Francisco, That's fun to say

There’s a scene in the movie Elf where Buddy the Elf (Will Farrell) is introduced to one of his father’s co-workers. His response is, “Francisco. That’s fun to say!”

Francisco. Onomatopoeia. Sasparilla.* Words with texture. Ironically, you won’t find these three and four syllable words being 'text'ed. I worry that my kids are growing up without the kind of magical words that shaped my childhood experience. For example:

Naugahyde-

As in “I have third degree burns on the back of my thighs because the car was baking in the summer sun and the naugahyde seats are the temperature of the sun’s surface.”

Your senses get activated when you think about naugahyde--the shimmer of heat, the smell of outgassing, the sounds of whimpering... I believe it's now called pleather, or vegan leather.

“But Mom,” my kids say when I try to explain. “Why didn’t your Dad just turn on the air conditioner?” They're missing the whole point.

Formica

As in “We just bought a fixer upper and had to tear out the kitchen first. For God's sake, the counters were ivory and gold-flecked formica!”

Before granite and quartz and poured concrete, countertops were made of this speckled stuff. You practically need to an archeological dig to find a sample these days. Or you at least need to go to a dodgy diner or your great-grandmother’ house.

Polyester-

As in, “I wore my polyester slacks to school everyday for a year and they never got wrinkled.”

Who hasn't had a pair of pink bell bottoms with a picture of Holly Hobby on the bottom of one leg? Well, okay, maybe no one but me. But I wore those things to school at least three times a week to for the entire third grade. Usually with a pointy-collared, button-down polyester shirt that was covered with flowers-thousands of brightly colored flowers like a kaleidoscope. They never got wrinkled, dented or showed wear. Idon't know where they are now, but 'm convinced that they will survive the apocalypse.

Naugahyde. Formica. Polyester. These words may not be text friendly, eco-friendly or trendy, but man, they’re fun to say!

*My older brother loves saying this word. It cracks me up every time he does. Of course that may be because we are usually trying to get my mother to do Rootbeer Schnapps shots at the time.