S/O: Weird phrases/expressions your ILs use

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my toddler daughter is eating her food quickly it seems like she's enjoying it, my (immigrant) in laws say she's "really going down on that ice cream!" (or whatever food). I have I stifle my laughter every time.

My MIL used to address the baby as "lover."

Me: Do you want to hold him?
Her: Oh, yes . . . come here, lover.

[Anonymous]

My mil calls mozzarella cheese "mootzarelle"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mil calls mozzarella cheese "mootzarelle"

Is she Italian-AMerican? My mom was second generation, so I grew up with straight off the boat, first and second gen italics, and they dropped the end off of everything. Pasta Fagiol, Mozzarell, brachiol, prosciutt. I still talk this way! Oops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil calls mozzarella cheese "mootzarelle"

Is she Italian-AMerican? My mom was second generation, so I grew up with straight off the boat, first and second gen italics, and they dropped the end off of everything. Pasta Fagiol, Mozzarell, brachiol, prosciutt. I still talk this way! Oops.

I have to think hard about it to not speak this way because my Italian grandma, who taught me to cook, did. I didn't realize the word was ricotta until I was an adult. She always said "ricott."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil calls mozzarella cheese "mootzarelle"

Is she Italian-AMerican? My mom was second generation, so I grew up with straight off the boat, first and second gen italics, and they dropped the end off of everything. Pasta Fagiol, Mozzarell, brachiol, prosciutt. I still talk this way! Oops.

I have to think hard about it to not speak this way because my Italian grandma, who taught me to cook, did. I didn't realize the word was ricotta until I was an adult. She always said "ricott."

Yes! I forgot "ricoat!" You know, I don't censor myself at all with this. It is a linguistic quirk; I love quirks. Linguistic deviations are part of what make our language so rich and interesting. I know there are personal reasons some of these sayings grate on people, but I think it is beautiful and fascinating to hear the different personal slang and regionalisms people pick up and hold onto.

[Anonymous]

Why do they drop the vowels? To make the words sounds more "English"?

[Anonymous]

My inlaws call each other "Mother" and "Father", as in

"Mother, can you pass the chicken?"

"Mother has it"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My MIL has a special euphemism for fat people. She calls them "jolly", usually with a slight pause before delivering the word. An example:

"Oh we met John's sister last weekend at a family wedding and she was very...jolly"

Kills me every time.

Love this! I'm going to use it!

[Anonymous]

Pish instead of pee. "I have to pish" or "Do you need to go pishy?"

Pinot Noir = Pine-oat No-ihr (we have pronounced it correctly for them a few times but they remain baffled)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pish instead of pee. "I have to pish" or "Do you need to go pishy?"

Pinot Noir = Pine-oat No-ihr (we have pronounced it correctly for them a few times but they remain baffled)

Are they Jewish? I learned to say "pish" in day school, but never hear it anywhere else.

For pinot noir, send them this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6yttOfIvOw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL has a special euphemism for fat people. She calls them "jolly", usually with a slight pause before delivering the word. An example:

"Oh we met John's sister last weekend at a family wedding and she was very...jolly"

Kills me every time.

Love this! I'm going to use it!

Why do you feel the need to comment on anyone's weight, whether they are slender or "jolly"?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is a small one but instead of mac and cheese she says macaroni with cheese.

I'm pretty sure I say macaroni and cheese (with an "and" not a "with"). I didn't realize that was a thing.

You and PP's MIL are correct. "Mac and cheese" is the nickname.

I'm also team MIL on this one!!

Look it up, OP. It's "mac and cheese" for pretty much every brand that sells it. Your MIL probably thinks you're the one who sounds dumb.

It's Kraft dinner or KD in Canada and cheesey pasta in the U.K.

when people here say macaroni and cheese and it's kraft mac/cheese I'm frankly horrified. In the U.K./Canada "macaroni and cheese" means home made/real cheese etc.

Well, sorry. We invented "kraft dinner" so we can call it whatever we want.

Kraft invented it and they call it "macoroni and cheese."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil calls mozzarella cheese "mootzarelle"

Is she Italian-AMerican? My mom was second generation, so I grew up with straight off the boat, first and second gen italics, and they dropped the end off of everything. Pasta Fagiol, Mozzarell, brachiol, prosciutt. I still talk this way! Oops.

I have to think hard about it to not speak this way because my Italian grandma, who taught me to cook, did. I didn't realize the word was ricotta until I was an adult. She always said "ricott."

Yes! I forgot "ricoat!" You know, I don't censor myself at all with this. It is a linguistic quirk; I love quirks. Linguistic deviations are part of what make our language so rich and interesting. I know there are personal reasons some of these sayings grate on people, but I think it is beautiful and fascinating to hear the different personal slang and regionalisms people pick up and hold onto.

I think this is a Sicilian thing to drop the vowels. Many of the later immigrants from Italy who came in the early 20th century were from Sicily. The earlier, 19th century immigrants came from the more northern parts of Italy and did not do this dropping of the last vowels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH's grandpa used to say:
Sh#t in one hand, wish n the other, see which one is heavier

And when things were going well: We're sh#ttin' in tall cotton.

This made me laugh. My grandfather used to say, "It was so quiet, you could hear a mouse pissin on cotton."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my grandmother was not dressed up she'd say "oh Linda came over and I was looking like a bag of hammers". I love it and use it to this day. Always calling myself a bag of hammers when I'm looking rough. Love you grandma!

I'm taking it ! I love it!

I love it too. My grandmother once told me, "You look like death sucking on a lifesaver." Thought that incredibly funny. And accurate.