phew
I cannot think of the word “phew” (as in “Phew!” or, similarly, “whew!”) without first thinking of Philip, who used this word prolifically back in the day. He must’ve read it somewhere, because he took care to enunciate this awkward exclamation of relief, he might’ve even pronounced the ‘p’ somehow. Anyhow, I’ve always understood his pronunciation of the word because the second thing this word brings to mind for me is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books which I was obsessed with in Elementary school. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s father was forever saying “phew!” and it stuck with me because of it’s awkwardness in our modern language, it seemed outdated and unpronouncable, so I, unlike P, never really tried. These days, however, “phew” is a very fun word to have in my vocabulary.
phew
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January 21, 2011 at 15:59 |
And when I saw “phew” I immediately thought of the word my very lady-like grandmother used which was something like “pu-shaw” It was supposedly just about as strong as a lady should utter! Not sure what it was supposed to mean. My granddaddy’s strongest (in company, anyway) utterance was “by jingos” and said just the right way could sound mighty tough! Thanks for bringing these memories up.
January 22, 2011 at 12:56 |
! maybe THAT’s actually what LIW’s dad used to say all the time “pshaw”
January 24, 2011 at 14:02 |
And, yes, that is the way to spell it! Pshaw. I had forgotten that, too!