Posted on 02/01/2019 9:26:57 PM PST by vannrox
Lost Words from our childhood:
Mergatroyd!…
Do you remember that word? Would you believe the spell-checker did not recognize the word Mergatroyd? Heavens to Mergatroyd!
The other day a not so elderly (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.
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?
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 expressions 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…
See ya later, alligator! Oki-doki
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: LIVING IN THE PEACEFUL AND COMFORTABLE TIMES, CREATED FOR US BY THE “GREATEST GENERATION!”
no time is perfect but most of us came home from school and were safe and well fed...not steak, but plenty of meatloaf and spaghetti...
I love words and expressions....
"its raining cats and dogs"..
"mind your p's and q's"
Dat be racist.
Well I’ll be a blue nosed gopher, you’ve sure found a lot of those obsolete words & phrases!
Great post...LOL
For later.....
Cattywampus. Had to think of one....
“I’m feeling gay today!”
Bodacious
Say what?
Nice list of “our words” from a time and world we would wish on our kids and grandkids.
However, if I were to say “I’ll be a monkey’s uncle”, that would imply that I’m related to Maxine Waters. NO WAY JOSE!
I’d have to be “plastered” just to think about that, in my cups, Ripple Time.
Going Lickety-split..
Lesbians have possibly stolen that one.
#8. re “I’m feeling gay today”.
Marvin, you are Gay every day.
Gay is no longer used according to the dictionary definition. It’s not even a word with a double meaning. Nowadays gay means homosexual and only homosexual.
Off topic but shows how words can change their definition if forced by pressure groups.
Pressure groups drove out the use of the word Negro. Negro was replaced by black. Jesse Jackson made a speech in which he said we should speak of African American people, and all.of a sudden, everyone in the media started using that term.
We aren’t allowed to say colored people, but people of color is acceptable.
Keep on truckin’
My wife’s grandmother botched that one up and the word has stayed in the family.
She called it Vobacious. Means really big.
Remember those two cartoon chipmunks Chip & Dale?
They were always agreeing with each other.
Chip would say something, and Dale would say ‘Indubitably!”
They were hilarious and taught me that word.
“Don’t put that bee in her bonnet!”
meaning, ‘don’t put that idea in her head.”
I recall when seeing the phrase “Made In Japan” was worth a grin. I was presumed that the item was poorly made.
Then....the 70’s happened. General Motors and Ford were never quite the same again. The Labor Union used to hit Japanese made cars with hammers the moment they saw on in the company parking lot.
Colored was not in common use AFAIK other than in the formerly segregated areas.
I am too old to follow fashions, so piss on tehm if i use the polite terms I grew up with.
Some Hollyweird homo better get to sound editing "Stalag 17" right now!
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