I had the day off from my paying job on Monday. Brian was at his job and the house was fairly quiet.
So, this was my day of little things. I love this kind of day!
A day of little things is when you get to do all those things that are just too small to put on your to-do list. It’s a day to start and finish those smallest of projects that you think about wanting to do from time to time, but never can seem to find the time in your normal daily routine. It’s a day, that your relaxed mind might think of some little thing that needs done and so, you go do it.
Do you know what I’m talking about? I call doing the little things “putzying around.” This is not really an accurate term. I must have somehow modified putz’s (which means putter) many years ago and it stuck with me.
So, I putzyed my day away. I wrote a blog, hung the laundry on the clothesline, cleaned the grate on the barbecue grill, cleaned the outdoor oyster pot (dirty from the last oyster roast, which means I had to let it soak awhile), washed and filled the hummingbird feeders, began preparations on the kitchen garden, washed some clay gardening pots, twittered for a little while, and I don’t even know what else!
There are lots of terms people use to describe their putzying. One more common term I hear is “puttering.” So, I asked around.
My neighbor says he likes to fiddle fart! That’s funny!
Another friend said she likes to piddle! (When I hear the word piddle, I don’t think of putzying around. I think of someone having a small peeing accident, as in, “Jane, that was so funny,I laughed so hard that I just piddled in my pants!” But hey, if piddle is her word for putzying, who am I to judge!)
One of the guys I work with said he calls putzying “dicking around.” I dunno about that one! My first thought was of a man that puts his you-know-what where he should not! But, okay, on second thought, I can make the connection from dicking around to “doing nothing important.” Either way, I don’t know any women that use the term, dicking around, for putzying.
If you had called me on the phone on Monday and said, “Hi! What are you up to?” or, “What’s up?” or “Whatcha doin’?” I would have answered, “Putzying around the house.”
If I had called you on one of your days of little things, what would you have said you were doing?
Ok, let’s do this again……somehow I lost my comment……I guess I will be “putzying” around the house today on my day off. I have heard the term before but I have not used it. I did mention to Tom last week when he used the saying “fiddle f..k”! in reference to his mother when Tom has somewhere or something to do……she fiddle f..ks around….moves slow as a snail like she is in a comma because she know he wants to has something to do……….”fiddle f,,ks”. Tom asked if I would be using that saying? At home yes………at work or in public the answer would be no.
Maddie, Ha, ha, ha! Tom uses one I had not heard before! And, I certainly think it is appropriate since she (his mom) does this to him on purpose! I might use it myself if the stiuation warrants it! LOL
Perhaps to Putz is a regional term? VERB: To Putz. ADJ: You’re such a Putz. NOUN:How would one use this as a noun? Sounds dirty if you do. Ha!
Carrie, At yourdictionary.com, putz (n) means penis or a fool. As a verb, it means, to waste time (putter) around. (So, Daneen’s comment about putzing is correct. I say putzying, which is not correct.) Yes, I think it is probably more regional.
But, I do like the noun usage best, as in “Dan, you’re such a putz!” I’m going to practice that!
I do think it is regional. It seemed quite common to hear it in Buffalo, but I have never before heard it used in SC.
When you think about it, “putzing around” is pretty much the same as “dicking around.”
Cindy, let’s hear more about Dan and what he did to qualify as a putz! That can be your next story. Even if Dan is a “fictitious putz,” I’m sure there is a genuine one hiding somewhere behind Dan.
Daneen, Yes, Dan is fictitious. LOL 🙂 Writing a story about putzes could be quite refreshing! I might just start with one of my past bosses… Hmmm… His name is, um, a, um, Dan! Yes, that’s it! Dan Putz!
I remember him!
FUTZ!
Exactly!
I, too, would be “putzing around,” although I certainly would not be spending time with some of the putzes I have known.
Daneen, Ah, but see, there is an ever so slight difference between your putzing (putz-ing) and my putzying (putz-y-ing). You, of course, are using the word correctly, while I, on the other hand…