Isms

(Yes, I know that this is less than stellar - again with cleaning the drafty folder.)

Rob and I have been married for the last 11.5 years, longer than some, far shorter than others. Over that time, I have acquired from him a lovely group of pithy sayings: "I'm off like a prom dress at midnight;" "Ain't nothin' but a g-string....and there ain't much to one of those;" "Don't sweat the petty, pet the sweaty."

There's a common theme, wouldn't you say?

And yet I do use them, quite often, without even thinking (much to the shock of some of my more upright Mormon friends).

His favorite (and, coincidentally, my least) is to quote Andrew Dice Clay (that great example of manhood) and say, "Hickory Dickory Dock...." That's all he usually has to say to ensure he gets a good dope slap or "ROBERT!!" Occasionally he'll get as far as "A mouse ran up..." after which I remind him of small children in the area.

He has a particular Robert-ism that he shares with my dear sister-in-law Mia, "Son of a biscuit eater."

Now I'm sure, since the two of them use it with great frequency, that this must be a much used phrase of the South (by which I mean Lower 48), although I've never heard anyone else use it.

Which brings me to the real point of this post (as much as I love my husband): Mia-isms.

My SIL is an amazing cook, home school mother and woman. But best of all, she can turn a phrase. Our conversations are quite entertaining.

When stumbling upon something shocking, "What the hey-diddley-do wop?" I'm sure you can see the Simpsons influence upon her vocab.

When she's frustrated: "I swear to Buddha," (I keep telling her that she's going to offend a devout Buddhist someday) or "Poop on my head," (which I remind her would be rather thoroughly unpleasant).

When she's angry at my brother (which, surprisingly, is not daily), "I don't care what you do, think or say."

When she's pleased with something, "Hot dog!" (Mickey Mouse's first words ever) or "Praise the bum!" (Yeah, I've got nothing for that one.)

When something is disappointing, "Dude bomber."

But when she has to pee, she reminds me that she is no ordinary girl, "I've got to pee like a banshee." Do banshees actually pee? One has to wonder if the supernatural must condescend to bodily functions like us mere mortals. In Mia's world, though, they do and apparently it's more than a racehorse.

So in a cheeky homage to these two dear people in my life, enjoy their frequently used isms and I encourage you to go out and use one today.

Double points if you can meld them together.....

Perhaps you'll have to "Be off like a prom dress at midnight," because you've got to "pee like a banshee."

The possibilities are simply endless.