Would you believe the email spell checker did not recognize the word Murgatroyd? Heavens to Mergatroyd!Lost Words from our childhood: Words gone as fast as the buggy whip! Sad really!
The other day, I mentioned something to one of my grandkids about driving a Jalopy and he looked at me quizzically and said "What the heck is a Jalopy?"
O.M.G. (new phrase)! He never heard of the word jalopy!! I knew I 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 old days we had a lot of 'moxie.' We'd put on our best 'bib and tucker' to' straighten up and fly right'.
We we're 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 old 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. 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 (this sent to me from a very good Swedish friend)
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FABULOUS 40'S and 50'S.
My life basically is broken down into 4 phases. Young (growing up) teens (high school), military and career with SAS. Where have those days gone! What will the....................days of the future bring me.? Will I be able to tell the difference between .......then and now, especially when words differ so. A whole new language is taking effect and now even the government speaks in different terms, a language I really don't understand.
If it wasn't for facebook I probably would have lost contact with most of my good friends. It seems that every day I get to talk with friends from those two periods of my life. I guess, though that FB thinks I am apparently a Russian spy since I can no longer see my blog postings on FB, something about security. So I will send an email with all new postings to you. If you know of anyone that would be interested in seeing those, please feel free to pass it on and they can subscribe to them.
see you in the funny book....................soon
Vito
