DARE word of the month: pollynose

Recently, I mentioned to my Mom, who lived her formative years (approximately age 1 to 14, 1931-1945) in Brooklyn, New York, that the two maple trees in front of my house (part of my development/township’s plan to make a tree-lined street) were producing what I called them just to be silly, whirlygigs.

Mom then told me about “pollynose.” To make a pollynose, a child splits the maple seed, then with the naturally sticky substance oozing out, one sticks one or both halves of the seed on one’s nose in silly manner. I thought that sounded like the most awesome thing ever, so, I tried and tried with my maple whirlygigs at various stages of their development, but mine wouldn’t stick, boo-hoo—maybe a different species of maple is required. They’re now about done for the season.

Anyhoo, here is the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) entry for “pollynose,” confirming that it originates with the New York City dialect:
http://dare.wisc.edu/?q=node/134

Then also, a Google images search of “pollynose” did not let me down.

I think it is in order for me to add some American regional expressions to the Family Lexicon page of this site in the future in addition to terms from the “old country.”

Family lexicon and DARE

A word lover, I have over time recollected words in the family lexicon I absorbed that originated in the the Germanic dialects of my grandparents and great-grandparents and were handed down to my generation. The list on this site is short; the handed-down words are mostly of the “there doesn’t seem to be a word of the same meaning in English,” interjection, insult, or food variety. I find them quite colorful.

On of my favorites has always been “Schlabberhannes,” pronounced SHLAH-ber-hahn-ess. On my family lexicon page, I defined this as:

n. a messy eater who lets food and drink run down his front

One of the dozen or so language-related blogs and Twitter feeds I subscribe to is @darewords. DARE is short for the monumental Dictionary of American Regional English field researched and compiled over decades and recently completed. I do not have this collection of large tomes; one would expect to find it only in a library. However, it is not necessary to have it to enjoy it; each day, the DARE Twitter feed posts a colorful term from an American regional dialect with its definition and the region in which it was chiefly recorded by the field researchers.

So, this afternoon, I was both pleased and amused at the following post by @darewords!

Maybe I should be searching for some long-lost cousins–with food stains on their shirts–in Wisconsin?