Hello Decatur family! Well, my in-laws were the Iowa folks. All those terms you've written about I heard them say many times. Now then, I'm a Kansas girl born and bred and I Always get razzed about "warsh" - generally on a near daily basis at work. They think I talk funny - imagine that. Perhaps I do sound a bit like Betty Boop or is it Ma Kettle. My dear mo-in-law used to call the sink a "zink" and would say, "raise the window down" for close the window. She had some very funny words to use when she was upset instead of cursing. I couldn't possibly figure out how to spell them but they sounded like a mixture of Italian, German, Irish Gaelic - she was 100% Irish ancestry. Someone wondered what folks these days would think of some of the old terminology. I work with a 23 year old lovely young lady who is amazed on a daily basis by "old" things I tell her about - you know, stuff that happened 'way back' in the 1960s and 70s! ;-) SIGH!! Tis the season of Miracles - Happy miracles to all of you! Carol in beautiful Colorado (waiting anxiously for Santa)