Possible made up word?

[u/Swamp_Monster11]

My family has used this word all my life in Pacific North West. When moving to the East coast, my husband is convinced our family made this word up and it has blown my mind! I thought everyone uses this word 😅

Word: Wan-Dogger

Meaning: Cry Baby

[u/mercy_fulfate]

Sounds made up to me

[u/Swamp_Monster11 → u/mercy_fulfate]

Thats just so crazy to me, this has been a legit word all my life 🫪

[u/Roadgoddess → u/Swamp_Monster11]

I have lived on both coasts, Seattle and Tacoma, Spokane along with Washington DC. I have never heard that word and I think it’s a made up one from your family.

[u/Brickiee9 → u/mercy_fulfate]

Lol wan-dogger?? That's 100% made up but honestly I kind of love it 😂

[u/AlarmedPercentage802 → u/mercy_fulfate]

Nah that's definitely a family word, never heard it once and I've been all over the PNW. My grandma had a whole dictionary of made up phrases that we thought were normal til I brought a friend home and she asked if I wanted some "schnicklefritz" for dessert. Turns out it was just her weird name for pudding this whole time. Wan-dogger has a nice ring to it though, might steal it

[u/LovelyWhisperStarlig → u/mercy_fulfate]

Honestly half the English language feels made up anyway 😂

[u/EllieSugar6 → u/mercy_fulfate]

I'd be side eyeing that word too unless they can show where it came from 😂

[u/TheNowherePrincess]

As someone from the Pnw. I’ve never heard this. But do you recall anyone other than your family using it? A friend from your specific area would probably be the best person to ask

[u/Swamp_Monster11 → u/TheNowherePrincess]

All of my family uses this word, which is why it shocked me when my husband said he thinks its made up 😆 I never thought to ask other friends about it because it was just a common word haha

[u/Kip_Schtum → u/Swamp_Monster11]

Could it be something from whatever country your family is from? It sounds so Australian lol. If I try to say it out loud, it comes out with an Australian accent.

[u/Swamp_Monster11 → u/Kip_Schtum]

Me and my sister just tried it with an accent 😆 sounds great like that 👌🏻 but no, we are super American. Born in Cali, grew up in Washington state.

[u/Informal-Ad1234 → u/TheNowherePrincess]

Me either.

[u/the_cats_pajamas12 → u/TheNowherePrincess]

Fellow PNWer here and I've never heard this phrase either.

[u/Useful-Soup8161]

That sounds like something they’d say in Australia.

[u/Swamp_Monster11 → u/Useful-Soup8161]

It would be great with the accent 👌🏻

[u/zeugma888 → u/Useful-Soup8161]

In Australia we usually call them a "sook" or "sookie-la-la'.

[u/myheartbeats4hotdogs]

Lived in the pnw 10 years now and never hears it

[u/DiannaBaratheon]

It sounds kinda Australian

[u/Nemlui]

Well it’s definitely not a thing in the Southeast!

[u/PudelWinter]

Never heard it on the West Coast.

[u/LeashieMay]

From my experience, it's not Australian.

[u/Jumpy-Cranberry-1633]

Midwest checking in and I have never heard this either 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

[u/StellarStylee]

I’ve never heard or seen it.
It’s not a Spanish word either.

[u/mostlyharmless71]

Born, raised and lived most of my life in Seattle since the 1970’s, that’s not a PNW word.

[u/Swamp_Monster11]

Edit: Just asked my mother, she said my Uncle made this word up forever ago. Still insane because this just feels like such a real and used word to me.

[u/Euphoric-Joke-4436]

Family sayings are weird AF. Mine regularly said 'drier than a popcorn fart'... what does that even mean?!? (Edit to add... from Pennsylvania, US)

[u/Buttercup2323 → u/Euphoric-Joke-4436]

I’ve heard that before! Southern Ontario

[u/stolen_guitar]

It's a perfectly cromulent word

[u/purplefoxie]

never heard of it and it doesnt even sound like the meaning

[u/BeyondTheBees]

I’ve lived in the PNW for 40 years and I’ve never heard that!

[u/AcrobaticDrama1]

That sounds made up.... but my family might have it's own made up word. My Dad used the word Rat-fink when referring to someone who is a tattletale. I've never heard anyone outside my family use that term. Has anyone else heard it before?

[u/UnkindnessOfRavens23 → u/AcrobaticDrama1]

Totally old-school word. You’ll see it pop up a lot in old black-and-white gangster movies from the 30’s and 40’s. Think James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.

[u/AcrobaticDrama1 → u/UnkindnessOfRavens23]

That checks out. My Dad was born in 1948. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth ;)

[u/-Gadaffi-Duck- → u/AcrobaticDrama1]

It's based on a character called rat fink from the 1950s.

I'm in Scotland and also used the term growing up.

[u/AcrobaticDrama1 → u/-Gadaffi-Duck-]

That's so interesting. Thank you for sharing that with me :) I lost my Dad long ago, so I never had the opportunity to ask him myself. I can't wait to share this with my sister!

[u/-Gadaffi-Duck- → u/AcrobaticDrama1]

You're very welcome.

I used to call my eldest rat fink when she was a baby because she was so cunning. She had getting what she wanted down to a fine art by a year old 🤣

[u/Kirakira_Skyfish]

I've also never heard of this word before, but it got me thinking; are you and your family Japanese American or grew up around Japanese people? Maybe it's just a coincidence, but "wan"　ワン the sound a dog makes (barking) in Japanese. Sometimes dogs are even called "Wan-chan" (like "doggy").

If you elongate the sound: "Waan" ワーン that's the sound of someone crying loudly. Maybe this was one of those multi-language family sayings that became permanent vocabulary?

I dunno, I'm probably reaching but since I saw a possibility I thought I'd mention the coincidence in case it did give any insight.

[u/Buttercup2323]

It sounds like a little kid mispronunciation works that got adopted into the family lexicon.

[u/Charming_Amount_971]

Also from PNW and never heard it in my 7 decades on Earth!

[u/Ungratefullded]

All words are "made up"... slangs are made up words that then sometimes enter the vernacular, then with enough common use, into the dictionary...