Darrrrling

My mother in 1980

Did you know that my mother had something in common with Zsa Zsa Gabor?
Well she did.
She was not,  however, a bleach blonde, trophy wife who married nine times .
Nor was she the sweetheart of the tv chat show, even though I am sure she would have provided Parkinson a run for his money.
My mother never flashed cleavage, drank champagne or claimed alimony like a greedy old tart but in later life she did indeed drink gin and  call everyone " darrrling" 

Crying " Darrrrrling" was easier than remembering names.
'

57 comments:

  1. Ah, but did she have the accent?

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    1. A slight liverpudlian accent which spoils the illusion somewhat

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  2. That sounds familiar I seem to call many people Honey! Must be an age thing, lol

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  3. I usually stammer out a "Hey! You-u-u-u-u-u!"

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  4. I'm with Marie. I call people "Honey" and "Sweetheart" and if that doesn't seem appropriate, I ignore them because I HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR NAME! But I've always been this way. Not that it's getting any better in my old age.

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  5. I'm glad that's the only thing your mother had in common with Zsa Zsa!

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    1. Oh my mother never wore a glitter dress

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  6. I tend to use "Hon" or "Sweetie" and I have absolutely no idea why.
    I can't recall anyone's mother who didn't look pretty at that certain age. (Not that they stayed that way)

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    1. I do use "Honey" when I am being sarcastic, when preceded by "Listen,"

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  7. Zsa Zsa described herself as a housewife: After every time as a wife I'd get the house.

    Honey, Darling, Carriad or Sweetheart all sound fine. Not so sure about the popular Austrian word for a one's Frau which is Schatzie.

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  8. Anonymous4:26 pm

    The Angel swears that, at the school gate, I used to call all his friends' mothers "Jenny". Which was just a well because nine out of them were Jennies.

    Your mother clearly had the flair of the theatrical. The theatrical have to remember lines, nothing so profane as your name. I know this because Felicity Kendal swept into the hairdresser (Michael John just off Bond Street), sat right next to me, and never in my life (admittedly I was only in my late twenties) had I heard so many people being called "Darling" as they were by her - before she allowed herself to be swept downstairs to have her hair dyed by yet another Darling.

    Darling John, you know, in the olden days, according to Liz Taylor, women used to marry so many times because sex outside marriage wasn't the done thing.

    U

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  9. Must have been a slow news day - cannot believe this got the coverage it did.

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  10. I think I may start doing this, I never have been good at remembering names. She will be missed.

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  11. When I read this in her obituary I thought, thank God its not just me! A health issue has robbed me of a decent memory. I knew I had to use "darling" when my best friend's husband answered the phone and I couldn't remember her name and said something daft like "Hello, it's me, is she in then?" My own mom's reply to this would have been ~ "who's 'she' the cat's mother?" Fortunately he just called his wife to the phone!!

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  12. I must adopt this right now. I'm great with faces, but can never put the name to them. On hearing of Ms. Gabor's demise, I was reminded of happy memories as a small child, watching her with Eddie Albert in 'Green Acres'.

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    1. Jacqui, that was her sister Eva. I used to love it too.

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    2. Oh, I didn't realise, they looked pretty similar when young! A good show though.

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  13. So many well-known people have died this year that there must be a big queue at The Pearly Gates. Leonard Cohen will be entertaining them with renditions of "Hallelujah" and "Suzanne" before David Bowie duets with Prince.

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    1. And Terry Wogan gives them null points !

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  14. Ms. Gabor was 80 when my son (then 11) and I saw her attending a horse show in Reno. I believe she had a horse being shown. She exuded glamour, even at that age. My son picked her out of the crowd and asked, "Who is THAT?" He was hoping it was Dolly Parton, his idol.

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  15. The only thing I remember about Zsa Zsa was her stint on Green Acres, where she was quite entertaining. I think I still remember all the words to the theme song :)

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    1. that was eva, not zsa zsa, dahling.

      "green acreas is the place to be, farm livin' is the life for me"

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    2. Oopsie! They were both gorgeous :)

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  16. This brought back memories of my Dad. When we went out together he would always call people John wether he knew them or not, it took me a while to realise that he didn't actually know their names, lol
    Briony
    x

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    1. I suppose he couldn't call everyone " darlings"

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  17. Hi John:

    Referring to your blog from a couple days ago "Tinsel Tits".....maybe someday you could do a blog about what people call their significant others in public and/or otherwise? My list is a good mile long, already.

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  18. Love this John - I shall adopt that philosophy from now on because I am brilliant at forgetting names.

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    1. I'd pay good money to hear you say" darlings" to the ladies of your keep fit club

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  19. A lady at my new job calls everyone 'my sweet'

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  20. the original kardashians.

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  21. God Bless your mom, she did a good job with you, she did!

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    1. I agree with Gail. The fact that you are thinking if your mom really did a good job, or if her hard work with you really bought results means that she did a good job.

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  22. Growing up in the Southern US .. Honey covered all bases. Men Women and children, they all fell under the heading of Honey in case you forgot their name.

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  23. I'll have to try that as when I'm calling my family I seem to go through all the dogs names first which really gets on their nerves. xx

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  24. I'm terrible at remembering names. I recognize the face but not the name. It can be annoying.

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  25. hon, I raise a french martini (gin and chambord) in your direction!

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  26. She was certainly before my time. I know the name but not the woman

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  27. My adorable baby brother called our Mother, Honey. That is what he heard our dad call her, so he called her Honey too. He was so very cute.

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  28. Name blindness is a terrible affliction! It usually only applies to the person I'm speaking to...I can remember their spouse/ children/parents or pets names,but can't bring theirs to mind. So- Everyone is Sweetheart....

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  29. After years of waitressing & bartending I still catch myself saying 'hun' an awful lot to people I both know I don't.

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  30. After comments above, I think I should also take a leaf out of Zsa Zsa's book as I too have a tendency to call people (mostly women that I know) some name other than their own. The spooky part of it is, the name is often some one near and dear that has long since departed.. and not always the same name.. now and then a different name but also known to the person I'm addressing. Freaked out a few (and me)...darling seems so much safer if a bit over the top!

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  31. 'Cherie' works for me!

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    1. Is that "Sheree" the French way with a Galic shrug of the shoulders, or Cherry with a scouse accent - as in you know who....?

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  32. One of my favourite Zsa Zsa lines was "I believe you should marry for love, and keep on marrying until you find it."

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  33. I say hun or love it beats ta feel Cocker lol x

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