Fat N Sassy

My Mom had a number of expressions in her vocabulary that seemed to be uniquely her own. Certainly, no other people that I knew called their child a 'wigwam from a goosey's bridal', when they were acting silly. As I grew older, I discovered that some of Mom's strange terms of 'endearment' (?) were probably the result of her upbringing in Australia or something left over from her teenage slang of the late 30's and early 40's.

After all, her youth was filled with such classic song lyrics as "Hot sot ralston on a rilara and a so on so on so forth" and "Mares e dotes and does e dotes and little lams e ivy". Now, mix in a touch of Aussie silliness, and you get Mom-ology.

In 1886, Mom introduced one of her test roses with the name 'Fat 'n Sassy'. I realized immediately that Mom had gone back to her youth for this strange combination of words.

Yes, the test rose was 'Fat'. The heavily petaled blooms of white, blush deep red in the sun. The bush was even tall , standing about knee to hip high in her garden.

As for the 'Sassy' part of the name, it had several meanings to me. Sassy, when used alone, could mean that you were "talking back" (like to an elder). You know..."Don't give me any of your sass, young lady!"; or "Don't you be sassy with me. You'll find yourself in the bathroom." (Note: That's where Mom sent us kids for a time out. Talk about a boring room. *lol*)

However, when the words fat and sassy were used together, the phrase carried another meaning as well. If Mom said it, she meant "prideful", "showing off" or "all puffed up with yourself". Today's kids would say, "You think that you are all THAT."

So, this name told more about the characteristics of this rose, than just size. Mom meant that 'Fat 'n Sassy' liked to show off in the garden. It was a rose that would not be ignored. It acted like it "was all THAT" in the garden.

By the way, I think that Mom used 'n instead of and in the name, because she like that way Mr. Moore used 'n in rose names like 'Rise 'n Shine'.