Sharon in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, says that when her father wanted his children to stop squirming, he used to say “You’re just like a fart in a mitten.” Versions of this term for something moving around a lot, feature a fart in a colander, a blender, a hot skillet, a jacuzzi, a spaceship, a submarine, a phone box, and an elevator. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Fart in a Mitten and Variants”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Sharon calling from Kaukana, Wisconsin.
Welcome to the show, Sharon.
Yeah, well, the story is that when my sister and I were a lot younger, she’s just a year younger than I am. And when we were like four and five years old, my father tended to talk to us. And when he would say things, he would say them fast so that some of the things that he said sounded like it was one word. Like if we asked why we should do something, he’d say, just do it for the heck of it. So for the longest time, we thought heck of it was a word. We didn’t know what it meant. It just meant we were supposed to do it regardless.
And if we were squirmy and he wanted us to stand still or hold still, he’d say, just hold still a minute now. You’re like a fart in a mitten. And for our whole lives, we thought fart in a mitten was some word from some other language, maybe German or whatever. But we did not know what it meant until we were way older, like maybe in high school. And we were talking about it. And my father had passed away by then. And we were talking about it. And we just looked at each other like it was fart in a mitten. And he would say, I would like, oh, it works for that. Oh, if we were really squirmy, if it was a fart in a minute, it would just disperse everywhere. It would never be just in one spot. And so that I just wondered if anybody’s ever heard it or if it’s something he made up.
Oh, he didn’t make it up. It’s been around for a while. Yeah, at least 50 years, probably more than that. That’s as far as I know it’s from the 1960s at least, but I have no doubt that it’s older. Similes using fart as a comparison are abundance in English. Yeah, you’ve got in a blender, in a colander, in a hot skillet. In a jacuzzi. In a spaceship, a submarine, a phone box, an elevator.
Oh, that’s funny. Well, this would have been like probably 1960 or 59 that he would have said it to us, along with the other things. But that one had an actual, different than heck of it or fun of it, that was an actual thing. So we weren’t sure if he was clever enough to come up with that thought by himself or if it was something that he heard at the time.
He must have heard it from other folks because it’s been around for a while. Yeah, it’s been floating around. But that doesn’t take anything away from the experience that you had.
No, I love it. And he was quite a bit like that. And he spent a lot of time in the Finn and Feather Tavern in Winnicott County at the time, or Tig’s Tavern in Winnicott County at the time. So I think he probably heard that from some of the cohorts that he sat by on the barstool, too. And so we knew what he meant, though. It meant for us to stop squirming around. So I really liked the saying, and I appreciate it now even more. And I do love your program. I want you to know I’ve wanted to call in 100 different times for a lot of different reasons. And my license plate is I-L-V-W-R-D-S. How nice is that? I feel a little bit guilty because I think you guys should have some license plate like that rather than me. I totally love your program.
Oh, Sharon, you have to call us again. Yeah, you’re a delight. I really appreciate you sharing this story about your father. This is wonderful.
Thank you, and thank you for letting me share it.
All right. Take care now.
Yeah, you have a great day.
All righty. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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