We have invented our own family language. Maybe.
April 6, 2022 11:03 AM Subscribe
So my wife has always referred to a small footstool as either an Ottoman or a word that sounds like "Pomposet" or "Pompeset." A couple of days ago, after 25 years of marriage, we decided to look up the word "pomposet" and couldn't find it, or anything like it.
We speak American English as our first language.
My wife's family is originally from Detroit, so I was wondering if the word seeped into Michigan from Montreal or something. What do you call those small, round footstools and have you ever heard of this word before?
We speak American English as our first language.
My wife's family is originally from Detroit, so I was wondering if the word seeped into Michigan from Montreal or something. What do you call those small, round footstools and have you ever heard of this word before?
A pompe settee would be a small elegant couch in French. It would be likely to be paired with an Ottoman, so maybe a corruption?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:26 AM on April 6, 2022 [30 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:26 AM on April 6, 2022 [30 favorites]
Maybe a slightly mutated version of Polish podnóżek? That'd fit with the Detroit background....
posted by offog at 11:31 AM on April 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by offog at 11:31 AM on April 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
On the Grammar Girl podcast she has a recurring segment where people call in and talk about their families own "made up words" or names for things, usually the story is similar to yours where they have always called something by a certain name and suddenly realized they were the only ones who did that.
posted by Captain_Science at 11:33 AM on April 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Captain_Science at 11:33 AM on April 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
Call the good folks at A Way With Words. This is exactly the kind of thing this podcast deals with, and they're great at giving historical context for terms like this.
posted by smich at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by smich at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
I don't know the origin but those things really, really look like they should be called a pomposet and I think your wife is correct.
posted by nantucket at 12:06 PM on April 6, 2022 [33 favorites]
posted by nantucket at 12:06 PM on April 6, 2022 [33 favorites]
I'm seconding the theory that this is a mis-heard "papasan".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:05 PM on April 6, 2022
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:05 PM on April 6, 2022
American southerner here and “papasan “ was definitely a word I heard a lot; more than ottoman. No idea why.
posted by freecellwizard at 3:44 PM on April 6, 2022
posted by freecellwizard at 3:44 PM on April 6, 2022
ActuLly I think that it was “papasan chair”, not the footstool part.
posted by freecellwizard at 3:46 PM on April 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by freecellwizard at 3:46 PM on April 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
This seems super familiar to me for some reason. I was born near Detroit. What is your wife's family's nationality? We had a lot of half Polish words for things.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 4:31 PM on April 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 4:31 PM on April 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's not super close, but "podnóżek" is Polish.
posted by pinochiette at 5:43 PM on April 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by pinochiette at 5:43 PM on April 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Maybe this is a Yiddish/Slavic thing because this sounds familiar to me, too, and my family has lots of weird family words we can't really explain to people unless they also have that heritage. Personally, I sort of associate "pomposet" with pouf, but I also speak a teensy bit of French, and pompe is a French term that is sometimes used to describe furniture, so... Combos all around?
Anyway, regardless of its origin, +1 to nantucket. Pomposet is a marvelous word and I will be using it from now on. :)
posted by The Adventure Begins at 10:48 PM on April 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Anyway, regardless of its origin, +1 to nantucket. Pomposet is a marvelous word and I will be using it from now on. :)
posted by The Adventure Begins at 10:48 PM on April 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
It sounds like a word that maybe they created over time from hearing a few words (above) that sound similar. It could have been a word a child started using and then everyone did. Or there may be someone with dyslexia or another language disorder or autism who popularized the word. I used to date a guy whose entire family used a term that was unique to their family - grandma, all the aunts and uncles, cousins, his family, etc.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 1:13 PM on April 7, 2022
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 1:13 PM on April 7, 2022
Could it possibly have started out as "pompom seat?"
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:23 PM on April 7, 2022
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:23 PM on April 7, 2022
Hey! I am one of the hosts of "A Way with Words," mentioned above. I just noticed that the radio show website was getting traffic from Metafilter (and dratted Google Alerts didn't help).
I've looked into your question (the same way I would for the radio show), and I haven't solved your question. I endorse the suggestion by nantucket: These things are hereby known as pomposets!
I did really like the possibilities of "papasan" and "podnóżek." They are furniture-related and they show up in Google searches, including in product listings, which means they have some currency in everyday language.
However, they are weak in their phonetic similarities to the family word. The initial P is a little helpful, but it hardly proves the connection. "Papasan" is a little more likely, as the stress would be the same, /PA-pa-san/, if you're saying /POM-puh-set/. Podnóżek is something like /pod-NOE-szhek/.
Regarding spelling similarities: Spelling similarity is likely a coincidence, especially as we are uncertain of the spelling of your family word in the first place. There are LOTS of spelling similarities across languages; they are coincidences and without printed historical evidence showing otherwise (or without conforming to the known rules of sound change), they can't be assumed to be connected.
Here are some dead ends I followed when looking into your question, if you care about them.
"Pompöset" means "pompous" in German, but it isn't the typical word for it.
There are three examples of "pomposet" roughly meaning "pompous" or "strutting" in these two West Indian works of fiction. It's regional vocabulary specific to Caribbean English.
https://archive.org/details/yardfowl0000east/page/168/mode/2up?q=pomposet
https://archive.org/details/polishedhoenovel0000clar/page/334/mode/2up?q=pompaset
"Pomposetto," is an Italian word meaning "pompous," or, without a negative judgment, just "somewhat splendid."
"Pompenette" is a French word with a variety of meanings: it refers to a type of English daisy (also in English), skirts or dresses that resemble the flower's petals, and it is a tall, thin glass for drinking champagne, giving the phrase "boire à la pomponette," meaning to drink something in one go, and "se faire une pomponette," to eat a delicious treat. It is also an old-fashioned slang word for a drinking song.
posted by Mo Nickels at 3:58 PM on April 7, 2022 [14 favorites]
I've looked into your question (the same way I would for the radio show), and I haven't solved your question. I endorse the suggestion by nantucket: These things are hereby known as pomposets!
I did really like the possibilities of "papasan" and "podnóżek." They are furniture-related and they show up in Google searches, including in product listings, which means they have some currency in everyday language.
However, they are weak in their phonetic similarities to the family word. The initial P is a little helpful, but it hardly proves the connection. "Papasan" is a little more likely, as the stress would be the same, /PA-pa-san/, if you're saying /POM-puh-set/. Podnóżek is something like /pod-NOE-szhek/.
Regarding spelling similarities: Spelling similarity is likely a coincidence, especially as we are uncertain of the spelling of your family word in the first place. There are LOTS of spelling similarities across languages; they are coincidences and without printed historical evidence showing otherwise (or without conforming to the known rules of sound change), they can't be assumed to be connected.
Here are some dead ends I followed when looking into your question, if you care about them.
"Pompöset" means "pompous" in German, but it isn't the typical word for it.
There are three examples of "pomposet" roughly meaning "pompous" or "strutting" in these two West Indian works of fiction. It's regional vocabulary specific to Caribbean English.
https://archive.org/details/yardfowl0000east/page/168/mode/2up?q=pomposet
https://archive.org/details/polishedhoenovel0000clar/page/334/mode/2up?q=pompaset
"Pomposetto," is an Italian word meaning "pompous," or, without a negative judgment, just "somewhat splendid."
"Pompenette" is a French word with a variety of meanings: it refers to a type of English daisy (also in English), skirts or dresses that resemble the flower's petals, and it is a tall, thin glass for drinking champagne, giving the phrase "boire à la pomponette," meaning to drink something in one go, and "se faire une pomponette," to eat a delicious treat. It is also an old-fashioned slang word for a drinking song.
posted by Mo Nickels at 3:58 PM on April 7, 2022 [14 favorites]
I'm wondering if we can blame the Steve Miller Band for it sounding familiar, à la "pompatus of love"?
posted by kate4914 at 7:41 PM on April 7, 2022
posted by kate4914 at 7:41 PM on April 7, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Your "Pompeset" made me think of "papasan".
posted by atomicstone at 11:07 AM on April 6, 2022 [11 favorites]