I thought about some things we used to say as kids:
"You stink like cyarn!"
I don't know how to spell it but it rhymes with yarn. Somebody told me that the paper plant used a ditch filled with water, and when the water evaporated the "cyarn" was the chemical left over and made a terrible smell. Now cyarn doesn't sound like a chemical name to me, and it pretty much stunk all the time around the paper plant, so what gives? Anyone with paper-producing expertise?
"He's dead as a doornail."
I used to think it was a nail in a door, but I think it's really spelled doorknell because I read that word somewhere, but now the Mad Cow has stolen the truth from me. Anyone?
Also, for some reason that made me think of the time I was in the 4th grade and got to go the regional spelling bee (I won at school on the word parallel after a smarmy 5th grade boy demonstrating a superior attitude spelled it paralell). Some teacher drove and another named Miss Moore rode in the front, then myself and a girl named Ruthie were in the back. Winston may have been in there too, because I remember being crowded and sitting on the hump in the middle. Anyway, Ruthie was telling us all the chores she had done so far: got up at 5 AM to feed the animals and fix breakfast for her brother, etc. and I asked her if she lived on a farm (because doesn't it make sense that if you get up that early and do chores you might be a farmer?). Miss Moore proceeded to bust a gut laughing for some reason which I didn't understand and said, "Arnold, you crack me up." (She always called me Arnold, which made me feel that I, the homeliest nerd in class, had a cool nickname. But now that I think about it, I think she called everybody by their last names.)
4 comments:
Ahhh . . . Miss Moore. We were the last 5th grade class to have her as a teacher. I still remember our "going away" party for her. We gave her a 45 of James Taylor's "you've got a friend". We thought that was so cool. I also remember Scott Kenny playing the air guitar to "We are the Champions" at that party. Now why in the world do I remember that?
Wow, I forgot about the party - we were corny! Yes, Scott's famous air guitar - did you have a secret crush on my boyfriend?? I remember in 1st grade he and Mitzi walked home every day and I told her I'd buy her a popcicle if she'd let ME walk home with him. (It didn't occur to me that I lived across town.) I also remember when I won that spelling bee, he walked me to the office to get a savings bond ($25 people!) and he put his arm around my neck as we were walking (!). Miss Moore saw us and had a cow - her jaw dropped but I don't remember what she said. (Something like, "get it while you can Arnold, you're a NERD!" I'm sure.)
WOw~I was just talking to someone today about "cyarn". My grandmother,a Scotch/Irish lass would say "That smells like cyarn, doesn't it." When I was about 40 years old, I finally thought to ask her, "Goggy, what does cyarn smell like???" She replied, "It's something awful." (?)
My friend that I was talking to about it said that perhaps it refers to corded wool [corded yarn = c'yarn?] from a sheep, which really stinks.
P'raps it is.
Sue B
Oh,I think you've solved the mystery! We had a big textile plant in town! Thanks for commenting!
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