DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

Lost Words from our childhood:

 

Mergatroyd!...

Do you remember that word? Would you believe the email spell checker did not recognize the word Mergatroyd?

Heavens to Mergatroyd!

 

The other day a not so elderly (65) (I say 75) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at
her quizzically and said "What the heck is a Jalopy?"

 

He never heard of the word jalopy!! She knew she was old..... but not that old. Well, I hope you are Hunky Dory after
you read this and chuckle.

 

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology.
These phrases included "Don't touch that dial," "Carbon copy," "You sound like a broken record" and "Hung out to dry." 

 

Back in the olden days we had a lot of 'moxie.' We'd put on our best 'bib and tucker' to' straighten up and fly right'.

 

Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers! Jumping Jehoshaphat! Holy moley!

 

We were 'in like Flynn' and 'living the life of Riley'', and even a regular guy couldn't accuse us of being a knucklehead,
a nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!

 

Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when's the last time anything was swell?

Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes
and pedal pushers...AND DON'T FORGET.... Saddle Stitched Pants.

 

Oh, my aching back! Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore.

 

We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, Well, I'll be 'a monkey's uncle!' Or,
This is a 'fine kettle of fish'! We discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed omnipresent, as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards.

 

Poof, go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind.  We blink, and they're gone.

 

Where have all those great phrases gone? ( My Favorite)" Let's all go to the beach Saturday"...

 

Long gone: Pshaw, The milkman did it. Hey! It's your nickel. Don't forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper.
Well, Fiddlesticks! Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any wooden nickels. Wake up and smell the roses.

 

It turns out there are more of these lost words and e_xpressions than Carter has liver pills. This can be disturbing
stuff! ("Carter's Little Liver Pills" are gone too!)

 

We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeable times. For a child each new word is like a shiny toy, a
toy that has no age. We at the other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering there are words that once did not exist and there were words that once strutted their hour upon the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our collective
memory.  It's one of the greatest advantages of aging.

 

Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth... (Where will he find "Truth, Justice, and The American Way"?)
 
See ya later, alligator!



WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FABULOUS 50'S...NO ONE WILL EVER HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY AGAIN...WE WERE GIVEN ONE OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS: 

 

OUR MEMORIES

 

chuckrem Loc: Katy, Tx

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Well, I never heard of the word Megatroyd and I have no idea what driving a jalopy means either, never heard of it!

NMGal Loc: NE NM

I remember and used all of these except megatroyd.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

He was a character in A Gilbert and Sullivan show

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

Mugatroyd was also used by the Saturday cartoon character Snagglepuss on TV in the 1960's.

dyximan

Well George Jetson what year make and model of jalopy did your parents or you drive before we flew to the moon? Or was that after we flew to the moon?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Bugs Bunny used "Heavens to Mergatroyd" and "What a maroon".

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Know all but a couple.
The list is the bee's knees!

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

The reason we have those words, and others, it that most of us had the chance to live in a kinder, safer, gentler world. Childhood was a time to develop social skills, a time to learn how to win and loose gracefully. It was a time to let imagination run free, when you could be what ever you wanted to be. A policeman a fireman or a railroad engineer. A time when parents and grandparents encouraged your naïve thoughts. They knew that reality was going to set in later but understanding there was no reason to hurry the process. In a single word, our lives were unstructured.

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

Crap! I remember them all! What does that tell you about me?

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

I had a quick look for uses of cc. Found a whole lot of different meanings than those I am used to using.
Carbon Copy obvious from using a sheet of carbon paper when typing something up as a way to make a second copy.
Or in an email as in cc Fred meaning carbon copy Fred or send him a copy.
"Creative Commons" was new to me.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

My son, who is 47, has often said to me, "You, you grew up in the best years possible." He was referring to a certain age of innocence that was present then, the great actors and actresses in the black and white movies, the birth of Rock and Roll and, of course, Marilyn Monroe. I have to agree with him. I'd hate to be a teenager today. Their lives seem so empty to me, all hunched over, their thumbs working overtime with the iPhones that their whole lives revolve around. We socialized and interacted with one another; that doesn't seem to be the way of things these days. Do they even have school dances anymore?

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

My daughter cringes whenever my wife and I refer to "supper".

Yesterday a young patient had dropped a few things on the floor of the exam room. As he was preparing to leave I advised him: "Don't forget your billfold there". He laughed and said: "Billfold! That's a word my grandpa uses!"

Geez - I didn't get the memo!

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

I thought it was Quick Draw Mcgraw but could be wrong.