"Pulling a Monica"

There's an episode of Friends where Monica's mom hires her to cater a brunch. Monica is wearing fake nails, and during the course of putting together the meal, one of the nails is lost in one of the mini-quiches. Obviously the quiches are ruined. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Monica as messed up in such a big way, and Monica's mom calls the event "pulling a Monica." According to the Urban Dictionary, "to pull a Monica" means "any and all screwups by an individual." After this is established, they use the phrase several more times throughout the series, and I've heard it other places, too.

My family has adopted a few of the same types of names-as-verbs situations, based on things typical of us.


"Pulling an Adam"

Definition: A teenager who grows a foot and loses his baby-fat practically overnight.

Check out the tall, handsome fellow on the right!

Backstory: A guy in our ward growing up came home from his two-year mission and didn't even recognize Adam because he had changed so much. My youngest brother, David, did the same to me. When I left, he was shorter than I. When I came home, he was over six foot -- it definitely took some getting used to!


To "Lindsey" something

Definition: To pick up an item in a store, then in the course of shopping decide not to buy it and put it down someplace random (not in the item's original display area).

Retail by Norm Feuti

Backstory: Adam coined the phrase and to Lindsey's dismay, it has stuck. Let's be honest: don't we all do this from time-to-time?


"Pulling a Megan"

Definition: To make up an answer to a question you don't know, and discover later that you were correct.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Backstory: Okay, so this isn't actually something my family says, but I'm hoping it will catch on ;-) The other day a friend was trying to explain the telegraph to her son, and faltered when she realized she didn't know how the Titanic could telegraph without a wire. I said they probably used radio waves. She didn't think that sounded right, so she looked it up. Sure enough, the wireless telegraph used radio waves. Lucky, guess! It seemed logical when I said it, but I could have just as easily been wrong.


Does your family have these kinds of "inside" family phrases? If so, I'd love to hear them!