[A Navy Vet]

You make a good point about some sayings/phrases dying out. Many of the X and Y generations probably wouldn't recognize common phrases like, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" or "Lucy, you got some splaining to do" or "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" or even heard of "Honky Tonk Woman".

You just burst my bubble now that I realize I was addressing the Boomers, however with some exceptions.

Here is a more recent article I just posted that our youngers can identify with:

[zeugma]

Here’s one that predates my parent’s generation. “Not worth a continental”. My grandparents knew it, and my dad did, but I’m not sure about my mom. The history of the phrase is interesting, and from a political point of view it’s hardly suprising that the powers that be would be interested in seeing the phrase die.

To save you google time, in case you’re not familiar, it harkens back to the time when the Articles of Confederation were in place before the Constitution was ratified. Apparently the government had been printing paper fiat money like it was growing on trees (sound familiar), and we entered a period of hyperinflation. The ‘continental’ was, of course the paper continental dollar. To say something wasn’t worth a continental, was to say it was pretty much worthless. (Again, sound familiar?)

That’s a lot of history contained in very few words. I suspect most didn’t know where it originated long before it died out in the 30s and 40s.

[Lee Enfield]

“Maybe I shouldn’t have taken that left toin at Albuquoique”
“Tish, that’s french!”