#52Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Language

I often find myself thinking about the things I used to hear and say growing up that I don’t use now. My husband is from the Midwest and I work with mostly younger people from all over the country. It’s changed the way I talk. My language is also influenced by movies/TV/streaming.

One story I remember is how my mom said one of her Navy wife friends teased her when she asked if the friend could “carry me to the store.” The response was something like, “No, but I’ll drive you there.” When I was younger and living at home, I might have used ‘carry’ in that way. Now, I’m more inclined to ask if someone could give me a ride.

Knee high to a duck. Image created using Microsoft’s Copilot

In my youth, a conversation might begin, “I haven’t seen you in a coon’s age. You were just knee high to a duck.” Or perhaps you’d be knee high to a grasshopper.

Every once in a while, one of these old words or phrases will come to mind, and I’ll use it and get an odd look from my husband. I’ll explain it, and sometimes we’ll laugh about it.

I wish I had more recordings or had written down more of the way we talked back then* in the South.

It makes me wonder about words and phrases our ancestors may have used that are now lost forever.

*In the 1970s.

**Notes on the Images: I decided to try out Microsoft’s Copilot Designer, which lets you enter a text description and the software will generate a picture. I entered, “A farm-like setting with a small child standing next to a giant duck. The child’s head should be about even with the duck’s knee.” It took quite a while before delivering four images. In these two, I used the “customize” tool to resize the child, as Copilot made them chest high to the giant ducks.

Knee high to a duck. Image created using Microsoft’s Copilot