# Did your grandparents (parents?) have weird names for things? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948 "2013-01-21T21:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/1 "2013-01-21T21:46:36Z")
Any older person will do, of course. Mom used to call the refrigerator the Frigidaire. Grandpa called it the icebox. A poster in another thread referenced that his parents called the television “the set”. Whatta ya got? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/2 "2013-01-21T21:57:20Z")
Grandparents called the couch the “davenport”. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/3 "2013-01-21T22:08:43Z")
My mom calls the remote control the “switcher”. I don’t know if that’s an older-person thing or just a weird-person thing (my mom says all kinds of weird things, and I say that lovingly). ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/4 "2013-01-21T22:14:53Z")
“Dinner” was the noon meal and “supper” was the evening meal and never the twain shall meet. “Dinner” should never be used to indicate the evening meal. My grandparents never said “lunch”. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/5 "2013-01-21T22:17:13Z")
My Dad used to call me “hey you”. My grandfather called the telephone “the blower”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/6 "2013-01-21T22:44:17Z")
Piccalilli came up recently. AKA pickle relish. Only my grandparents called it that. And “olio” for margarine. Here in Chicago, the living room is often called “the front room” by older folks (but it’s pronounced “fronchroom”.) That seems to be disappearing now. Grandpa called the remote “the clicker”, which I didn’t find out until a few years ago was because early remotes really did click, and the receiver heard the click. Grandma called her thing she kept money in a billfold, even though the bills didn’t have to be folded. She kept her billfold in her pocketbook, even though it didn’t fit in her pocket, and it wasn’t a book. Mom, like me, keeps her wallet in her purse. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/7 "2013-01-21T23:05:47Z")
Washcloths were “worshrags”. Not awfully weird in central Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/8 "2013-01-21T23:13:34Z")
When my grandmother was done with the dishes, she’d “rench out the zink”. The sofa in their front room was called the teak, but it wasn’t made of teak - I’m not sure where the name came from. She was a life-long resident of east Bawlmer. 😉 My husband’s grandmother, Hoosier to the bone, called green bell peppers “mangoes.” My husband was an adult before he realized that mangoes are something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/9 "2013-01-21T23:18:35Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > And “olio” for margarine. > Grandpa called the remote “the clicker”, which I didn’t find out until a few years ago was because early remotes really did click, and the receiver heard the click. Oleo is usually how that’s spelled as olio already exists meaning a mixture, hodgepodge, or, one of my favorite words, gallimaufry. I call the remote the clicker. I always have and I always will, no matter how much my friends attempt to mock me about it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/10 "2013-01-21T23:22:08Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > …one of my favorite words, gallimaufry. oooooh…good word! [/word nerd] ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/11 "2013-01-21T23:40:01Z")
Let’s see… we got “oleo” for butter, and we got the “divan” for the couch. Most everything else was pretty much normal that I can recall. Oh, and the inexplicable divide between “dinner” and “supper” that **Doctor Jackson** mentions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/12 "2013-01-21T23:41:23Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > “Dinner” was the noon meal and “supper” was the evening meal and never the twain shall meet. “Dinner” should never be used to indicate the evening meal. My grandparents never said “lunch”. My grandparents do this and seeing as I fix their lunch and dinner now, sometimes we sound like the who’s on first routine. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/13 "2013-01-21T23:52:58Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Any older person will do, of course. > > Mom used to call the refrigerator the Frigidaire. Grandpa called it the icebox. > > A poster in another thread referenced that his parents called the television “the set”. > > Whatta ya got? > mmm Hmm, well I suck at this, considering my grandparents didn’t all live in this country, but they did speak English. My (not American) maternal grandpa also called the fridge and freezer the icebox, but then again, it was literally a box full of ice. They lived on a farm with no running water or plumbing of any kind. My dad, who did grow up with plumbing, and is something near a jillion years old (91 if you’re keeping track) refers to the television as the “TV set” or “the set.” He also calls dinner “supper.” My folks have some weird vernacular, which has bled into the way I speak, but I don’t have any examples now. Luckily, posting has subscribed me to this thread, so when I come up with something better, I shall share. Shit. Does this mean I’m going to have to call my parents? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/14 "2013-01-21T23:59:59Z")
My 88 yr old Dad pronounces Hawaii as Ha WAH ya. He says “gal” a lot, too. He says some other wierd stuff, but I can’t think of anything right now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/15 "2013-01-22T00:37:28Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Grandparents called the couch the “davenport”. That’s all I got. My Granny calls the couch a davenport too. She also uses the “worshrag” **Sattua** mentioned. Gran also has a word for nasty, disgusting stuff I’ve never heard before, and I’m not even sure how to spell it. Botchie. Or maybe Bocchie? Anyways, when my sister and I were kids Granddad still smoked. My sister got ahold of Granddad’s full ashtray and Gran freaked. “Don’t touch! Botchie!” 😕 I think it was one of those things where she was saying one thing and thinking another but I’ll be damned if I can figure out what it was. To this day we still call disgusting stuff “botchie”. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/16 "2013-01-22T00:59:44Z")
My mother grew up in a home where Yiddish was used for words that the children weren’t supposed to hear. So although she has the dirtiest mouth of anyone in my family, some things still come out in the Yiddish version. My personal favorite is “Tsitskeh holder” for bra (“Tsitskeh” being Yiddish for breast). ---
**Author:** ![LouLou7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LouLou7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouLou7)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/17 "2013-01-22T01:09:48Z")
My mother used the term “swage down” for when she had eaten too much and was waiting for more room in her stomach, i.e. “I’m full, I gotta swage down before I eat dessert”. We have no idea where that came from, but now all our family dinners have people sitting around to “swage down” before dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/18 "2013-01-22T01:19:52Z")
Dust under the bed was oose, according to my mother and hers. I never heard of dust bunnies until I moved out. Buses were streetcars to my dad, 40 years after streetcars had disappeared here, and bus fare was car fare, more probably carfare. Oose had to be removed from under the chesterfield, too. Oose is long gone, and chesterfield is on extended leave. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/19 "2013-01-22T01:27:07Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Let’s see… we got “oleo” for butter, and we got the “divan” for the couch. Most everything else was pretty much normal that I can recall. > > Oh, and the inexplicable divide between “dinner” and “supper” that **Doctor Jackson** mentions as well. In Northern England, dinner is still the word for lunch. Were they or their family from there? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/20 "2013-01-22T01:27:37Z")
My grandmother always called jeans, Dungarees [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948.md?page=2)