Language Investigation 1

In my family, there are several words and phrases that hold certain meaning. Such words and phrases may have become common use among my family, and through this common use, I may have learned to take these words and phrases for granted. I may just assume that everyone knows what I am talking about when I say things like, “Mam-ma” or “Sue’s guests,” when really only my family and maybe a small group of select friends would know what I was talking about, while anyone else would be left confused. It is because of such outside confusion that I will attempt to think of the words and phrases that only make sense in the context of my family and will explain and define them for the rest of the outside world to understand.
One word that has become extremely common in my family is “Mam-ma.” Mam-ma in my family means grandma, but it is really the name that has been given to my grandma on my dad’s side of the family. We only call this grandma, “Mam-ma,” and it works as a way to distinguish which grandma we are talking about. The word “Mam-ma” comes from the southern routes on my dad’s side of the family. He called his grandma, “Mam-ma,” and it stuck around for his mom once we were born. Someone in the family would simply use the word “Mam-ma,” to address or talk about my grandma on my dad’s side of the family.
Another set of words that is common use amongst my family that might not make sense to others is, “Sue’s guests.” This phrase is usually worded somewhere into a question, like, “Who are Sue’s guests going to be?” or, “Is Sue bringing any guests?” To help explain this phrase, Sue is my grandma on my mother’s side, and to explain why her guests might come up so often, I will explain a little about my grandma. My grandma has hosted over three hundred foreign exchange students throughout her life and continues to host students today. Also, my grandma is one of the most social and active people I know, so she is always out and about meeting new people and becoming instant friends with them. And it is in these new friends or her exchange students that the “guest” part of the phrase applies. She will invite new friends she’s made and her foreign exchange students anywhere, to any family event, to the point where they start to feel like family too. I could not tell you the origins of the phrase, but I am sure it has been around just as long as my grandma has! The phrase can be used in a number of ways, such as, “How many guests is Sue bringing?”, “How does Sue know all of her guests?”, or “How does Sue always find so many different people to bring as guests?” It may seem a little confusing, but the phrase is so common in my family, I do not even think twice about it.
Another word used often in my family that might not sound out of the ordinary is “party.” However, the word is used extremely often in my family and probably in a different way than some people use it. It is often used in seemingly normal ways, such as, “We are having a party this weekend,” or, “So where’s the party going to be?” However, the reason the word is unique to my family is the way in which it is used and how often it is used. My family holds a party for every occasion, from the normal things like birthdays and Christmas, to the bizarre things (at least for a white family), like Chinese New Year. The word “party” in my family has come to be used for a very diverse array of celebrations, but it always means family and friends and a whole lot of other people (often times people I don’t even know) coming together to eat and enjoy each other’s company.