TOOL TERMS FROM DAD

Since Dad’s are honored this month, this Kaleidoscope blog will feature my Dad and his use of English.

When I was in college and assigned duty in the theater’s workshop, I often used “Dad words” to ask for a tool. I would point at the object and ask for the “gizmo”, “gadget”, “thing-a-ma-jig”, “doo-hickey”, “what-cha-ma-call-it”, “doo-dad”, or “what’s-it.”

The male students assumed I did not know the actual name of the item because I was female. Furthermore, they believed that I did not use the proper names because, as a female, I had no interest in learning about construction work. They were wrong on both counts. I was able on more than one occasion to startle them with my knowledge, not only of the tool names, but that I did not have to be taught how to use them.

Long before college, my Dad gave me lessons in our backyard. He told me, “Just because you are a girl, it’s no excuse for not knowing how to use tools. Everyone should know which tool is used for what and how to use them.” Then began the almost weekly lessons.

However, when I assisted him while he tinkered on our family car or was in the middle of some home repair job, he would often point in the direction of his collection of tools and ask for the “thing-a-ma-jig’ or one of the other “Dad words” I listed above. I got so used to hearing these requests, they became a part of me.

Then, too, my mind works a bit like my Dad’s. You see, while he was working on a project, his mind was running on ahead to the next steps, perhaps even thinking about what he would do when he finished. With all that thinking going on, he could not be bothered backtracking to locate the tool name. Besides, it was not necessary. That’s why I was there.

#Father’sDay #EnglishLanguage #EnglishIdioms