Insider Language…The Big Reveal

Ok, the other day I shared some phrases that only mean something to me and 1 or 2 people. Read it here to see why I did it, but to follow is some of the who’s and the why’s.

• “Schmoopie.”   This is one between Lisa and I and comes from a Seinfeld episode where I believe it was George and his girlfriend at the time called each other schmoopie as their pet name for each other.  In the episode they were obnoxious with it.  We thought that the episode was hilarious and jokingly started calling each other that for the next week…now here we are 10+ years later and we still have variations of it that we sometimes call each other.
• “That’s awesome.”   This one is my friend Aaron’s favorite phrase recently.  He said the inspiration came from hanging out with Andy and I (whom we both way over inflated opinions of ourselves…especially when were working together).  So Aaron saw this commercial, thought of Andy and I and thus a new catchphrase was born.
• “Oh carp.”   Andy and I are huge perfectionists.  I saw an ad for a t-shirt that says on the front side…”I’m a Prefectionist.”  Notice the misspelling…and then on the back it says, “Oh Carp.”  This became our phrase while spending many late hours getting the tech side of the new building completed.
• Another one for the same person…”I’ve upped my standards…” Yet another one from Andy and I and also seen on t-shirts and bumper stickers.  The full phrase of course is “I’ve upped my standards, now up yours.”
• “Say hello to Carlos, or Juan, or Jose’ or whatever his name was.” This is the newest one on the list and it belongs to Andy’s wife Gayle.  It’s a pretty funny story but I’ll let her decide whether to tell it or not….or you can just bug her to death until she does.
• “How long is the line? Very good.”   Hmmm, just realized this one took place 2 years ago today.  Lisa, Andy, Gayle and I were all in Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcaster’s convention and there was an exhibit to see the next generation beyond High-Definition television, but you had to wait in a line to go into the “movie theater” like room.  This technology is coming from Japan and the people working for the company spoke very little English.  We really wanted to see it, but the line was incredibly long…I kept asking the guy different variations of the question, “how long will we have to wait in line” but he always responded with a slight bow and the words “Very Good!”  Finally we gave up.
• This is for two people…”Sheetz is hiring.” This one is for Adam and Brian on the worship team.  Both are and have been searching for jobs for months.  Since I love Sheetz, it’s always my recommendation to them.  They always laugh at me, but I think I’m wearing them down.
• For siblings…”Peace in the middle east…Word to your mother.”  Contrary to popular belief, my favorite style of music is not rock, but rather R&B, Hip-Hop and Rap.  So Brian and Kelli Miller were shocked when I broke out some old school phrases on them one day.  Now we occasionally throw out some of these phrases just in our random conversations with each other.
•  “Thank you Jesus that no one was injured during this job.”  This was a quote from Stan our Pastor of Visitation during the dedication service of the new building.  Andy and I quickly shot each other a glance and just started busting out laughing because we knew of all the blood that we and others had shed during the construction process.  Thankfully though Stan was right…no major injuries occurred which is remarkable considering the amount of people and the complexity of the project.
• “Hello loser.” This is one between Gene our Youth Pastor and myself.  The context comes from when Dan Patrick used to have his radio show on ESPN and would interview Bob Costas.  Apparently for like 12 consecutive years they were both nominated for sportscaster of the year, and every year Costas would win.  I loved it when Dan Patrick would have Costas on his show because he’d always start by saying, “Let’s welcome 12 time sportscaster of the year Bob Costas to our show.”  And Costas would always start by saying, “Hello loser.”  Well the first week Gene bought the Wii for the youth room he and I played every game on it and I won them all.  The next day I had to go into his office for something and when I walked in he said, “Hi” to which my response was “hello loser.”  Now it’s sort of stuck and I still sometimes break it out although he now beats me from time to time in Wii games.
• “Use dynamite…save time.”  Another one between Lisa and I, but one she hates.  This came from watching an episode of Winnie the Pooh with my sister as a kid and I think it was Tigger said this phrase about something.  In any case, I still break it out when a solution is needed to a problem and Lisa just rolls her eyes.
• “I said all that to say this.”   What will inevitably be on the tombstone of my first pastor after I got saved and then later my boss in my first ministry position.  I love him to death, but he was/is a very long-winded speaker.  In fact, I heard that just recently one of his messages went for 75 minutes.  A part of the reason is that he’ll get off on rabbit trails and when he finally catches himself he’ll say, “I said all that to say this” and then he’ll go on with the point he was trying to make.
• “GDT#3 don’t mess with me.”   I grew up during the days of wrestling making a big public comeback…me and all of my friends were little Hulkamaniacs.  Of course we all loved to wrestle and came up with our own names.  So this is one my sister would get because she joined in on the fun and was Tough Tara T…I took on the persona of GDT#3.  That’s simply my initials and since I’m the Gilbert Thurston III, and since “t” and “3” rhyme it just made sense to me.