Shikepoke

After my post entitled "Mama Said," my husband and I started talking about other things that our parents used to say. I have heard him call our kids a million times by saying what sounded like, "Come on, shikepole!" When I said, "Huh?" he always just said, "It's something my dad used to say." So the other night I had finally had it.
Me: "WHAT does that mean?"
Husband: "What does what mean?"
Me: "Shiechtpole, or shikepole, or whatever the heck you call my kids? What does it mean?"
Husband: "I dunno. Let's Google it and see."
Me: "Okay, how do you spell it?"
Husband: "How should I know?"
Me: "It's your stupid word! You said your dad used it all the time!"
Husband: "Well he didn't WRITE it at us!"
Me: "You really are a smart ass, you know that?"
So after I finished laughing until tears rolled down my face, I really did Google it. Hey, it had been a really long day. It didn't take much to get me laughing, as I had moved past "tired" and into "delirious." I know you can't take the suspense any longer, so here goes: "shikepoke" is actually a type of heron. It's a term that people used to imply that someone is tall and skinny, like a bird. I'm guessing it came about around the same time as "bird legs!"
I must say that, given the other expressions my father in law was prone to using (let's not forget that whole "skillet of hot pee" thing in my previous post) I was relieved to find out that a "shikepoke" was not something really inappropriate, although it can be used as an insult. That would have been embarrassing. I can hear it now. People looking at their husbands and going, "Why is he calling his daughter a rotten pineapple?" There are LOTS of possibilities there folks.
Someone once said that you are supposed to learn something new every day. There you go. A new word for your vocabulary. Call someone a "shikepoke" today. Betcha a dollar they don't know what it means!