I think every family has a secret langue of sorts. The shared experiences that come from spending so much time together produces common expressions, be those pop culture references or reflections on shared memories. These can become so prevalent that when in the presence of others these inside jokes can be a challenging barrier to others seeking to be included. This can happen when meeting your boyfriend/girlfriend’s parents for the first time or sitting in with a well-established group of friends. Our family is no different and while I know some have been lost to time, I thought it would be fun to memorializes some of our common uses. I will try to remember to update these as they arise as I am sure there are plenty that are just slipping my mind right now and just need to be triggered.
Quotes from the Princess Bride – A very quotable show but among our favorites are, “Anybody want a peanut”, “My name is Inigo Montoya…” and “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!' Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”.
“Cheapy Dingo” – Dave III’s catchphrase when he was 6 or 7. While only used for a short period of time the enthusiasm he said this absurd phrase with really stuck with me and it makes the occasional resurgence (mostly when I am teasing him). He never has explained what it means or where he came up with it.
“You remind me of the babe…” – This is the introduction to the David Bowie song Magic Dance from Labyrinth. It usually begins with someone simply saying “that reminds me” or an equivalent and in response someone else gives the first line of the song. A 3rd person will give the next line back and forth till the original point is usually lost… “You remind me of the babe” “What babe?” “The babe with the power” “What power?” “The power of voodoo” “Who do?” “You do” “Do what?” “Remind me of the babe!”
“Remember the time when Mom lifted up her butt…” – This stems from a Bridget story. For the sake of my wife I won’t give the details but needless to say Bridget found the experience memorable. She has quoted it so much she only needs to say that first part now and without recounting the rest of the story we all know what she means.
“Be Prepared” – Coming from the intro of the Lion King song with the same name and sung by Jeremy Irons who did the voice of Scar this song is basically the exposition reveal of the bad guys plot. In the movie it is is an exchange between Scar and the hyenas and for the family it is usually triggered by someone instructing another to get ready for an upcoming event adding “be prepared…” Then in response someone else will reply “For what?” …and so on… “For the death of the king!” “What, is he sick?” ”No, fool, we're going to kill him …Simba, too.” “Great idea! Who needs a king?... No king, no king, lalalalalala!” “IDIOTS! There will be a king! I will be king! Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again!” <Checking the lyrics online it looks like we don’t have this one down exactly right but that’s not really the point I suppose.>
Romanian Quotes/Misquotes – Since my wife is from Romania there are plenty of words or expressions that have transcended just translations and become their own catchy phrase of sorts. These include “Gata pisică” (which means stop it cat but we will say to just about anybody), “linişte” (be quite) and “înţelege” (understand?)
“Are you ready? For what? To Pop? Pop what? Popsicle?" – This arrived via a YouTube Video Bridget was addicted to when she was in daycare and is still an acceptable exchange to the question “are you ready?” so long as it is followed by a silly dance.
The Office – In a family of 6 very diverse personality this show is somehow the only one that every single one of us likes. Expert quoters like Dave and I can turn just about any conversation into an Office reference but the most universal one is the classic “That’s what she said”.
Parks and Rec – Second only to The Office is the zany humor of Parks and Rec. It has a few common references like “Treat Yo Self” and “No, that’s <Whatever impressive building we’re looking at>. Hogwarts is fictional. <Acting despondent>…You do know that, don’t you? It’s important to me that you know that.” Our favorite despite it being kinda gross is “Stop … … … … … POOPing”
“Let’s get Dangerous” – The catch phrase from the old Darkwing Duck cartoons which, you guessed it, gets mentioned when someone says the word “dangerous”.
“Cashews come from a fruit” – Any mention of this nut will receive a friendly factoid about its origin. This came out of an old YouTube song and just somehow stuck.
“Ain’t nobody got time for that” and “Cuz, my daddy taught me good” – Someone shared these overly autotuned quote/songs with us and they are just absurd enough to have been cemented in our memories.
“Just Eat it” – Usually repeated to the tune of “Just beat it” this one is almost exclusively mom’s which is interesting since she’s the one least likely to listen to its source, Weird Al.
"AH ZABENYA" - Anytime Bridget (and sometimes the rest of us too) picks up our cat "Buzz" it's tradition for her to utter the opening lines to "Circle of Life" from Lion King.
"Bye Buzz I hope you find your dad" - This one evolved from a "Mr Narwhal" quote from the movie Elf staring Will Ferrell. Dave is believed to be the first one to utter it to our cat replacing "Buddy" for his name, "Buzz". Now it's pretty common when we leave the house or open a door for him that someone will recite this modified (and arguably esoteric) line.
"Pinky pie she loves to crawl" - When Phaedra was little she had this My Little Pony animatronic toy that would teeter back and forth repeating that catch phrase anytime it sensed motion. It must have been broken or super sensitive because it went off constantly even in the middle of the night in her toy box but Phaedra loved it and wouldn't let us do anything to it. Eventually the batteries failed but to this day I can hear those words exactly like they sounded coming out of that speaker box.
4/2/2021
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