They stole my line

My family has a tendency to absent-mindedly eat, or to eat with reckless abandon and passionate fervor - be it out of stress, joy, pain, nervousness, celebration or even boredom, when you're hanging with my family, at some point a little snack like a snitched pickle or olive turns into a strap-on-the-feedbag gnoshfest that will make outsiders fear for their lives (or at least limbs.) And it isn't just a genetic trait. We seem to gravitate towards like-minded ubersnackers - my sister-in-law is like this, Tom is like this, and virtually all friends close enough to attend a function in the inner sanctum exhibit this trait. (And don't you all get pious on me. Take a look at the size of your asses and then tell me you don't mindlessly snack on occasion.)

When my dad was in hospice last year, Tom was making margaritas and we were eating a perfectly healthy meal. And then about an hour after dinner I decided that I wanted a nibble. Which turned into cheese and crackers. Which turned into two boxes of triscuits and two blocks of cheese, plus some garlic stuffed olives and dill pickles being inhaled by my brother/sister-in-law/nephews/mother/Tom/the Poodle/me. The next day, when dad had had a fitful night and we were all a bit panicked, the food came out again and I proclaimed, "Let the horking begin!" Horking was a made up word. Something that just came out of my mouth. It's become a family joke, and I made t-shirts for my nephews last Christmas that have the family phrase across the chest. We thought it was an inside joke. And the people at Neighborhoodies hadn't heard of it. Two people asked me what it meant.

And now it's in the Wiktionary. And they use the word in Ratatouille. And in the Urban Dictionary they claim it means to snort a lot of cocaine, which is so not correct.

I should have gotten a copyright on it. The rat bastards.

Comments

Kireliols said…
Yet another reason to hate that awful Ratatouille movie- I hated it and ironically, felt like a caged rat when I had to take my darlings to it- never since Fresh Horses have I wanted to leave a theater more.
7:42 am
Melinda June said…
I quite liked the movie. I'm just mad that they took my word. But they did use it in the proper context, so at least that's something.
11:34 am
Kireliols said…
You can like it because you have gotten to chose which animated animal movies you get to see, here at our house, we've had to suffer them all. I am at my wit's end with talking animals. And rats, well, not the most endearing creature in my book.
3:06 pm
michaelg said…
I always thought horking meant the same thing as hurling, which is not to be confused with the sport involving ice, a stone and brooms.
5:41 pm
Melinda June said…
I guess it's just a versatile word. But in my parlance, hurling would be a reverse hork.
4:36 am
lulu said…
I've referred to eating mass quantities of food as horking for years.
6:34 pm
Coaster Punchman said…
That particular margarita night had its bittersweet moments. For example, that's the night your sister in law was talking about how your whole family licks their spoons. "Licky licky licky!" she proclaimed repeatedly until your brother made her go to bed. Wait, I think that night was appletinis.
12:15 am
Mnmom said…
My family is the same. My mom always said if someone rattled a spoon in the kitchen everyone would come running. So it became known as a "spoon rattling". My Dad's family had a lovely verb - to Fronna - named after his Aunt Fronna - which meant to cut "just a little piece" of something because you were such a light little eater, then you'd cut just a little more until to whole hunk of cheese or the entire layer cake was gone.

When my sibs get together, the first thing that happens is the cheese and crackers come out followed by the beer, wine, mojitos, margaritas, etc.
9:16 am
Melinda June said…
Glad to know another family does this. It's shameful the amount we eat on a family weekend.
6:45 am
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