Lost in translation

When I was a child, I thought my Aunt Julie talked funny. True, she was speaking English, yet she invented certain words.

I was certain that these words were hers alone because I never heard anyone else in my family use them. I never heard them at school, at the playground, not even at church.

“Lollygag” was one. She was worried that we kids were lollygagging. She never told us what it meant; all we knew was we never wanted to be a loggygagger.

We would also dilly-dally. My sister Phyllis was always guilty of this one. I can still remember Aunt Julie saying, “Come on Phyllis, don’t dilly-dally.” My sister could also dawdle on occasions.

Aunt Julie was always threatening to have a fit. First, she would get in a snit, which I have yet to understand. Then she might have a hissy fit. Yet she often said she might have a conniption fit. Could this be an entirely different picture? We kids waited patiently for her to have a conniption fit but she never did.

“C’mon youngins,” she would say. I liked that one. At home I was Nancee Sue, sissy or the baby sister. To Aunt Julie I was a youngin’.

When I was ten, she mentioned she wrapped my doo-dah present. I couldn’t wait until Christmas morning. Obviously, she had changed her mind, as all I could find in the box was a pair of pajamas.

Aunt Julie used unknown words not found in any dictionaries. One of my favorite words was “trippy.”

A word I am still leery to use today. I’m not quite sure what it means. It had something to do with her in-laws. I don’t think they were travelers.

Nancee Harrison is a past columnist for the Greene County Daily World. Visit www.blondeladywithdarkroots.com or email her at blondeladywithdarkroots@gmail.com or send comments to Nancee, Daily World, box 129 Linton IN 47441.