every family has it’s own weird lexicon and bevy of in-jokes, and I think that gets compounded if you have immigrants/non-native speakers in your immediate family tree. I only have a few examples, but I just get so curious when I try to figure out where the heck these came from. Some examples:
frutz/frutzy – noun/adjective; squirrely person/squirrely behavior. “Such a frutzy boy.”
Almost 100% sure this is from the German Fratz, which either means brat/rascal/scalliwag or bitch/hussy, depending on which translator you use.
obshoilek – adjective; gross, dirty, badly done. “It just looks so obshoilek!”
Someone once told me this was exactly like the German word for same, but I can’t find it anywhere to verify. I hope it’s a dirty dirty swear
EDIT: @stadtschrat and a lovely anon mentioned “abscheulich,” which which means abominable/detestable. Thanks for the assist!
canooter/canuter – verb, to complain, fret pointlessly. “Stop canuttering already, we’ll get there when we get there.”
This one might have its origin in ye olde salty car talk! The canuter valve is a fictional part of the engine that an unscrupulous mechanic might try to tell you is malfunctioning. I can kind of see how that might transition to complaining needlessly about something stupid. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a huge car nut, and this might have come from him.
peazock – verb; to bother, pester with the intent to annoy. “He liked to peazock the cats.” “Stop peazocking your brother!”
Welp. Pizoc is a last name that exists, but I highly highly doubt that’s where this came from. Mispronouncing peacock???
pls share yours with me










