Recently my sister mentioned seeing the word "pertinerly" in a novel she was reading and went on to say that it reminded her of our grandmother, Bessie. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about until I figured out when I ran across that word while reading the same novel, that it means pretty nearly. Then I remembered - but more as "pret near", although I am sure Bessie said "pertinerly" if my sister says so. My sister has a mind like a steel trap. I will never play Trivial Pursuit with her if you know what I mean. There are advantages though -- I have depended upon her to be my memory on more than one occasion. It's nice really. I don't tell her that though. I just let her think that she remembers better because she is older than I am.
Anyway -- when I thought more about it, I remembered listening to our Dad talk with his two brothers and older relatives at family gatherings and then teasing him (in my head only) about "family speak" as a language. I can't help but wonder if my first cousins noticed the same thing with their Dads. I will ask them for sure -- if I remember. I also need to remember to ask my kids, niece, and nephews if my sister and I do the same thing. Language adapts to us somehow... or maybe we make it fit the occasion. I mean, after all, -- we don't talk to our friends the way we talk to our grandchildren. Seriously not....
Do all families have such shared expressions and ways of communicating? I remember our son saying, "No, I amn't" for "No, I am not". Actually the entire family said "amn't" until it was almost time for him to start school and we decided that we needed to stop. I fondly think of it as our adopted contraction and find myself using it once in a while even now. It's fun.
Maybe this whole thing has something to do with the way language tends to evolve. New expressions and words are added all the time. Meanings change. Rules of grammar go by the wayside. Then again - maybe it is just the way we are. Maybe we need to develop our own special phrases and words to communicate with our own special people. Maybe it is similar to nicknames. It's a connection of a sort. Well alrighty then...
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