Posted on 05/28/2018 12:24:30 PM PDT by sodpoodle
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 (I say 75) lady said something to her grandson about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said "What the heck is a Jalopy?"
OMG! 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 ducktail; 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 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! Okey Dokey!
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 BACK THEN: - OUR MEMORIES ALAS, I SEEM TO BE LOSING MINE A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME.
Good advice was a nickel? So your two cents worth was a modesty devaluation??
Oops! I should have proofread.Still, the stench of Kerry will remain long after he’s gone.
From 1885 to 1928 it cost 2 cents to mail a first class letter... which is the way that you would send a letter to the editor. Your opinion cost you two cents to express it.
And lest you think that your 2 cents is a trifle... adjusting for inflation that 1928 2 cents is currently worth $2.85
Actually, both forms seem to have been used. Back in my day, in the various places I went in the 1940s (New York and Massachusetts), it was “In a while.” I suspect that was the earlier wording.
Sorry, I meant to post a source I looked up:
https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-phrase-See-you-later-alligator-In-a-while-crocodile-originate
Well you’ve got me by several years so I’ll defer- I heard the phrase in the late 50s when I was yet a mere chile
Doesnt this same thing get posted at least once a year by someone here...?
But, its fun to read again anyway...
Yes. And I believe the character was voiced by Daws Butler of Cowardly Lion (Wizard Of Oz) fame.
That is so weird...I was singing that song on one of my long walks on Sunday night. How serendipitously creepy...*Twilight Zone theme*
I don’t think so but I doubt it.
adjusting for inflation that 1928 2 cents is currently worth $2.85
That one is a little less clear. My understanding is that it goes back to the Bible where the widow put her two cents into the offering. To her, the two cents was the world. This the expression meant that someone was giving an opinion that most saw as worthlessbut that the person was fully invested in.
Even if its not the case, there is a good lesson there for any manager.
Reminded me of the Staler Brothers and “Do You Remember These”....
A lot of American idiom does have roots in the Bible but I doubt that the Bible is the origin of this particular expression, despite wikipedia’s theory.
“Two cent’s worth” means sharing your opinion. The parable of the widow’s mite deals with a charitable temple offering, not her opinion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.