Nana-isms

The title of my blog today is Nana-isms.  These are phrases that Nana uses that are unique to Nana’s vocabulary, like…..

“It’s raining cats and dogs and hammer handles.”  I asked Nana where she heard this phrase and she said that her mom and dad said it when she was growing up.  I’ve heard the “cats and dogs” phrase, but I’m clueless where the hammer handles come into the picture.  Nana didn’t know either but it seems normal to her because she’s been saying it all her life.

While I was combing Nana's grandkitty, Mitzi and talking to Nana on the phone one morning, Nana remarked that she had already combed her hair for the day.  Then she delivered the newest Nana-ism “Brush your teeth and comb your hair and you’ll look like a millionaire.”  She told me she heard the phrase in her childhood.  It’s amazing to me I’ve never heard her say that before.  Nana can always surprise me.

Another famous Nana-ism is a phrase she calls “storm air.”  When she walks outside and the air penetrates with cold and moisture, Nana says it’s a “storm air.”  The funny thing is she's usually right.  After her pronouncement, a storm is not far behind.

At 89 years old, Nana gets tired more easily now than when she was younger.  I’m always encouraging her to take a nap in the afternoon, especially when she hasn’t slept enough the night before.  Her answer is always the same, “I’m not a daytime sleeper.”  She states this Nana-ism like any indisputable fact.  That’s the end of the discussion.

Whenever Nana and I are talking about numbers, whether it be her checkbook total, or the price of bananas, she frequently says, “go figure.”  That’s one of her favorite Nana-isms.  For Nana to “go figure” she uses a pencil and piece of paper, not a calculator.  This woman can add and subtract in her head faster than I can enter the numbers in a calculator.  She still does her own checkbook and balances her bank account statements every month.  She may only have an eighth grade education, but she does know how to “go figure.”

As I write this, it’s starting to rain - I'm waiting to see the “cats and dogs and hammer handles.”