# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/81 "2013-01-23T03:40:58Z")
When I was a kid, we had breakfast, lunch and supper. “Dinner” was reserved for special occasions like Xmas dinner or going out to dinner. That’s still the way I refer to meals. > [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > When I was little, bug juice was a generic term for Kool-Aid or any kind of fruit-flavored drink. Not real juice, just the powdered stuff that was mixed with water. That’s what bug juice is in the Navy, too. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Yeah? I’ve never heard people insert the “r” into anything so gratuitously as I had when I moved to Minnesota. Whenever someone asked me why I was moving, I’d say “Because I can’t stand to listen to people say ‘warsh’ anymore!” Whatever you do, don’t ever go to Iowa… > [@RedMud636](#): > > My grandmother refers to any and all vacuum cleaners as a “Hoover”, whether it is an actual Hoover brand vacuum or not. I’m absolutely amazed that it took 79 posts for anyone to mention that. ---
**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 23, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/82 "2013-01-23T03:49:45Z")
A few from the (late) Parents-in-law: They referred to “the coloreds”, which always made me cringe. They never made coffee; they “cooked” it. Cream cheese is always “Philly” (I’m guilty of this too). A lawnmower was a “powermower”. Mom-in-law always went to the “beauty parlor”. Dad-in-law got his “ears lowered”. And my favorite: the hockey player who stopped pucks was a “ghoulie”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/83 "2013-01-23T06:31:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We used to call mechanical pencils “eversharps.” I wish I still could; it’s so much shorter. They call it a shah-pen in Japanese, short for sharp pencil. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Dad–drinking fountain= water fountain = “Bubbler”. Where’s your Dad from? I grew up calling them water bubblers or just bubblers in NH. As for my own oddity, as near as I can tell because of some strange linguistic microcosm from around North Boston, I grew up calling all soda “tonic”. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/84 "2013-01-23T06:46:12Z")
My grandmother referred to pennies as “coppers”. Pretty soon in Canada, “pennies” is going to be an archaic term. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/85 "2013-01-23T07:49:57Z")
My grandfather (a Russian immigrant) called an ice cream sandwich a “boxcar.” I looked up “davenport” - it was originally a brand name for a type of sofa. To some people, a chesterfield is a type of couch with large upholstered arms. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/86 "2013-01-23T14:23:39Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m old enough to remember when they were a push-button console physically attached to the tv. 🙂 Old _converter_ boxes! Haven’t heard anyone use that term in over a decade. Today, it’s mostly _cable box_. My folks had cable in the 1970s, but it was basic 12 channel service. A few friends had converters, and the hidden channels were fun to explore; broadcast channels in more distant cities, different news crawlers, a channel for deaf people, and a channel that aired nothing but surgery. My folks use _clicker_, even though they got their first experience with a remote was in the early 1980s, when they got a _converter_ with an infrared remote. When they got the converter, that gross surgery channel was still among the upper channels. My Dad loved to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/87 "2013-01-23T14:33:49Z")
Coming from a French-Canadian background, french slipped into a lot of our day to day vernacular. - Lint, or small bit of dust on clothes - bideau or bileau - bugs were bibits - the living room was the parlor - piton (pronounced pi tau) was a small tiny object (like a watch strap pin) - “Throw me down the stairs my shoes” and the like was common - icebox and fridge for the refrigerator many more, but I’m drawing a blank now ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/88 "2013-01-23T15:26:45Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > That’s what bug juice is in the Navy, too. My mom called soy sauce bug juice. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/89 "2013-01-23T16:16:34Z")
My grandma called the refrigerator the “refridge”. My Nana says she has to “spend a penny” when she means “use the bathroom” - she’s from England so I assume it’s an English term? ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/90 "2013-01-23T16:21:21Z")
> [@RedMud636](#): > > My grandmother refers to any and all vacuum cleaners as a “Hoover”, whether it is an actual Hoover brand vacuum or not. We occasionally refer to our dogs as Hoovers, usually when food gets spilled onto the floor. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/91 "2013-01-23T18:25:59Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > My mom called soy sauce bug juice. Would you mind sharing where your mother was raised? So far the only “bug juice = soy sauce” instances are from Montana, and it would be interesting to see if it was used elsewhere. > [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > My Nana says she has to “spend a penny” when she means “use the bathroom” - she’s from England so I assume it’s an English term? I seem to recall reading — no cite, sorry — that older low-rent blocks of flats had only one WC per floor, and each WC had a coin-operated hot water dispenser (called, I believe, the “bathroom geyser”). So if you wanted to wash your hands after doing your business, you had to put a penny in the slot. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/92 "2013-01-23T18:31:08Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Would you mind sharing where your mother was raised? So far the only “bug juice = soy sauce” instances are from Montana, and it would be interesting to see if it was used elsewhere. My mom was raised in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area) and moved to California in the early '60s when she was in her late 20s. She might have lived a couple other places in between, but definitely nowhere near Montana. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/93 "2013-01-23T19:33:07Z")
I remember hearing an old guy referring to eating a sandwich made from “monkey meat.” I thought he was just kidding around and it was probably a bologna sadwich. That actually wasn’t all that far off, possibly. I seem to recall having read at some point that in rural areas in the South that Spam was sometimes referred to as “monkey meat.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/94 "2013-01-23T22:08:52Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > They call it a shah-pen in Japanese, short for sharp pencil. > > Where’s your Dad from? I grew up calling them water bubblers or just bubblers in NH. > As for my own oddity, as near as I can tell because of some strange linguistic microcosm from around North Boston, I grew up calling all soda “tonic”. Dad was from Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/95 "2013-01-23T23:02:55Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Would you mind sharing where your mother was raised? So far the only “bug juice = soy sauce” instances are from Montana, and it would be interesting to see if it was used elsewhere. . . We used the term as kids in southern California in the seventies. We didn’t get the term from our parents, but might have gotten it from friends or older cousins. My Mom’s parents called the refrigerator an ice box, but that was understandable. Grandpa had worked for the ice factory in San Pedro for a few years while his kids were small. That would be a factory that made big blocks of ice, which would be trucked to people’s homes and lifted into their ice boxes. The only phrase that ever surprised me was when my Great Grandma talked about this one and that one “making love” on the TV while I was out of the room. Apparently that phrase used to mean kissing. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/96 "2013-01-23T23:04:11Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m old enough to remember when they were a push-button console physically attached to the tv. 🙂 So am I, but I don’t remember seeing any such remotes that came with the TV; ours came from our CATV company, in the early 1970s. Even back in the 1960s, though there were unwired remotes with big thick buttons you had to press down hard and fast to signal the TV tuner. These didn’t really click; it was more a sound and feeling of friction or resistance. I may be totally misremembering this, but IIRC the motion of the button was converted to a tiny electrical signal which the tuner could pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/97 "2013-01-23T23:18:48Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > My mother still calls a wheelbarrow a wheelbar. I have no idea where that comes from. Is she from [Baltimore](http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?85821-To-The-Merlin-Dialect-do-you-unnersteand) or anywhere around there? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/98 "2013-01-23T23:22:03Z")
My grandmother alternates between calling an umbrella a “bumbleshoot” and pronouncing it “umb-er-ella” (with a strong emphasis on the “er”.) According to a bit of Googling, “bumbershoot” is an word from the 1920s for an umbrella, but Granny definitely pronounces it with an L in the middle.) ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/99 "2013-01-23T23:30:26Z")
Hey, I remember BEING the channel changer! Dad: Go change the channel. I want to see what else is on. So I’d stand there while he picked all of I think five channels that were available. click. clickclickclick. (Two dials, people.) Dad: No, never mind, put it back to what we were watching. Also, I was relieved to find out that Brazil nuts had another name than what I grew up hearing (like the poster upthread). ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948/100 "2013-01-23T23:33:34Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > We occasionally refer to our dogs as Hoovers, usually when food gets spilled onto the floor. I named my dog Hoover for this reason 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-grandparents-parents-have-weird-names-for-things/647948.md?page=6)