Transcript of “Turn Left at the Whoopsy-Daisy”
Hello, welcome to A Way with Words.
Yeah, oh, hi, this is Linda Britton, and I’m calling from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
What can we do for you, Linda?
So I’m calling about the usage or the meaning, I guess, of oopsie-daisy or whoopsie-daisy or, you know, any of those.
And I understand that it’s common usage for, you know, if you trip or if you fall or drop something or, you know, that kind of thing, like booksy-daisy.
But I have always also used it to mean like this section of like a roller coaster or a roadway where it goes like steeply down and then back up like pretty quickly.
And I’ve always called that like the whoopsie-daisy, the whoopsie-daisy on the roller coaster, that kind of thank you ma’am thing.
And it’s come up a lot recently because when I moved to North Carolina, my road is just like a gravel road, and it’s hard to see from the main road.
And so I have described when to start looking for the turn to my road.
You go down the main road, the Old Greensboro Road, and then when you get to the whoopsie-daisy, look to your left.
You’ll see my road.
And people just look at me like, the what?
The what?
And then I describe it like, you know, that part of the road where the hill, it goes down steeply and then right back up, the whoopsie-daisy.
Sure.
Well, Linda, I think that makes a lot of sense.
There are lots of different names for that little depression in the row.
The thing where you go over it and your stomach stays down, but the rest of your body goes up.
Exactly. Yes.
You mentioned thank you, ma’am, which is a term that a lot of people don’t know.
But do you know why it’s called a thank you, ma’am?
No, I have no idea.
Apparently, the idea is like it makes your head nod as if you were, you know, nodding to somebody and saying thank you, ma’am.
Oh.
He’s sometimes called a yes, ma’am, or a how do you do?
Thank you, ma’am.
Oh, that’s so funny, yeah.
I’m not aware of anybody using the term whoopsie-daisy particularly for that kind of thing.
Are you, Grant?
No, but there are a couple other terms for it that I think are similar enough that I think they’re in the same family.
Like dipsy-doodle, maybe?
Yeah, and whoop-dee-doo.
So I think both of those are cousins, if not siblings, to what you use, Linda.
Yeah, Dipsy-Doo.
I think I’ve used that in the past, too.
Dip-Dee-Doo, Duck and Dip, Belly Tickler.
That’s a good one.
Yes, yes.
Belly Tickler.
Yeah, that’s a good one.
Oh, I’m going to have to write these down.
Now I’m really going to get some strange looks, though.
You should just invite lots of people over to your house all the time, and you can just mix them up like this.
Yeah, I think it’s time for a house party.
Instead of handwritten directions, you’re going to have to call everyone.
And use a different phrase with each person and see what reactions I guess.
Yeah, and report back to Away With Words.
Let me give you two more, Linda, for your list.
Okay.
And these are from the Ozarks.
One of them is Kiss Me Quick.
That’s the opportunity you might get, you know, if you’re jostled in a car.
And apparently for the same reason, those things are sometimes called love holes.
So you’ve been looking for an excuse to accidentally kiss this love interest, and you can say, like, oops, a little kiss there.
Didn’t mean to. Oops.
Now I really need to have a house party and invite all the shy couples.
There we go. Perfect.
And have them drive back and forth.
Thank you.
But so in terms of saying whoopsie-daisy for that, people do use that besides me.
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
It makes perfect sense.
It makes sense.
It kind of matches some of these other terms, but I haven’t seen it.
However, Linda, don’t let that stop you.
This stuff has to start somewhere.
It might as well be Linda in North Carolina.
Yeah.
The whoopsie-daisy queen.
Patient zero, yeah.
Whoopsie-daisy-quim.
We endorse it.
We give you our hearty stamp of approval.
Absolutely.
Well, that’s what I needed.
This has been such a thrill to talk to you.
Thank you so much.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Take care, Linda.
Bye-bye.
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