Ain’t-cha got no couth?

“Ain’t-cha got no couth?” my dad used to say. It makes me smile still now as I write it. He would say it when one of us did something particularly crude or unsophisticated or what we might call “basic” now. Today’s Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster, uncouth, made me think of Dad’s teasing remark.

I notice in the history section, Merriam-Webster says that couth “arose at the turn of the 20th century, not from the earlier couth, but as a back-formation of uncouth, joining the ranks of other “uncommon opposites” such as kempt and gruntled.” A back-formed word comes from taking part of a word to make a new one, often the opposite of the original, such as kempt from unkempt and gruntled from disgruntled. That echoes Dad’s quote. He was teasing the recipient about being uncouth by employing a negative question of couth. A back form of a back form: No couth.

My dad had sayings that he would emit almost as if you had pushed a button. One time, my daughter’s cousin told her, “Go ask Grandpa if he likes bananas.” Cori did and Dad (Grandpa) said, “I like bananas because they got no bones” (a little misquote of the song, “I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones.”) Push button, out comes a “Grandpa Lou-ism,” as we called them. At his funeral, I ended my eulogy with prompts for people to complete some of his sayings:

I like bananas,...
because they got no bones (or seeds).

If you dropped something on the floor, or found something there, he would say,…
Op de vloer. (Dutch, pronounced “Opp da fleur”)

If the name of a certain city in Michigan came up, Dad couldn’t just say, “Kalamazoo,” he’d say,…
Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo

If you asked the simple question, “Why?” he would answer…
Cuz a y has a tail on it

Hold ‘er Newt...
She’s a rarin’

We're off!…
Like a herd of turtles.

Good enough….
For who it’s for.

Put your shoes on Lucy,...
don't ya know you're in the city?

Save the bones for Henry Jones…
'cause Henry don't eat no meat.

Are you ready?…
Or are you ready's brother?