The Phrases We Grew Up With - Where Have They Gone?
Jun 18, 2015 16:23:43 #
This is forwarded from an email I received.
I remember most of these phrases...
If you also do, congratulations on having lived in one of the most fun eras.
BTW...My Uncle was telling us a story once and said. "I was so surprised, you could have knocked me over with a feather." My young son just couldn't quite figure out what he meant but laughed and laughed because it sounded so funny.
BC
OLD WORDS AND PHRASES (For old people)
About a month ago, I illuminated 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. A bevy of readers have
asked me to shine light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige: Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We'd put on our best bib and tucker and straighten up and fly right. Hubba-hubba! We'd cut a rug in some juke joint and then go necking and petting and smooching and spooning and billing and cooing and pitching woo in hot rods and jalopies in some passion pit or lovers' lane. 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. Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore. Like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim, we have become unstuck in time. We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, 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, poof, poof go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind. We blink, and they're gone, evanesced from the landscape and wordscape of our perception, like Mickey Mouse wristwatches, hula hoops, skate keys, candy cigarettes, little wax bottles of colored sugar water and an organ grinder's monkey.
Where have all those phrases gone? Long time passing. Where have all those phrases gone? Long time ago: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Think about the starving Armenians. Bigger than a bread box. Banned in Boston. The very idea! It's your nickel. Don't
forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Turn-of-the-century. Iron curtain. Domino theory. Fail safe. Civil defense. Fiddlesticks! You look like the wreck of the Hesperus. Cooties. Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any wooden nickels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! And awa-a-ay we go! Oh, my stars and garters! It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter had liver pills. This can be disturbing stuff, this winking out of the words of our youth, these words that lodge in our heart's deep core. But just as one never steps into the same river twice, one cannot step into the same language twice. Even as one enters, words are swept downstream into the past, forever making a different river. We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeful 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. We can have archaic and eat it, too!
I remember most of these phrases...
If you also do, congratulations on having lived in one of the most fun eras.
BTW...My Uncle was telling us a story once and said. "I was so surprised, you could have knocked me over with a feather." My young son just couldn't quite figure out what he meant but laughed and laughed because it sounded so funny.
BC
OLD WORDS AND PHRASES (For old people)
About a month ago, I illuminated 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. A bevy of readers have
asked me to shine light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige: Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We'd put on our best bib and tucker and straighten up and fly right. Hubba-hubba! We'd cut a rug in some juke joint and then go necking and petting and smooching and spooning and billing and cooing and pitching woo in hot rods and jalopies in some passion pit or lovers' lane. 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. Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore. Like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim, we have become unstuck in time. We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, 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, poof, poof go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind. We blink, and they're gone, evanesced from the landscape and wordscape of our perception, like Mickey Mouse wristwatches, hula hoops, skate keys, candy cigarettes, little wax bottles of colored sugar water and an organ grinder's monkey.
Where have all those phrases gone? Long time passing. Where have all those phrases gone? Long time ago: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Think about the starving Armenians. Bigger than a bread box. Banned in Boston. The very idea! It's your nickel. Don't
forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Turn-of-the-century. Iron curtain. Domino theory. Fail safe. Civil defense. Fiddlesticks! You look like the wreck of the Hesperus. Cooties. Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any wooden nickels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! And awa-a-ay we go! Oh, my stars and garters! It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter had liver pills. This can be disturbing stuff, this winking out of the words of our youth, these words that lodge in our heart's deep core. But just as one never steps into the same river twice, one cannot step into the same language twice. Even as one enters, words are swept downstream into the past, forever making a different river. We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeful 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. We can have archaic and eat it, too!
Jun 18, 2015 16:53:51 #
Jun 18, 2015 17:00:31 #
Here we go again,the good old days! Makes me feel older,but glad to remember those seemingly simpler times. Doesn't matter if they were or not,still brings some level of serenity. :thumbup: :thumbup:
Jun 18, 2015 18:41:17 #
How about the cartoon featuring Little Orphan Annie and the phrase Leapin' Lizards, Sandy?
And thing-a-ma-jig?
An' rootin' tootin'?
And nickel an' dime ya to death?
And thing-a-ma-jig?
An' rootin' tootin'?
And nickel an' dime ya to death?
Jun 19, 2015 01:12:07 #
Use some of those old phrases on your kids or grand kids.
When they ask what it means, make 'em use their smart phone or tablet or laptop to look it up and learn something.
Just as kids nowadays have their own fashionable terms, we had ours in our day.
BC
When they ask what it means, make 'em use their smart phone or tablet or laptop to look it up and learn something.
Just as kids nowadays have their own fashionable terms, we had ours in our day.
BC
Jun 19, 2015 07:09:32 #
dljen wrote:
Another wayward word - Y2k, in 85 yrs., they'll have Y3k...
That shouldn't be a concern, since they switched to four digits for the year. I'm looking forward to 2100. We'll have flying cars and world peace.
Jun 19, 2015 08:19:14 #
bobc48
Loc: MT now in NC
Yo, Bearcat, how ya doin'? Everything is Jake by me!
"Jake" was used even before I was born (1948). Means everything is 'cool' and later on, 'far-out'......
"Jake" was used even before I was born (1948). Means everything is 'cool' and later on, 'far-out'......
Jun 19, 2015 08:34:04 #
dljen wrote:
Another wayward word - Y2k, in 85 yrs., they'll have Y3k...
Ah, not quite. Y3k - 2015 = 985.
2015 + 85 = Y2.1k.
But, I do get the idea.
Jun 19, 2015 08:54:06 #
Jun 19, 2015 09:04:31 #
twowindsbear wrote:
Ah, not quite. Y3k - 2015 = 985.
2015 + 85 = Y2.1k.
But, I do get the idea.
2015 + 85 = Y2.1k.
But, I do get the idea.
Duh, I never could count math among my strong suits. :)
Thanks.
Jun 19, 2015 09:31:26 #
Jun 19, 2015 10:05:24 #
A gay time, and wasn't it "Carters ,Little Liver Pills?
I think the "Domino Theory" is still with us; witness the Middle East, and I'm bringing back "Kikroy"--every time I have to leave a note on someone's desk who isn't there, I sign it with the Kilroy symbol; they young ones don't have a clue, but the older workers recognize it. BTW, I read that Kilroy as migrated to the Middle East; about a year ago some correspondent said that he/she had seen a few Kilroy's in Iraq.
Another old timer :-)
I think the "Domino Theory" is still with us; witness the Middle East, and I'm bringing back "Kikroy"--every time I have to leave a note on someone's desk who isn't there, I sign it with the Kilroy symbol; they young ones don't have a clue, but the older workers recognize it. BTW, I read that Kilroy as migrated to the Middle East; about a year ago some correspondent said that he/she had seen a few Kilroy's in Iraq.
Another old timer :-)
Jun 19, 2015 10:14:00 #
rickerb
Loc: utah
Do you remember our grandparents referring to the years 1901-1909in the following manner?
Well, back in ought four, or ought and seven. Those terms always put a grin on my face.
Well, back in ought four, or ought and seven. Those terms always put a grin on my face.
Jun 19, 2015 12:15:36 #
Never heard the term "jake".. interesting.
See ya' later, alligator...After awhile, crocodile...
The Cat's Pajamas...( a bit before my time, but my parents used the term)
The Cat's Meow...
Daddy-O (Also, my uncle's dog's name)
For a more complete listing of 20's to 50's slang, check out this site. Some terms are still in use, though rarely.
http://dazzlingal.com/2011/11/14/slang-from-the-20s-to-the-50s/
BC
See ya' later, alligator...After awhile, crocodile...
The Cat's Pajamas...( a bit before my time, but my parents used the term)
The Cat's Meow...
Daddy-O (Also, my uncle's dog's name)
For a more complete listing of 20's to 50's slang, check out this site. Some terms are still in use, though rarely.
http://dazzlingal.com/2011/11/14/slang-from-the-20s-to-the-50s/
BC
Jun 19, 2015 12:22:25 #
JCam wrote:
A gay time, and wasn't it "Carters ,Little Liver Pills?
Another old timer :-)
Another old timer :-)
I remember the movie TOUGH GUYS with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, who just got out of prison for robbing a train in the 40's or 50's. Adjustment to modern life was "tricky". Douglas hooked up with a 20-something girl. He was kind of afraid to actually "hook up" with her so she asked him if he was gay... He said, "Gay?! I'm Miserable!"...
Definitely took on a new meaning in the years he was in prison.
BC
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