"Have you seen the round knife rolley thing?" asked my husband, moving his arm back and forth in a slicing motion.

"The what?" I asked, half paying attention while I perused the internet on my laptop.

"The round knife rolley thing," he said. "You know, for slicing pizza."

"You mean the pizza wheel?" I asked.

"Yeah, that."

"It's in the drawer with the other large utensils." I pointed to the drawer next to the stovetop.

"And what about those big, long grabby things?" he asked, snapping his hands together like a crab. "You know, for taking the food out of the pan?"

"You mean the tongs?" I asked.

"Yeah, those."

"Same drawer."

I shook my head in annoyance. I guess I should have been happy that he was in fact making dinner and thus was in need of the round knife rolley thing and the big, long grabby thing. And even though he couldn't remember the names of some things, he still, eventually, managed to get his point across. But it was somewhat irritating that he couldn't be bothered to remember the names that everyone else used for some basic kitchen utensils.

"Dinner's almost ready," he announced, holding a large pot with his oversized hand protecty things.

"I just need the round, metal holey thing that drains the water from the pasta," he said.

I looked at him dumbly.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"Where is what?" I asked.

"The holey thing."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said returning my gaze to my laptop.

"The thing that drains the pasta," he said.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following you," I replied.

"THE COLANDER," he shouted.

I smiled, got up, and removed the colander from the cabinet.

"Oh, this?" I asked.

He grabbed it from me, threw it in the sink and poured the boiling pasta into it.

He stared at me, but I had gone back to my laptop.

"What are you looking at that's so interesting?" he asked with some annoyance.

"This?" I said, holding up my laptop.

"Yes."

I looked down at my computer. "It's a metal techy thing that lets you see what's happening in the world," I replied.

"I know what a laptop is," he said. "What are you looking at on the laptop?"

"Oh! It's an informational ask-questions pagey thing."

"And what question are you asking?" he wondered.

I smiled. "How to get your husband to call things by their proper name."

Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, "Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love, and Kibble," available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online! You can visit her at www.tracybeckerman.com.

Photo credit: kalhh at Pixabay