Ten years ago today Baba went to her eternal home. Some people have grandparents. We had Baba and Jedi (pronounced Jed-ee and yes, we played the Star Wars angle to the max). My paternal grandparents emigrated from Yugoslavia an 1929. Soon their third child was born. My father entered the world in July of that year and the stock market crashed in October. Welcome to the USA.
Baba and Jedi provide enough interesting and hilarious material for a library, but for now I would simply like to pay a tribute to Baba. This sturdy little woman (about five-foot-nothing) was actually born in Pittsburgh Dec. 31, 1905 to one of the first Serbian immigrants in the area. Her father came here in the late 1800s, worked in the mill and lost his arm in an industrial accident. They had to return to Yugoslavia when she was a little girl. Being one of the oldest of about ten children, Baba (real name Milicia) never had any formal schooling since she had to help raise the family. They all lived in a small house (I had the opportunity to visit there in 1990) that we couldn’t imagine being adequate for such a population. Eventually she married my grandfather (Milos Niksic) and they settled in the South Side of Pittsburgh where Jedi worked at J & L Steel. Jedi had a little bit of schooling and could read…Baba could not, but she learned English and became bilingual.
I say bilingual in somewhat of a loose sense of the word. That’s where much of Baba’s uniqueness shone. Both of them had some quirky English, but Baba’s was downright entertaining at times. My two brothers and I are known in the extended family as Donnie, Keith and Mark. To Baba we were Dunnee, Kithee and Markee. She would always use all of our names to call on one of us and the one she wanted was always last. If she wanted me it would be “Kithee, Markee, Dunnee.” Calling Keith would usually be “Markee, Dunnee, Kithee.” And so it went.
Most verbs have “um” attached to them such as “Dunnee, you takum dis” or “Markee, puttum toys away.” I could chronicle hundreds of Baba-isms, but here are a few of the best known (with English tranlation provided):
“Dom doot” (Don’t do that) We heard this often since she was our main babysitter when we were growing up.
“Boatah da” (Both of them)
“Ohla wahn” (All of them) If there are more than two.
“Chockle kek” (Chocolate cake)
“Meks me so nerevoos” (Make me so nervous) Be sure to roll your “R”s a little.
“Ahm git so vorree abahtah” (I get so worried about it) These were both common statements for Baba, the family’s designated worrier.
“Ah-YO!” Multi-purpose expression useful to convey disbelief, disappointment or being mildly ticked-off. This one expression will be explored in a future blog….lots of history here!
I take pride in the fact that I have Baba’s version of English down pat. Often my brothers and I communicate in this dialect just for fun. It’s worth archiving and will help preserve the memory of a very unique individual.
Here’s to your memory, Baba! We loved your sarma (stuffed cabbage), ornacha (nut roll) and pita (unique bar cookie). You lived simply, worked hard and loved your family unconditionally. We should all live to such a high standard.
*The Carol Drive Chronicles will appear on an occasional basis documenting the people and events of that unique American neighborhood in which I was raised.
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