The Slice: ‘Husky’ label doesn’t account for rivalries

The Slice asked if parents and stores here avoided referring to overweight boys as “husky” because of the possibly confusing U-Dub association.

Emmett Arndt answered. “I can assure you that ‘husky’ was indeed used in Spokane,” he wrote. “In the ’50s my mom took me shopping for school cords and could only find my right size in the ‘husky’ section. Then we had to go to the tailor to have the pant legs shortened. It had to do with some mysterious mathematical ratio of the waist size to the inseam so I could stoop down without embarrassment. At the time I made the kids of ‘South Park’ look like successful graduates of Weight Watchers.

“Funny, but the ‘husky’ identity must have stuck because I became a member of the Husky football program in the ’60s and earned two degrees from the University of Washington.”

Local labels: “If living in the Lilac City has made a person grouchy and irritable, might we say they are spokantankerous?” wrote Julie Lehman. “Or someone talking quite honestly and frankly about conditions in our community could be said to be speaking spokandidly.”

Christmas songs in stores: “If I’ve got to hear Xmas music early, I’d like to hear ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,’ ” wrote Emil Wunderle.

It could be worse: Jim McPherson, who acknowledged that he enjoys some of the features in question, sent this email on Monday.

“I read the entire paper pretty much every day, but this morning was the first time it occurred to me that the Spokesman has an advice column, ‘Miss Manners,’ ‘Hints from Heloise,’ horoscopes, two crossword puzzles and the ‘Jumble’ all on the same page. Perhaps, in the next redesign, that page should be renamed the First World Problems Page.”

Slice answer: “After years of less than successful attempts at body surfing, I’m sure I have leftover sand in my sinuses thanks to Oahu’s unforgiving Sandy Beach,” wrote Janet Culbertson.

Today’s Slice question: Your karaoke performance of what song drew rave reviews years ago?