Hubby and I took The Boys to the Twin Cities yesterday. After an over-night at Hubby’s sister’s house and a meeting for me and a visit to Como Park for the gentlemen, we headed home. On the drive, a phrase from my childhood snuck up on me. Shit and shinola. I didn’t have the entire phrase in my head, just a couple of words “shit” and “shinola.” I remember my dad saying those words, but I had no idea what shinola was, or even how to spell it. In my mind, I had vaguely thought of shinola as a place.
I told Hubby what I was thinking and he popped off with a whole sentence: “You don’t know shit from shinola.” That was it! Exactly what my dad used to say. Until Hubby had said it, I thought of shit from shinola as something only my dad said. Because Hubby is so worldly and knows all kinds of offbeat things, I asked him what shinola referred to. He said it was shoe polish. That was perhaps the last thing I expected him to say. Shoe polish? Really? Makes sense, I guess, except that I would have spelled it “Shine-ola.” For confirmation, I googled “shineola.” Good old Urban Dictionary didn’t have “shineola,” but is sure had “shinola,” including “shit from shinola” in the definition, along with the fact that shinola was a brand of shoe polish popular among GIs. Isn’t my Hubby smart?
I love that phrase and hadn’t heard it for years. Thanks for the memory. Isn’t it funny how these things come to us from out of the blue??
Do people still use shoe polish today?
As I read your piece, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” came into my mind for no particular reason, the part when Willy Loman talks of surviving, by “…..riding on a smile and a shoeshine………”!!!
Haha..
Does the phrase have a subtler meaning?
Yes, he’s smart or he’s old or he just got lucky
)
I don’t believe people use much shoe polish nowadays, Caroline. Can you imagine using it on tennis shoes?
I’m not sure if there is a subtler meaning to “shit from shinola”, Manoj, except that they are possibly similar in color and texture.
Hi, Pobept – I guess if Hubby’s old, then I’d fall into that category too. I’m actually a couple of months older than he is. He really does carry around a ton of trivia that he recalls only if the subject comes up. My memory doesn’t work that way. I can recall things from the past without trying to – like “shit from shinola” – but most trivia escapes me. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Hey, Joy – Glad I could take you down Memory Lane.
Got a chuckle from this one Mary, as like Joy, hadn’t heard it for awhile. Oh, that makes me “old” too.
Ali
Mary, I had the same problem last night, when I used: “shit & shermosa, it makes no sense!” …and, I was called to task on it ….so, I had to go looking:
“…evidently I was tired when I did “shit & shermosa”, because it didn’t make any sense even when I typed it ….but, I just figured that it was things where a word was used to keep from swearing a “BAD” word ….although, I had no clue what a “shermosa” was, or what word it wood be replacing!”
…..say, like so people avoided swearing by saying: golly gee whilikers, Judas Priest, gosh darn it, or Heck! [for hell ....the heck you say!]
but I also have a vague memory of it being used as an exclamation [maybe by other 3-5 graders?], something along the lines of:
“Holy Shit & Shinola!”
….which also seems to want to drag in:
“Holy Shit & Shinola ….Batman!”
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Safety Tip: But, you really should keep a close eye on anyone who doesn’t know the difference, and they are shining their shoes next to you! …Just Sayin!
—————-
…Hey, if Shakeyspear, can take the A off abated to produce ” With bated breath and whispering humbleness”[1596], then I can have MY way as well? ….but, i don’t expect anyone to catch or hold their breath waiting for my dribbles!?
Jerry – I dig your version – Shit and shermosa. It has a great ring to it. Shemosa makes me think of samosa, a delicious Indian food.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samosa
I don’t think we should allow Shakespeare to be the only one to play with language.
☼ Dear Mz Woo[like your daughter, I prefer the Z also, otherwise some people mispronounce it as "Miss"]!:
……………I believe it’s supposed to be deep fat fried, but given that I avoid grease, I reserve such treatment for the bare essentials …like Falafel!
Oddly, it appears that signing up for threads is not as easy as signing up for updates to the main subscription! I found your reply by accident, while I was signing up for another blog on wordpress! …ten days ago, I’d never heard of wordpress …go figure! ….maybe it’s a google plot?
…What was I searching for …ohhh right, word roots, specifically “Afterwards”, which suggest to me, “after protection wards have been set” [think, anti-hex, or a spell ...a Ward[as in warding off evil] …[Maybe I've read too much fantasy?]], but the results were sort of a mish-mash of confusing run around! ….Overall, I’ve noticed that words through time just seem to start to lose their meaning, and take on a new life? …Take for instance “Baited Breath” …Oh No, I insist …after You!!! [see bottom]
☼ Any way, thanks for the heads up on a Samosa, I’ll give them a try if I ever have the chance! …I’m partial to Mochi, although I haven’t been able to duplicate what I used to find in the LA natural food stores in 1980 ….Mugwort Mochi, which wasn’t this horrible concoction of disgusting sweetness that normally typifies Mochi! …I guess typically, that’s what it is, but I was buying it in 3 lb bricks, and it was just cooked pounded sweet rice, rolled in sweet rice flour & mugwort, and then I slowly fried it with a small amount of oil, in cast iron skillet, with a top ….and it puffs up like a melting gooey pastry, and then I’d dip it in tamari or Shoyu [~soy sauces], with maybe a nice helping of Gomashio [~sesame salt], maybe cayenne pepper & nutritional yeast …anyway …NOT SWEET! {YUCK!!!} ….thinking of MY Mochi, makes my mouth water[salivate], and I don’t even hear a bell!
☼ So anyway, it took me 12 tries to seemingly get signed up for this thread[which I didn't the same problems with the other], but wordpress’s system seems to be a bit bass ackwards [see hubby for translation!?[or would it be Transliteration?]] ….So, I’m saying, that if you respond to a comment on one of your treads, and the other person doesn’t respond, it may be because the process for signing up for updates to individual posts ….may be confusing! ….Finally on my 12th try, I saw a little button next to the delete that said “Confirm”, which only seems to appear, when you “mouse” over it! …I didn’t have the same problem with the other blog on wordpress, I just checked the box, and clicked “save” or “apply” or whatever!
► Anyway, it’s been fun, and I’ll leave you with my newest addition to my google calendar email alert:
“BATED [ABATED] BREATH- DON’T USE “BAITED BREATH”, UNLESS YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF ANGLE WORMS, OR NIGHTCRAWLERS HANGING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!”
….sorry about the caps, but it’s the only way I can get MY attention these days!
Hi, Jerry – It’s been a couple days since I’ve been on my blog. (busy, busy weekend!) so I didn’t see your reply until this evening.
Sorry about the WordPress weirdness. I’m not sure if it’s the Theme I’ve chosen that makes it hard to sign up for individual post updates or if it’s WordPress in general. WordPress has some beautiful Themes (if you’re new to WordPress, the Theme is merely the design or appearance), but each one works a little differently from the others.
I’ll try to remember your tip about “baited” breath vs. “bated” breath.
Also, I’ve got to check out Mochi if I can find it anywhere. We’re always up for new foods.
☼ Hi, it’s working, so I received your response! Mochi is available in frozen form in many natural food stores, or I would think you could order it there. Alternately, you could order it online at say: GRAINAISSANCE, which is the last that I had, purchased at a natural food store, which wasn’t as good as the fresh LA stuff, but somewhat filled the desire. If you decide you like it enough, you can buy a Mochi maker, and make your own for pennies! [It's just glutenous brown rice basically.] I haven’t bought a machine yet, but when I stabilize geographically, I think I’ll spring for one!
I suggest foregoing the mochi you find at Asian markets, unless you can find a more natural version, without all the sweeteners, and seemingly made with nutrition less white flour!
I cook it on low heat, in a cast iron pan, with a top, with a small amount of veg oil! I tried the baking method, but obviously baking much of anything is not my specialty!
Hope you find it, and more importantly ENJOY! Bon Appetit!
I had posted links in my previous posts, which didn’t come through, so I’ll try to post the actual URL, and see if that works, or you can copy & paste into your browser!
GRAINAISSANCE Mochi: http://www.grainaissance.com/mochi.html ♫