Word Legacy
I love words. Big words, little words, and everything in between. What are my favorites, you ask? Noodle and peach, because they sound just like they taste (thank you, Mrs. Brown, for teaching me about onomatopoeias). Words can be empowering and uplifting, motivating and beautiful; they can also be violent and hateful, hurtful and demeaning. Words have the power to invoke memories of those we love, and those who have hurt us. Words matter.
I often joke that my husband is a walking Mr. Webster. His vocabulary is vast, and his word usage is exceptional. He’ll talk to me in this eloquent language he has crafted over the years, while I stare at him blankly, nodding my head to feign understanding. Words like obstreperous and obfuscate. Did I mention he also knows the definitions of these rarely used words? Amazing. He is creating his word legacy.
The term “word legacy” came to me shortly after my Granny passed away. I use it to describe the words/phrases we leave behind as little reminders to those we were once connected to. My Granny Vee was full of these little phrases. Every afternoon, she would pour herself a White Lightening (generic 7-Up) and vodka because “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”. She may not have invented that phrase, but I certainly attribute it to my many memories of her, and it summons up the sounds of her popping the top on the can and stirring together her favorite concoction. My favorite phrase of hers was “well, crabapple peach butter”. She would often use this when playing cards, which was something we loved doing with her. We would be playing an intense game of Skip Bo, she would be winning, and, by some stroke of luck, she’d be unable to play her turn. That’s when this phrase would make its grand appearance, and we knew that maybe, just maybe we had a chance to win, to steal her crown for one, small moment. Alas, we didn’t win – it was a very rare thing to beat Granny. But I can still hear the tapping of her cards on the table as she realized she was stumped, eventually uttering that one, unique phrase: “Well, crabapple peach butter”. She left this for us to enjoy and to pass on to future generations. This is her word legacy.
Granny has been gone now for nearly five years. I miss playing cards with her, listening to her play “The Entertainer” on the piano, watching her cheer on her favorite sports teams, and dousing herself in her “If You Love Georgio Then You’ll Love Primo” perfume. Most of all, I miss her words. In a world where the “f” word has become commonplace, I fear that these unique phrases and words will be lost to the generations. That our speech will be overrun with laziness because we have learned that the “f” word can be used as virtually any part of speech. It’s up to each of us to carry on these word legacies, and to create new ones that are unique to our family. So, to honor Granny’s word legacy, I have adopted her phrase, to the delight of my husband and boys. We insert it into conversation whenever we can. I know she would love hearing us say it.
My wish for each of you is to find your own “crabapple peach butter” with words that are unique to you. Share it with as many people as possible. Create your own word legacy and leave it as gift for those you love.
