Conversation: NB

I met for lunch with my mother recently and as we were talking I couldn’t help but realize how fortunate we are for the generation gaps that we encounter. Most of the time, they can create frustrations, however, every so often they are good for a laugh.

So halfway through an exquisite meal of homemade pasta, my mom posed the question to me: “Do you know what NB stands for?”

The truth be told, I couldn’t help but think the acronym could stand for many a thing. New Brunswick, New Balance shoes, Not Balanced, Never Before, Not Better, Nicker Bottoms…wait I’m not British and neither is she. A really short form of None of your Business?

I mumbled something to the effect of “Is this a trick question?” She shook her head.

“I have no idea,” I said, and returned to the wonderful steaming plate of carbs about to make their way somewhere onto unwanted areas on my thighs.

She continued on with her story about how she had been reprimanded at work for writing NB in a logbook where she was supposed to take notes for other people.

“I can’t imagine that most people know what NB stands for unless you’re talking about the short form for New Brunswick,” I paused, I had a rather difficult piece of pasta to swirl. I added, “What does it mean?”

“Oh I don’t really know what it actually stands for,” my mom chuffed. This was certainly bothering her.

I set down my cutlery. “Wait a sec, then why did you write it?”

“Oh, it was used back in the day to make people pay attention.”

“But, you don’t know exactly what NB stands for? If you don’t know what it stands for how do you expect someone else to know?”

“Oh it was commonly used at one point.”

The logic was lost on me. I wasn’t entirely what point in history she was referring to. Pasta beckoned.

“Anyways one of the other workers thought that I had written it out of spite,” my mom stopped and rolled her eyes.

I stopped chewing. A few pieces of pasta fell out onto my plate. “Shay dat agin?”

Knowing my mother, she would never do something like that.

“Oh she thought NB stood for Newbie. She thought I was calling her the Newbie,” she took a sip of coffee and asked, “What does Newbie even mean? It sounds mean.”

I started to laugh. “Is the woman new to the company?”

My mom nodded.

I proceeded to bring my mom up to speed and explain what it meant. Never again will she ever use the term Newbie in that context. She is wiser for the pop culture slang lesson I gave her. Fortunately I’m around to update her vocabulary bank every so often.