Does your family have it’s own vocabulary? You know, words and phrases your family uses and laughs about, but if you repeated them in public everyone would look at you like you were from, er, the circus?

We do. We love ’em. And our average family had some laughs just listing them for this post. Some of them are lines from movies or TV shows or books you may recognize. Others are things our kids said once-upon-a-time. Many of them have to be said in a certain tone or inflection to elicit the proper family-speak memory and laughter.

And now, like your weird uncle’s vacation slideshow, or your weird nephew’s PowerPoint, I’m going to inflict them on you. This should give you an idea of what we watch (repeatedly) as a family. And if you hear a memorable character or two from your own experience that makes you smile or chuckle, well, I’ll feel better.

From Our Kids

• “scratch back”
• “sammiches, sammiches barely even human…” (let’s play, “Name that Disney movie”)
• “kikki meow, no bite!”
• “Hocus pocus” (did you think of that movie yet?)
• “Pink, pink and purple…” (a child singing when no one is listening – wink, wink)
• “I gotfor my baby!” (yes, “gotfor”)
• “Cheese on parmage” (it goes on spaghetti)
• “mow lawner”
• “You go your momma!” (3-year-old scolding a big stray dog)
• “The too many kids movie” (any guesses?)
• “mallows” (camping food)
• “uffda” (a little Scandinavian heritage here)
• “Boom baby!” (shouted by a toddler dressed in only towel. Use your imagination.)

From Movies/TV

• “Willoughby…”
• “Wink at you? Why should I wink at my own daughter, pray?”
• “What’s taters, Precious?”
• “Dearest, loveliest Elisabeth…”
• “Oh Mr. Collins….”
• “Ohhhhhhh, Mossssssses…” (should take 5-10 seconds to pronounce)
• “mine, mine, mine”
• “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”
• “You all look like ants from up here…” (requires a decent german accent)
• “Street rat”
• “Squeeze the lemon — you heard me…”
• “Dusty old uterus…”
• POSH with a capital P – O – S – H…”
• “The big brown bear went lollipin’ over the mountain.”
• “What? Coggins? He’s so mean he wouldn’t light your pipe if his arse was on fire!”
• “Why yes. Yes I am.”
• “Hey, where’s Perry?”
• “I got it, I got it.”
• “Grace has Bob’s dead wife’s heart.”
• “Bebopsy”
• “You see? A man…?”
• “We must all show our bottom.” (Bombastic, Olde Englishe – from a novel on CD, any guesses?)
• “But I am the Chosen One.”
• “All I got was a rock.”
• “You wear a jacket!”
• “Not you! I don’t even know you!”
• “He’s mostly dead.”
• “Mawwiage…is what bwings us togetha… todaaa.”
• “Hallo! My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill’d my father. Prepare to die.”
• “Have fun stormin’ the castle!”

Cue music.

Roll credits.

Fade to black.

Smile.

Have some family-speak you want share? Leave a comment :)