I have always wondered what it would be like to be a ‘wordsmith’ and now I am left pondering the consequences of such mindless meanderings.
Has a word or phrase ever made an exit from your mouth and you have not the slightest idea as to what the word means nor from whence it came? Usually this happens in those moments of intense surprise or pain like hitting your finger with a hammer or getting a paper cut. Some word comes blurting out and sometimes even words of seemingly unknown language or origin.
Case and Point…..
Day before yesterday as I got up from my computer desk I felt a tad bit dizzy so I thought I would quickly check my blood pressure out of curiosity. My tester sits nearby so I grabbed it, wrapped it around my arm and clicked the start button and then immediately after seeing the strangest of readings, 85/64, there comes issuing forth from my mouth this extraordinary vocalized exclamation…..
“Yaba-Laba-Poo-Poo”
Yep…..“Yaba-Laba-Poo-Poo”(pronounced yah buh–lah buh–poo-poo) was the exact word or phrase that flowed forth when I saw the reading . The blood pressure reading was startling enough, but the word seemed to grab my attention even more. “Wow,” I thought, “was that a really, really strange word I just yelled or what!”
Although I am familiar with the term “speaking in tongues” I personally have never experienced the phenomenon. And I have never been associated with any religious group or denomination who subscribes to the speaking in tongues. Nevertheless, I am at a complete loss as to the origin or cause for such a foreign word to spew forth in a moment of extreme anxiety. I am reasonably sure it had no religious significance although when I saw that blood pressure reading I may have briefly caught a glimpse of St. Peter standing at them Golden Gates.
Well, the blood pressure reading was easy to deal with as it turns out. The batteries in my blood pressure checker simply were going dead, like me, and needed replacing. But as to the word the whole experience begat, I fear I am still stuck with that little jewel.
I have made some efforts in translating the word or phrase and have made what I think is some progress with regard to the last half of the word. Certainly the “poo-poo” part of the word must have some inference as to one’s perceived severity of the endured experience. Similar to the phrase, “Boy, am I in deep poo-poo or what!”
But as to the ‘yaba-laba’ part, I remain at a loss. Fred Flintstone use to holler “Yabba-Dabba Doo” a lot but that always seemed to be an exclamation of joyous jubilation and fun. Besides, my word or phrase is both spelled and pronounced differently.
I did consult with Mr. Google with regard to yaba and laba and found that “yaba” could be a Thai word for “crazy medicine” referring to a tablet form of methamphetamine or it could be an acronym used in the popular act of text messaging which means “Yet Another Bloody Acronym”. “Laba”, on the other hand, would seem to be an acronym for either “Long Acting Beta Agonist” which is used in the treatment of asthma or it could mean “Los Angeles Ballet Academy”. None of that made any sense to me whatsoever so for now I am just stuck with my new word…..or phrase or whatever.
At any rate, next time you bang your elbow or spill a glass of whatever in your lap, instead of saying ‘damn it’ or ‘shit’, use my new word….’yaba-laba-poo-poo’ and see if it helps make you will feel a whole lot better! I haven’t copyrighted it as of yet so feel completely free to use it as often as necessary.
By the way, have you ever invented any new words like that?
