Don’t Stop at O’Hares – Saying

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Middle School Teacher
Residence: Park Ridge, Il
Language: Engligh

This saying was used by MK’s grandmother very often:

Whenever leaving MK’s grandmother’s house, she would say, “…Now go straight home and don’t stop at O’Hare’s unless you’re taking me with.”

This phrase was said by MK’s grandmother every single time they left her house, and MK remembers that she would lean against the door frame the same way every time and talk about how they should visit her again, ending with the same phrase without fail. This phrase means almost exactly as it is said, but essentially means that she hopes MK will get home quickly and safely, without stopping anywhere extra to distract her on the way back. The phrase mentions O’Hare’s, a bar she frequented in her younger days, not to be confused with the Chicago airport of the same name. It is one of MK’s most vivid memories of her grandmother, who she called Sittie. Sittie is Lebanese for grandma, and has been passed through several generations as MK’s family is part Lebanese.

This phrase represents Sittie’s personality and essence to MK, and highlights the type of person she is, even after she had gotten far too old to go back to O’Hare’s for a drink. This phrase is only for use within MK’s family, for those who knew Sittie, and allows Sittie a spot within the family, even after she passed away. Her memory as an effortlessly funny personality that could light up a room while simultaneously seeming a little grumpy culminated in this quip she would say every time MK left her house. Despite being far too old for it, all Sittie really wanted was a good drink at O’Hare’s, right up until the end. After Sittie passed, it also gained an extra meaning, not stopping at O’Hare’s meant Sittie could watch over one’s journey back home as long as they didn’t break her wish and get a drink. Her shift to the guardian of the family, but a petty guardian who still didn’t want to be left out, was a way to honor her life and importance to her family and let some humor back into a death that was devastating to the entire family, what Sittie would have wanted. Despite her no longer being alive, her words still tie the family together and offer protection to the next generation of MK’s family that Sittie never got to see grow up. Despite this, the phrase is still used from time to time, years and years after her death, as a show of familial ties.

Willie looking – Phrase

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Middle School Teacher
Residence: Park Ridge, Il
Language: English

This phrase is used within MK’s family:

The phrase is used when someone is extremely lazy when looking for something that is often in plain sight, and can be both a verb (to Willie look), or an adjective (he’s a Willie looker). If someone can’t find their cellphone while it’s sitting in plain sight on the kitchen table, they would have “Willie looked” and be a “Willie looker.”

This phrase arose within MK’s family, but who came up with the term specifically is unknown. One of MK’s nephews, Willie, was a notoriously bad looker, habitually being found with only one sock on. When trying to find his other sock, he would ask others for help looking for it, only for the sock to be a couple feet off to the side in the middle of the floor. While this sock may have been in plain sight to most people, Willie possessed an uncanny ability to be blind to anything they needed to find at all times. MK and her family would call him the “worst looker”, but it slowly morphed into “Willie looker” and expanded to anyone who couldn’t find something that wasn’t even hidden, being seen as an insult to their pride.

This phrase is intrinsically linked to MK’s family and has become one of the most commonly used phrases in their lexicon. What makes this phrase important is how it became the bridge to many other folk expressions, like proverbs and folk gestures that would come as a result of someone Willie looking. Should someone have been caught Willie looking, one could expect at least one mini lecture, complete with a proverb or two about putting effort in before asking others to help you, and became an important symbol about growing up in MK’s household. While asking for help was ok, one could only ask for help with anything after really putting effort in and failing first. If one asked for help without trying first, you were seen as lazy and less deserving of the help of others. This lesson about independence was drilled into all of the children in MK’s extended family and stressed an important family value for those that were on the receiving end of a Willie Looker lecture.

How’s tricks?

Age: 19

Text: How’s tricks?

Context: My informant learned this question from his dad. Growing up, instead of asking him how he was, his dad would ask him “How’s tricks?” He claims this question can be used anytime in a casual setting as a replacement for the question “How are you?” He equated asking this question to asking a close friend or family member “What’s up?” My informant has only ever been asked this by his dad, and on several occasions when he has tried to ask his friends “How’s tricks?” they had not heard the question before and did not understand what he was asking. He admitted that he does not know the origin of the question or what the word ‘tricks’ refers to. 

Analysis: After doing some quick research, there seems to be a general understanding that ‘tricks’ in this question refers to card tricks or magic. “How’s tricks?”, therefore, seems to be a shortened version of asking a magician or card game player “How are your tricks going?” As this question has evolved to be used in a daily manner separate from card games or magic, it has taken on the more general meaning “How’s it going?” The informal nature of this question suggests that it can be used to set a more casual tone in a conversation than asking “How are you?” might establish. 

Up the apples and pears

Age: 19

Text: Up the apples and pears

Context: My informant explained that growing up, her grandmother used to refer to the stairs as the “apples and pears.” For example, her grandmother might have said “Alright, I’m going to go up the apples and pears.” My informant explained that her grandmother learned this from her mother who was born in London. She also clarified that her grandmother usually only used this phrasing around their family as most people, especially in the United States, would not understand what she meant. 

Analysis: Cockney is a rhyming slang primarily used by individuals from the East End of London who have historically made up the working class of the city. “Apples and pears” is one of many terms in this slang where Cockney individuals replace a word with a phrase that rhymes with it. This slang has historically been used amongst Cockney individuals to create a sense of community and social solidarity. This slang has also likely been used as resistance towards authority as non-Cockney individuals have a difficult time understanding what they are saying when the slang is being used. 

Finer than a frog hair split four ways

Age: 19

Text: Finer than a frog hair split four ways

Context: My informant said she heard this saying in rural Texas. She had asked a stranger how they were doing to which they responded “Honey, I’m finer than a frog hair split four ways.” She remembers the person being very upbeat and happy, and they seemed to be having a great day. My informant is from Austin, TX, and claims that she has never heard this saying other than this one time. 

Analysis: I am from Texas myself and have noticed that many Southerners, especially people from the rural south, use many sayings that add emphasis to their speech and attempt to capture the extent to which they mean what they are saying through exaggeration. Not only was this person fine, but they were finer than a frog hair split four ways. My initial reaction to hearing this saying was wondering “Do frogs even have hair?” A quick Google search has confirmed that frogs do not have hair. The comparison of how fine someone is to something so physically fine that it doesn’t even exist is a humorous, nonsensical way of suggesting that the person must be doing extremely fine. This saying exaggerates this even further by splitting the nonexistent thing into four different parts.