My friend Kelly calls words and phrases unique to her family the “NutHatch Dictionary.” 

It got me thinking of my own family's unique vocabulary.  My great-grandmother (Nanny) was forever saying she was getting fatter than a “butcher's dog." I picked up the phrase when I was about four years old and used it for all manner of things—I got as "tired as a butcher's dog," as "hungry as a butcher's dog" and so on. Apparently only a butcher's dog could relate to whatever state of hunger, thirst or exhaustion I was feeling at the time. It wasn't until years later that I understood why my use of it cracked my family up so much.

Nanny wouldn't hesitate to label anyone exhibiting less than desirable behavior as “horse's rosettes.” I adopted this quaint little moniker as well.

How about "there's more than one way to skin a cat"? Eeew. I used that gruesome phrase recently when we were running short on cookies. I told a passenger I’d bring him extra cookies after the service. The other passengers in his row declined the offer of a snack, so he slyly interjected they'd changed their minds... they both wanted cookies. I smiled and said, “I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat.” What?? Where did that come from? Who knew that was even in my repertoire of phrases?

My dad used to call people always on the cusp of inappropriate behavior “loose cannons” who go off “half-cocked.”

I'm not even sure what a "whip stitch” is—but I've heard it all my life and I use it every whip stitch.

My mom would threaten to knock us into the “middle of next week”— which I thought might be a nice place to be (under the circumstances).

My brother Craig used to come up with some outlandish facts. When my parents would ask him how he came upon his knowledge his answer was always the same, "A kid at school told me." It became our family's response to anyone who came up with questionable facts—”Did a kid at school tell you that?"

If we asked Dad if he had time to help us with something, he'd often answer, "What's time to a pig?" It always made him chuckle but I never understood why. I just recently learned it's a line from a joke: An old farmer walked his pigs a long way to drink from the river. When a neighbor offered to run a pipe from the river to the farmer's house, the farmer wasn't interested. When the neighbor explained how much time it would save, the farmer responded, "What's time to a pig?"

Another phrase, "You guessed it Nester!" It's the equivalent of "Well...duh!" If I put my uniform on and I’m asked if I'm going to work, I answer, "You guessed it Nester!" 

I could fill pages with phrases like "Did a kid at school tell you that?" that would only be funny to my family.

I’m so thankful God designed us to be placed in families. Sadly, many of my family's funniest storytellers have gone to be with the Lord. I miss them more than ever, but I take great comfort knowing their stories will continue to be told generation after generation and therefore never be forgotten.