My oldest brother sent me this.
Lost words from those of us lucky enough to have lived in the 1950s
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 had never heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was 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 Duck's Ass; or 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 blinked, 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!)
Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth... See ya later, alligator! or AFTER WHILE CROCODILE.
Okidoki. You'll notice they left out "Monkey Business"!!!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!"
...I remember them all.
ReplyDeleteI was born at the very end of the 50s (last three months) but I recognize many of those expressions. The other day, I had to explain to my students what being "on the dole" was. Wow, that made me feel old. Not one single student knew what it meant. I hope you have a good week. See you again soon.
ReplyDeleteThat was fun, and I have probably used most of them. Was it Snagglepuss (cat cartoon0 that also said Heavens to Murgatroyd?
ReplyDeleteI am 78 and my Cousin in Illinois, who is older then me, has sent me this list of words and phrases since we both remember them all!!
ReplyDeleteI was born in the last month of the last year of the 1950s but around my house we (my husband who is 6 year younger than me, and both daughters (ages 28 and 23) say Holy Moley; After a while crocodile; Pedal pushers are now capris) I did have to explain (when they were little and reading Curious George) what a "record player" was. And now the oldest girl has one because it's very hipster to own one now and have LPs. hahaha what was past is present again :)
ReplyDeleteSome very familiar phrases there.
ReplyDelete