The etymology of Mer
caw posted a comment about my last post and my use of the (made up) word mer. This is an interesting question and I think it deserves it’s very own post, but I can only tell you what I know/remember, which may not be accurate. Other people feel free to chime in and correct whatever needs it. This word was invented by Laura and Ryan Wiles (who should totally start a blog so we can get info about their life and their son). But to properly understand how this came about you need to know a little about Ryan.
Ryan is an awesome, fun, and caring person. However, he sometimes lacks tact. He is the kind of guy who will tell things like he sees them (regardless of who may or may not be offended), but also the kind of guy who always has your back.
Anyway, at some point in their relationship Laura was talking at Ryan (I say at because it becomes clear a little later that he had stopped listening) I think complaining about stuff not getting done or some such. Then, when describing the situation later Ryan said that sometimes when Laura was talking like that he stopped hearing the words she was saying and started hearing the word mer over and over again (sort of like the teacher in the Peanuts cartoons, but less lilting and more punctuated or staccato and with your bottom lip pushed out into a very slight pout). Over time mer came to indicate complaining and/or upsetitude at something or someone; a way of letting someone know you are unhappy with something in a cute way; without anger, yelling, or an argument. It can also be a statement of “I am whining and I know it, please commence commiserating with me at this time.” This last one was the usage from my last post.
Instance 1: I am not artistically talented, but there isn’t really anything that is going to fix that, so in this case mer simply means this sucks, and I am frustrated by it, feel free to tell me you understand what I mean.
Instance 2: Not having the regularly scheduled programming on TV is not terribly important in the grand scheme of things, but I was irritated by it and needed to whine/vent somewhere, please feel free to sympathize with me all out of proportion to the situation.
Ryan is an awesome, fun, and caring person. However, he sometimes lacks tact. He is the kind of guy who will tell things like he sees them (regardless of who may or may not be offended), but also the kind of guy who always has your back.
Anyway, at some point in their relationship Laura was talking at Ryan (I say at because it becomes clear a little later that he had stopped listening) I think complaining about stuff not getting done or some such. Then, when describing the situation later Ryan said that sometimes when Laura was talking like that he stopped hearing the words she was saying and started hearing the word mer over and over again (sort of like the teacher in the Peanuts cartoons, but less lilting and more punctuated or staccato and with your bottom lip pushed out into a very slight pout). Over time mer came to indicate complaining and/or upsetitude at something or someone; a way of letting someone know you are unhappy with something in a cute way; without anger, yelling, or an argument. It can also be a statement of “I am whining and I know it, please commence commiserating with me at this time.” This last one was the usage from my last post.
Instance 1: I am not artistically talented, but there isn’t really anything that is going to fix that, so in this case mer simply means this sucks, and I am frustrated by it, feel free to tell me you understand what I mean.
Instance 2: Not having the regularly scheduled programming on TV is not terribly important in the grand scheme of things, but I was irritated by it and needed to whine/vent somewhere, please feel free to sympathize with me all out of proportion to the situation.
posted by Susan at 11:07 AM
4 Comments:
ah. thank you.
You are most welcome!
Kate is also a big fan of Mer. I think that she has even used it in the classroom, much to the students confusion.
I believe there may be a gender side to the usage also. Men, like Ryan, will use it only to convey that they have stopped listening to their woman, while a woman will use it more like Susan described.
Okay, I like your story, but I confess that I don't think it is 100% accurate. Ryan and Laura can for sure be credited with first use of "mer", but I believe it is for other reasons than to indicate the blur of a wife's speaking.
I think it came from Laura's grandma Eunice, or Gramma Euni as we call her. She has a distinctively nasal michigan twang and way of saying "well" in a highly judgmental way. She also does a lot of complaining (like many older folks). So Ryan gets sick of gramma Euni talking about how she has indigestion, Mer, mer, mer.
He connected this to Laura's complaining/talking and it even evolved to new lyrics to "who let the dogs out". They are now changed to " Who let the Laura out? Mer, Mer, Mer, Mer, Mer".
Now that it was part of Laura's repetoire also, Laura embraced it to use as any part of speech necessary.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home