Wouna le Roux

This is a bit of a crass word in my home language, which loosely translates to ‘whore thread’. It doesn’t actually exist as a word and I doubt a lot of people would know the meaning of it, but in my family we know exactly what it means – I call it a ‘family heirloom’ word. It’s a made-up word that my grandmother used to call a long piece of thread. I guess, because these long threads would always get knotted and tangled up in something?

I always think of her when I thread a needle, because more often than not, I would thread the needle with a ‘hoerdraad’. She would always say it in a way that you know it is a disgusting habit, and if you’re a worthy seamstress you would change your ways and do things ‘properly’.

Despite her reprimand, I still use these very long pieces of thread. Is it laziness to finish off a piece of thread and start with a new one? The stop-starting that I find off-putting? I have never been able to figure it out. I just know I still do it. No reason, no rhyme.

But it always gives me a smile when it tangles up or makes a knot.

Is it even possible to change old habits?