A recent visit to friends with youngsters reminded us about the place of family words. A family word, according to word collector Paul Dickson, is a "linguistic curiosity in that it is only understood by a very small circle . . . more often than not, family words can be traced back to a kid or a grandparent."

Usually, family words are coined to fill a gap. There are a number of coded dinner-table messages, such as F.H.B. and M.Y.M. Those acronyms (which translate as "Family Hold Back" and "Mind Your Manners," respectively) allow family members to discreetly remind each other of what needs to be done.

Some family words are even easier to interpret. Glassable is one family's term for fragile items that children shouldn't touch, while chokable refers to items that children should be cautious about eating.

Still other family terms are onomatopoeic. Eekser refers to the lever on a metal ice cube tray; its name comes from the sound it makes when it's pulled; clunk-waa names the phenomenon of a child falling out of bed; and gummatajumma is what some folks call the car ride over railroad tracks.

But the origin behind other family terms remains less than obvious. Consider bunce, truna, tumpee, and canoost—all names for what most of us know as the heel of a loaf of bread.

We had many of these words growing up...lots of nicknames for siblings and people. One of the silliest ones was from an old television series called Petticoat Junction and there was a cowboy named Curlie Bigelow. He'd come into town and smile and his teeth had a sparkle...and he'd say, "I'm called Curlie...shine, shakes hair, ...Bigelow.."
Well, that did it, we all have curly hair so we'd constantly do this for someone showing off..."who are you? Curlie...shine...bigelow?"
I doubt if anyone remembers the series much less the character! It might even be Gilligan's Island for that matter.

My kids have a few, and they are bilinguals so they are particularly odd. I mean, when you grow up understanding two languages you sometimes mix them up.
One of the weirdest ones was my oldest coming in and telling me that the baby was Packytime.
She meant he was happy, content and sleeping by this term..so I traced it dutifully...couldn't figure it out..I asked her.
She was almost five then.
She said he was like Dumbo the elephant. I said why the word Packytime?
"Well mom, Timothy the mouse says Dumbo's one happy packytime."
Elucidation of the mystery...Timothy has a Brooklyn accent when he pronounces the word pachyderm..and says, "Packy doime.."
Therefore happy babies became packytime from that point on.

You'll find that using these family words evokes some really fun times too.
I had little cousins who'd say, pischetti for spaghetti, seppi for Pepsi...and in those families they still call it that!

The only thing I can think of - and I have to physically stop myself from saying it nowadays is when I was young we called the washing basket the dirty bin. I don't know why or who it came from but thats what it is - STILL!

When he was small my son couldn't say the letter 's', using 'l' instead, which was a bit unfortunate for his elder sister..who became 'Lammy'! We still find ourselves saying "lee you loon"