WRIGHT CITY TALK

The following represents a collection of Wright Cityisms carefully and accurately recorded over my life in order to preserve and eulogize a unique language spoken no where else on Mother Earth.

The absolute best friend I have ever had in my life, my Dad (Gene Waller), uttered the best of the following, but others unwittingly contributed to the treasure as well while uttering phrases worthy of recording for posterity.

After all, our language is more a product of common usage than something that is arbitrarily printed as rules in a book as to how we should speak.

OK, here goes in a style befitting the manner of Dad's every day way of communicating:

Act of Commerce - difficult to accomplish (Act of Congress)

Back Sifle - siphon

Baffroom - bathroom

Ball - boil

Ball Batten - tennis racket (OK folks, all this will not make perfect sense, but it is the real stuff)

Barney Fite - barney fife

Bat Drawers - (OK, you got me on this one, but generally it means Gosh, Darn, or an exclamation of disgust?)( Dad also said, " Shit and two is eight" when something didn't make sense)

Biotics - antibiotics (close, but no cigar phonetically)

Bumb - bomb

Buzz Saw - weed eater (newfangled technology don't you know?)

catawpiller tree - catalpa tree (if you ain't from East Tx, you can't "get" this 'un)

Catywampus - off center or out of line (this makes as much sense to me as any of them)

CBR -VCR (hell, it's just letters?)

Clatterin' - collateral (I don't think paying back loans was all that important to Dad so why worry about the word for it??)

Climb in the Box - burial (something to always make light of in order to not feel depressed by the prospect)(my Dad was kind enough to help me make pre-burial arrangements for him and insisted on laying in the casket he selected in order to test its comfort???)

Compression - depression (another one that makes sense to me as both concepts seem to apply pschologically?)

Convertra - catalytic converter (OK, Detroit and the government just made up a damn word so why can't Gene do the same?)

Countrymary - customary (pure music to a kuntry boy's ears)

Cross Stickin' - cross stitching (what do men know about this anyway)(OK, I got pretty darn good at this for at time, but try to be easy on the "sissy" names?)

Dacked Out - fashionably dressed (Dad didn't have the finances to do this often, but he recognized when someone had it "going on" fashionably and commented accordingly)(also known as looking like a "band box", no clue on this one?)

Defang Shrimp - devein shrimp

Desistent - consistent

Devil Indenity - double indemity (you gotta love this one if your are insurance oriented?)

Digikal - digital

Doozy - anything good or of high quality

Duke's Mixture - Any combination of thing's (I spent my youth wondering who this "Duke" person was, but still have no clue?)

ECI - MCI long distance service

Encyclopedic - orthopedic

Epsoleptic fit - Epileptic fit

Farkason - Massey Ferguson Tractor (sometimes ya just gotta live there to know what they are talking about?)

Favors - looks like (OK, you read this and think, " What is unusual about that?" Well, go to somewhere besides East Tx and try that line and people will look at you and say , HUH?\

Flush Hole - threshold (only important if you need to know that the bottom of the door entryway has a problem?)

Fraud - frog

Gidget Saw - jig saw (another one of my personal favorites)

Go Down Amongst 'Em - die (how can you not like this one?)

Go Down Swangin' - yep, die again

Goes by Squirts - goes in spurts (I take this to mean stops and starts, but you may interpret Dad anyway you like on this one?)

Head Ponch - boss

Heerawed - Made fun of or laughed at (Dad did this a lot)

Hindu - emu

Hocus Pocus - hex

Hokeymolie - guacamole

Housitosis - cabin fever (Dad had this a lot as he hated to be inside and only did that due to the weather or his health)

Infectated - infatuated (in matters of love, Dad's word was probably better?)

Lanna - Mylanta (important if you had a stomach problem)

Last of the Moheekians - all used up or empty

Light Bread - white bread ( I think I still unconsciously use this word when not wanting to be healthy with "whole wheat", but not sure?0

Magnets - maggots

Mikeyway - microwave

Mollies - tomales


Musher -mulcher

Mysterionly - mysteriously

O Say - O.J. Simpson

Pasketti - spaghetti

Polly pop - kool aid

Poop the Poop - wear an item out or individually tired

Rassel - wrestle

Rastin - harassment (I don't get this one either, but you had to know Dad)

Receive - command a dog to "retrieve"

Recoil - redial

Rekasessed - reposessed (yeah, this happened a time or two due to nonpayment)

Reservated - reserved a hotel room (something Dad did not do in his entire life)

Rister Scale - richter scale

Sanger Sewer - singer sewing machine

Skeered up - worried

Skip and Dip - coffee or tea bag

Seaster Mechanic - accountant ( no clue here)

Selector - telephone solicitor

Small Fortune - any cost above a bargain

Smoothmouth - anything worn out

Snyternol - tylenol

Testicle Flu - intestinal flu

Teejus - requiring careful adjustment within exacting tolerances?

Tranquilican - mannequin (another personal favorite of mine)

Twister Tweets - swisher sweets (cigars)

Umpire - empire (a refererence to his pile of scrap iron and old cars parked in the back yard)

Who Hit John - any alcoholic beverage other than beer

Wishwash - wrist watch

Wobbler Butt - anyone fat

*Lisa get personal kudos for adding:

Slap on the Belly Jelly - eat

That Sun's Just Right to be Wrong - the sun is in my eyes

Whomperjawed - catywampus, askew, out-of-line


Anywho, you get the idea.

The lingo of my "raisin" was colorful, imaginative, and "almost" in the ballpark as far as meaning. I always loved Dad's colorful adornment of the "language" and will always treasure his contribution to conversational communication.

Enjoy if you will and know I enjoyed remembering the memory of Dad talking regardless!

Tin Star Ranch Hand