it.
Author Val Enders resides in Spruce Grove, Alberta. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard, and they’ve been together for over 40 years. Val doesn’t consider herself a writer by profession, rather she writes more for her own enjoyment. An accomplished artist, Val’s a member of the Allied Arts Council of Spruce Grove. Visit Val’s “Journey Into Art” website at www.vals.webs.com
