What do you call it when you have no particular evening meal planned and everyone in the family just cobbles together their own dinner? Our listeners have been mulling this question and have lots of names for it: YOYO (as in “You’re on your own”), getcheroni, make-your-oni, supper jump-up (as in “If you want something to eat, jump up and get it”), fend for yourself, get it yourself, and CORN (as in “Clean Out your Refrigerator Night”). This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Getcheroni”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. On our Facebook group, Kitty O’Neill asks a question that I think we all can identify with. She writes, my husband and I usually have dinner together eating the same meal, but if we’re not too hungry or haven’t planned anything, we each just fix our own food. He calls it catch as catch can. I call it fend for yourself. Do you call this anything? We’re looking for a new phrase for us to use together. And Grant, boy, did we get a boatload of answers.
Oh, yeah. Tons of stuff.
And one of my favorites is we’re having get your owny.
Sounds like rice-a-roni or macaroni.
I know. I love this imaginary pasta. Get your own. I mean, you can just imagine the tired adult comes home from work and the kids are saying, what are we going to have? What are we going to have? Get your owny. Or make your owny. That’s another one. Make your owny.
That’s really good.
And there were lots of these that were really great, like, we’re having yo-yo.
You’re on your own.
Y-O-Y-O.
-huh.
Another name is Supper Jump Up.
If you want supper, jump up and get it yourself.
And then one of my favorites was from Persephone, who wrote that they have corn, which is clean out refrigerator night.
We’re having corn.
And she added that the kids’ favorite is anything night.
Anything night, I don’t care if they eat soup and licorice, milk and cereal, mashed potatoes and cans, salmon, pizza rolls, whatever they want.
Apparently, anything night is real popular with kids.
Wow, the cake mix out of the box.
Right.
And it’s an opportunity for adults to clean out the fridge, too.
You know, just take everything out of the fridge and put it on the counter.
Yeah, wipe those shelves, clean out those drawers.
Yeah.
So I have a few more of those that I’m going to share later in the show.
Well, when it’s fend-for-yourself night, what do you call it in your house when everyone has to make their own food and there’s no planned meal?
Let us know, 877-929-9673, or tell us on Twitter @wayword.
