Wednesday, March 01, 2006

A new expression

Rhonda lost 60 pounds by stepping- the dance style popular among older sedate  couples. She now teaches stepping. Today I asked her how she was doing and she said she was just "existing up against it." It's an expression she learned from her grandmother and it's something like saying, "oh I'm just chilling but with a hint of struggle against a larger unstoppable foe i.e. poverty, racism"- sort of like "keep on keepin' on".
I told her my favorite expression- "k-for-p" (Kosher for Passover). She liked the term. I explained that it can imply any of the negative qualities of shoddiness, spoilage, or corruption.
That shaky balcony my 12-year-old cousin built isn't k-for-p. One might say that 6 day old lunch meat isn't too fresh anymore. It's not k-for-p. The new construction contracts were given to the son of my old friend (not k-for-p).

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