"basement raising" ...

[Jerry Freeman]

I hadn't heard the expression until recently. In the last couple of weeks, we've had two of them around here. Is this familiar to anyone?

Best wishes,
Jerry

[dwest]

Only in reference to flooding or heaving of an actual basement. The only expression I hear from the young one is "whatever" which covers everything.

[djm]

Do you mean in the sense of raising an existing home to install a basement where one hadn't existed before, or do you mean putting in a basement preparatory to building the rest of the house?

djm

[fearfaoin]

Yeah, I'm curious about the context, as well.
Here in NC, houses without basements are
the norm, so I doubt we'd raise one often...

[crookedtune]

Never eat basement raisins! That's seldom what they really are.

[Jerry Freeman]

There's a hint in my most recent post that mentions Chucky and Aaron. So far, you're all as far afield as I was before it was explained to me the first time someone used the expression. I'll be impressed if someone knows this.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[djm]

There's a hint in my most recent post that mentions Chucky and Aaron.

thought bubble: (Gosh, should I break it to him that I don't follow his posts with bated breath? Will he be heartbroken? Will he be crestfallen? Will he give a rat's patoottie?)

djm

[Jerry Freeman]

I'm not going to spoon feed you. You know how to use the "search" function, right?

Best wishes,
Jerry

[dwest]

Is it an expression used in a small village of 350 people in New York State and no where else?

[rhulsey]

I don't recall an expression quite like it in my full-of-expressions Okie upbringing, unless it's an allusion to being raised in the dark, perhaps.

[Jerry Freeman]

Is it an expression used in a small village of 350 people in New York State and no where else?

No, but you might have to go back a century or so to find it in common usage.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[s1m0n]

Never eat basement raisins! That's seldom what they really are.

The sagest advice ever offered on this forum.

[dwest]

Is it an expression used in a small village of 350 people in New York State and no where else?

No, but you might have to go back a century or so to find it in common usage.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Shoot! and I thought Virginia was behind Big party in a basement tavern, rathskeller?

[Jeferson]

In the Mennonite community here it has been common to have barn raisings, when the church folk show up one day and pitch in to build somebody a barn. Traditionally, the women do tons of cooking and tidying while the men work their butts off on the building. Many people commit ahead of time to donate much of the materials, and the labour is of course free, keeping the costs at a minimum. In just one day, a lot of work gets accomplished. This was done for someone who was new to the country, or who lost their barn to a fire or flood. The work was done cheerfully, not out of reluctant obligation, but rather out of a sense of service. Such work continues to this day, expanded now to include things like building a school, church camp, etc.

When my wife's grandmother arrived in this community 70 years ago, a fresh penniless widow with three young children, she lived in a barn for a few weeks until the community got together and started building her a house. The big group put in the work necessary to get the basement done in two days, and left the rest up to a smaller group that she hired cheap and payed off over a couple of years. I don't know for sure what they called it back then, but given that they continue to use the phrase "barn raising", I imagine they'd have called the two day blitz a basement raising.

[fearfaoin]

...unless it's an allusion to being raised in the dark, perhaps.

Ooo, I like that interpretation: "That boy's just a product of basement-raisin!"