Editor's Corner

If you’ve watched TV or gone to the movies in the last 40 years, you are probably familiar with the term “pie hole” used in place of “mouth.” Imagine if you will, two teenagers hanging around in the kitchen after school. One of the kids starts criticizing the school’s best history teacher, and the other kid yells, “Shut your pie hole! Ms. Cabrini is the best.” There are many ways to ask someone to quiet down. Here’s how I’d rank them, from kindest to most questionable:

• “Please be quiet” or “Please lower your voice.” These are more polite phrases, like your friendly neighborhood librarian would use.
• “Hush!” or “Shush!” Not rude, but a little “familiar,” perhaps something your grandma or dad might say.
• “Shut up!” This is something you hear a lot. I would call this abrupt and angry. Children say this to each other when they’re getting teased. I hear many parents using it with their kids when the children are throwing tantrums. And you hear kids yelling “shut up” back at parents, but that often ends with someone being sent to bed without dinner (and it’s not mom or dad).

Sometimes it can be playful, but it depends on who is saying it and what their tone is. Since it can be disrespectful and angry if used with the wrong person or in the wrong way, it’s best not to say it. If you need quiet, go with something more polite.

• “Shut your pie hole!” This is basically, “Shut your mouth!” It can be really funny since most people don’t refer to their mouth as a “pie hole.” It can also be seen as crude. The British have a similar saying: “Shut your cake hole.” I think the disdain for these phrases is that you are not even dignifying the other person by using the term “mouth.” You’re just telling them to shut their eating hole.

So where did this term come from? I think this will surprise you. The term “Shut your cake hole” is documented in 1943 in a book of British war-time slang. But the term “Shut your pie hole” is an American term, and it was coined in the 1983 novel Christine, by Stephen King. If I remember correctly, the book is about a car, not pie.

Enjoy your day!

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Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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