Lost words

Mooseman

Original poster
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Dec 4, 2011
25,310
Ottawa, ON
This was sent to me by an old friend and it is so true. I'm a child of the 60's and remember most of these words and expressions.

If you can think of others, please add them.


Murgatroyd, remember that word?
Would you believe the email spell checker did not recognize the word Murgatroyd? Heavens to Murgatroyd!
Lost Words from our childhood: Words gone as fast as the buggy whip! Sad really!
The other day a not so elderly lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said, "What the heck is a Jalopy?"
OMG (new phrase)!
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''.
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, penny loafers, 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?
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 existed ........ 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! Okidoki

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

OUR MEMORIES


And to add:

Shake a stick at (I've owned more cars than you can shake a stick at)
Stick in the mud
Collect call
Telegram

And the endangered list:
fax
modem
newsgroups
 

Shaw520

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Sep 20, 2017
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My mother would always say to me, "You better come down off your high horse", LOL
 
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littleblazer

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Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I actually throw around and recognize a lot of those...
 

mrrsm

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"Hells Bells... And Shotgun Shells!"
"If You're Sears... and He's Roebuck... Who's Minding The Store?"
"Chin-Chin"
"Here's Mud in Your Eye..."
"Here's How..."
"I Wouldn't Touch Her ...With a Ten Foot Pole!"
"Now Listen, Sister...!"
"Bite the Bullet..."
"Pop Goes The Weasel"
"That's No Lady! That's My Wife!"
"They're Goin' At It Again...!"
"Jeepers Creepers... Where'd You Get Those Peepers?"
"Are YOU Out of Your Cotton-Picking Mind?"
"Here's a Nickel's Worth of FREE Advice... Sunshine..."
"THAT.... Is the Craziest Son-Of-A-B*tch... I Ever Saw!"
"He's Crazier then a Sh*t-House Rat!"
"Reach for the Sky!"
"Muuuhhh Thurrr!"
"Put 'em UP... Butter-Cup!"
"Muh Bisquits Are Burnin'...!"
"Say.. Mister...What's the Big Idea?"
"We...Are....In... Trouble, Now!"
"Keep your Hands where I can see 'um... 'cause You ain't Bullet Proof... Frankenstein!"
"He Gives me ...The Willies..."
"She Gives Me ...The Heebie Jeebies!"
"Sloppy Seconds..."
"Don't Touch The Merchandise... Buddy"
"Say Buddy...Hey Pal... Hey...Buddy-Pal!"
"What The HAY...NOT The Hoe!"
"One of Thes Days...Alice! POW!"
"Ohhh Burrrudaah!
"I didn't know whether to Sh*t ...or Wind my Watch!"
"He Doesn't Know Sh*t from Shinola!"
"He Doesn't Know Crap from Crisco!"
"He Couldn't Find His A** With BOTH Hands!"
"He Couldn't Fight his Way out of a Wet Paper Bag!"
"It's No Skin Off My Nose, Mister!"
"Shaddup Shuggah... Or I'll Throw Ya ta The Lions!"
"What's Eating HIM?"
"Who Are YOU Kiddin'...?"
"He's got Real Moxee..."
"What's Your Problem?"
"Are you In Love with Me? No? Then WTF are you looking at me for?"
"Simmer Down!"
"Hop to IT!"
"Siddown ...and SHAADDAP!"
"Grandma was Slow... But She was OLD!"
"Saaay... What's All Da Hubbub... Bubb?"
"You Been Eatin' Onions!"
"If you use The Head in a RUSH... Don't Forget The Courtesy FLUSH!"
"Whyyyy I aughta Knock Your Block Off!"
"For Two Bits... I'd Kick Your A**!"
"Well I Never...!"
"In All My Born Days..."
"He Doesn't Know if he's been Shot... Fawked... Stabbed...Or Snake Bit!"
"Well...I'll Beeeee...."
"Why... My Good Woman..."
"Well.. Helllooo Gorgeous!"
"Is it Three Strikes, Doc?"
"You're a Daisy if You Do!"
"Holy Smoke!"
"Well Now... Who in The Hell...Are YOU, Mister?"
"Take it Easy...Pop!"
"Here's A Dime... Call Somebody Who Gives a Sh*t!"
"The Prospect of Being Hung... Concentrates The Mind!"
"Rumors of My Death... Have been Greatly Exaggerated!"
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too."
"According to Hoyle..."
"Don't Get your Bowels in an Uproar!"
"Keep Your Shirt on There...Buddy!"
"If you two have got a problem... Take it Outside, Boys!"
"How's Tricks?"
"...and Bob's Your Uncle!"
"Never Mind That Sh*t... Here Comes MONGO!"
"Well, I Don't Mind if I Do!"
"There's Big Doin's... Downtown!"
"Farrrr Out!"
Don't Trust ANYBODY over Thirty!"
"That's BOSS!"
"Groovy..."
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,310
Ottawa, ON
That's heavy man!
 
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gpking

Member
Dec 27, 2013
534
Berkeley Springs, WV
The use of older euphemisms is definitely alive and well in my social circles, at least. All my friends were born in the 90's. My high school coworkers and I would throw around some of them at work. My favorites were:
"Well I'll be!",
"What in tarnation!?",
"Dag-nabbit!",
alternately "Dag-flabbit!",
"Shoot!",
"Darnit!",
"Dang!",
and
"Awh Shucks!"
While we don't understand the meaning/origin of them all because we learned them from our parents/grandparents, they haven't completely vanished from our vocabulary.

I find myself repeating a lot of old phrases my dad uses, like:
"He doesn't have a pot to piss in ... or a window to throw it out!",
"[They're] worthless as t*ts on a bull!",
"[You] sound like a broken record!",
"I'm gonna give you a knuckle sandwich!",
and the one I don't understand from a meaning or grammar standpoint
"Believe you me, ..."

As the inspirations for some phrases and words get lost to time, they'll phase out of popular culture. But as long as someone is still saying them, their kids will repeat it, and their kid's kids will too.
 
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Reprise

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The one that comes to mind right away for me is when I hear or read about "the horse was chomping on (or 'at') the bit").

The correct (or at least original) form is "champing at the bit").

Heard someone on TV the other day using 'chomping', and thought about this...and now here's a thread discussing it :smile: Not quite 'forgotten', but bastidgized for sure :wink:

I'll try to think of some more later...Moose & Mrrsm found a bunch of 'em! :thumbsup:
 
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northcreek

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Jan 15, 2012
3,317
WNY
You guys are a bunch of Duesies (hey that's another one).
 
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Reprise

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Or, (that's / it's, etc.) a Doozy
(Doosie, if you prefer...came from 'Duesenberg', which was what the word was derived from; back then, a Duesenberg was pretty much considered 'the' aspirational marque...similar to how 'Cadillac' came to be later on. Which, in turn, became it's own colloquialism... 'the Cadillac of <insert thing you're talking about>'

(above posted for benefit of the young'uns :smile:
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,310
Ottawa, ON
Don't put the cart in front of the horse.

We should get some automotive ones in here too, like:

Kingpin (predecessor to the ball joint)
Lead sled
Bias ply tires
White wall tires
 

Reprise

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Funny you mention 'kingpin' - I heard that today for the first (?) time.

Posting a link here to 80 or so from the 1900's through 1990's (most of the ones from '60's forward are still used, but I wasn't going to copy / paste them individually). Some I recognize; some I still use myself; others I'd never heard of.

On edit: And here's another 80 - of which I'd never heard of about 90% of, I'd guess...
(forewarning - if this page takes too long to load - stop & reload it - it'll come up fairly fast)
 
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Capote

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Jul 14, 2014
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My mom used these phrases quite often when I was a kid growing up, I say these myself today as a result:

"Up your ass and around the corner"
"Really boils my blood"
"..well they can just scratch their ass"
"Oh cmoooon"
"Right up your alley"
 

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