A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1033

We’ve recently coined the term “a Will Smith”, meaning “a smack in the mouth”.
-Denise Tilbury, Roodepoort, South Africa (dtilbury mweb.co.za)

My uncle John Quigley was always chatting up strangers so my family named this practice quigging.
-Clark Brinkerhoff, Park Ridge, New Jersey (clarkbrink39 gmail.com)

In Kenya back in ‘92 during electioneering period, there was a personality called Cyrus Jirongo, who used to give out 500 shilling notes during campaigns. He gave out so many of the notes till people coined the name “Jirongo” instead of 500 shillings.
-Aduma Patrick, Nairobi, Kenya (ndioaduma gmail.com)

For many years, a small group of five (four men and a woman named Wendy) trained diligently and intensively on bike rides preparing for triathlon competitions. One of the guys, a former wrestler, football Hall of Famer and professor of exercise physiology at UCF, was a beloved if intense macho man who only grudgingly came to accept the female in our midst. He did so because Wendy was fast, young, personable, and attractive. As the years went by, the five friends either moved away or broke down, myself included, and finally only he and Wendy remained. Wendy often confided that she derived less value from the rides, but valued them, and would never pass macho man or drop him and ride off. She knew that would be the end of the relationship, and she needed and desired his companionship on rides. My wife and I agreed that, when we train with each other, we must never “do a Wendy”, that is, hang back so as not to offend.
-Don Ardell, Madison, Wisconsin (awr.realwellness gmail.com)

The house I grew up in had a large mirror over the living room couch. My father was famous for posing family and friends on said couch and capturing their images, and his own as well, in photos. We began to call this a Norman within the family. Now, when one of us accidentally includes themselves in a picture via a window reflection, sunglasses lens, etc., we carry on that name and fondly remember my dad and his Kodak Brownie. Bonus points if you also get a flash in the image!
-Debra Godfrey, Seattle, Washington (godfreydebra hotmail.com)

About once a year, I purge my closet of things I no longer wear and send them to a friend to share with her daughters and coworkers. Her thank-you notes always cite their delight in receiving the lovely Suzanne-me-downs. Likewise, when the box includes things from my husband, they’re Wayne-me-downs.
-Suzanne Mitchell, Brunswick, Georgia (mitchellsongs gmail.com)

During my grad school days, several of us would gather once a month for dinner at one of our homes. Amongst us was a phenomenally talented Italian cook. Diane was known for her culinary skills and also for her stealthy manner of filling your wine glass or serving you more food when you weren’t looking. Such actions became endearingly referred to as “pulling a Grimaldi”.
-Anne L. May, Santa Fe, New Mexico (annelmay gmail.com)

My grandmother Esther has been immortalized in our family with the word Estherize. Esther packed a lot of life and a pioneering spirit into her 4’10” frame.
She was really good at fitting the greatest amount of stuff into the smallest space. In her pantry, she tore the tops and sides of cereal boxes so they protected only the remaining cereal. She always put leftovers in the perfectly size containers, swapping containers as the leftovers got eaten. Her closets were a beautiful jigsaw puzzle of space efficiency. So we coined the term Estherize to describe the action of re-packing items to fit more efficiently. Only one carryon permitted? Use zip-top bags or packing cubes to Estherize your clothes. Big shop at the big box store? Break down packaging and collapse bulky bags with rubber bands to Estherize the food to fit.
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face as I remember my grandmother.
-Jessi Shapiro, Philadelphia, Pennsyivania (griffon48 yahoo.com)

At the end of a meal, if there were any small spots on the (almost always linen) tablecloth, e.g., from a soup splash, Aunt Bertha would fold a corner of her table napkin over her forefinger, dip it in the water in the cut-glass finger bowl and dab at the spots to remove them. This became known in the family (and behind her back!) as “doing a bertha”. Yes, she really did live that life-style and very elegant it was too -- except for her on-site laundry activities!
-Rosemary Abrami, Sun City West, Arizona (abrami cox.net)

In a very large high school, a student named Walt gained a reputation for being quite socially inept. If a social event was coming up and you were going stag because you couldn’t get a date, you were “walt’in” it.
-Calvin Hennig, Portland, Oregon (calhennig yahoo.com)

Long ago a woman named Pat came to our house once a month to do major housecleaning. The day before her arrival we tidied things up... put things in their proper places... a process that came to be called patrification... time to patrify. Pat is long gone, bless her soul, but her name lives on.
-Ross Jackson, San Jose, California (rmtnjack gmail.com)

An older couple we know always greets each other as if they had been separated by weeks instead of moments, with a quick hug and kiss. We call this a Kirby moment, and indulge in such as often as we can, in emulation of the Kirbys.
-Nunn Winship, Warden, Washington (nunn.winship gmail.com)