‘What made up words do you use in your family?’ – 23 incredibly wholesome examples of everyday gobbledegook

Families are incredibly strange in a variety ways. Some of those ways are undoubtedly infuriatingly annoying, but some of them are very sweet and wholesome. Hopefully the latter cancels out the former.

They’ve been discussing the quirks of the people we’re closest to on the CasualUK subreddit after elwheelio posted this cute little story…

‘What made-up words do you use in your family? A friend’s toddler (now a teenager) once asked what our dehumidifier was. We told him and he then asked his mum if they could get a ‘digglemigglefier’. It’s been called the digglemigglefier in our house ever since.’

Adorable. And it prompted lots of others to chip in with their own examples, like these…

1.

‘All my nieces and nephews call me Muncle because my name begins with the letter M.’
–Wyldstallyn80

2.

‘My kids uncle is called Anthony, they call him Auntie Clant (their auntie is called Claire and the little one got all mixed up once when talking to him) he’s very much a blokey bloke, they just thought it was so funny they’ve stuck with it for years!’
–i_see_frogs

3.

‘Fush – when we want someone to move or take something away. For example I might say ‘Fush’ to my husband and give him my plate or mug to take back to the kitchen because I’m too lazy to get up myself.

It came from my little nephew when he was about two. He would say Fush when he had finished his food and would do a little hand wave that meant take this away now I’m done. He passed away when he was five so always reminds me of him.’
–Far-Cucumber2929

4.

‘Not a made up word, but all stories start with One Ponce Time, as that’s how my son starts his storytelling.’
–plz_be_nice_im_sad

5.

‘My daughter had a cute one as a toddler. She’d use ‘soft’ as a word for stroke gently. Like ‘I am softing the cat’ or ‘Can you soft my hair’. She still says it occasionally, if she’s feeling poorly or tired.’
–CharieRarie

6.

‘My two-year-old referred to a harmonica as a ‘hungamunga’ so that’s what it’s called now.’
–FalseAsphodel

7.

‘Ketchup is now ‘Dip dip’ courtesy of our 18 month old. We’ve come close to accidentally asking for that in a restaurant.’
–GrillNoob

8.

‘Small one from my now three year old but blueberries will forever be booberies.’
–HomertoJebus

9.

‘We use ‘slibby’ to describe food that goes kinda mushy/slimy like cooked aubergine.’
–Dr_Shankenstein

10.

‘Smuffocate, A mix on smother and suffocate.’
–Sad-Pellegrino

11.

‘Lime cordial was called Duck Juice in my house, for reasons I can no longer remember.’
–MrsMaplebeck

12.

‘Not a made up word, but my son always called blackcurrant squash ‘purple’. Makes sense when the alternative is usually orange. So many times I’ve been buying him a drink, and answer purple when asked what flavour.’
–justdont7133