Off in the Giggleweeds

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hello.

Hi, who is this?

This is Peg. I’m from Indianapolis.

Do you have a question for us today?

I do. When I was a little girl, growing up in a family of four siblings, our dad certainly was a man who had many funny phrases and slang terms.

Nice.

Some that he had picked up in World War II with his buddies, and others that he had picked up on the streets of St. Louis where he grew up.

His family moved there when he was about four, and one of the phrases that he used frequently when we were kids was the term giggle weeds. Giggle weeds, yeah, the way he would use that frequently, it came up when we were in a car all squashed in together in an old sedan or station wagon, one of those big boats, and we’d be hurtling through the countryside.

And probably because of the way my dad drove, he would scare little animals along the side of these country roads, and they would run across the road in front of the car, and he might swerve. And as the animal would disappear into the growth along the side of the road, he’d say, look kids, did you see that? The rabbit ran into the giggle weeds. And we’d all look, and those of us who had windows would lord it over those who didn’t and talk about seeing that animal go into the giggle weeds.

And other times he would use it, but we would use it, would be if we were perhaps out shopping or strolling, taking a walk somewhere. And if someone dropped a coin or keys and they simply bounced off the sidewalk into long grass, he would then use the term again. And he’d say, one of you need to get down on your hands and knees and look through the giggle weeds for that coin.

So I did ask my father what it meant. I’ve asked him a couple of times, and as recently as this past weekend, when I went to visit him in a nursing home where he lives, and he said the same thing he told me a couple years ago, and that was that the term came from couples who, and I guess this would have been in the, my dad was born in 1923, so this must have been in the 30s when he was a teenager.

And he said couples would go holding hands and they’d be walking along a country road. And then when they would get in an amorous mood, they would head off to one side of the road and go back in the trees and bushes where nobody could see them. And if you happened to be in the area, you could hear them laughing and giggling.

Huh.

And he said that where they were, that was the giggle.

The giggle weeds.

Yes.

But I don’t believe him.

You don’t?

No.

Peg, I’ve been Googling it as we were talking, and you’re right, there’s just a handful of uses of it. It doesn’t come up in books or newspapers that often. It’s incredibly rare, even in the closed databases that you can’t search from the Internet for free. I don’t find that many uses of it, and when I do find it, they’re all exactly the same with no explanation. They all basically just say something ended up or someone ended up in the giggle weeds, and they just use it as if everyone’s going to know what they mean.

And I think what you’ve hit upon here is a phrase that simply is not recorded anywhere.

Well, you need to record it then.

You’re exactly right.

You’re right, we do.

That would be so exciting.

Peg, you are one of us because this is exactly the kind of thing that gets Grant and me very excited.

Oh, yeah.

I’ve had fellow lexicographers, they’re like, well, why do you deal so much with those outliers and fringe words? I’m like, because that’s where the fun is.

Oh, my gosh, because that makes your blood boil.

It’s just thrilling.

Yeah, it’s great.

I don’t even think that this is in the Dictionary of American Regional English.

I don’t think it is. Although I will email the editors there and ask them if perhaps they have some files. Perhaps they’ve collected data on this.

Well, please do, because it’s just such a great phrase.

It is. It is. It’s beautiful.

Well, let’s do this. And as soon as you use it, and in the moment that something happens, people know exactly what it means.

Let’s put the call out to our listeners. If you know this phrase, the giggle weeds, as she’s used it here, by all means, give us a call, 1-877-929-9673, and tell us about it.

You can also email us, tell us where you’re from, how you use the expression, and anything else that you know about giggle weeds.

Peg, this is very exciting.

Thank you for bringing it up.

Well, thank you for taking the call, and I do hope you find out what it is because my whole family’s dying to know.

Super duper.

All right.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Well, if a question has you wandering around in the giggle weeds, give us a call. The number is 1-877-929-9673 or email us. The address is words@waywordradio.org.