Lost Words from many years ago
By Tom Morrow
There are words we commonly used during our early lifetimes that no longer exist. Would you believe the email spell checker did not recognize the word “Mergatroyd” – as in “Heavens to Mergatroyd!”
The other day a not so elderly lady said something to her son about driving a “jalopy” and he looked at her quizzically saying, “What the heck is a Jalopy?” He never heard of the word jalopy. She knew she was old, but not that old. About a month ago a reader sent me 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 more “moxie.” We’d put on our best “bib and tucker” to “straighten up and fly right.” We used such phrases as: “Heavens to Betsy!” “Gee whillikers!” “Jumping Jehoshaphat!” “Holy moley!” in our everyday language.
We all thought we were ‘in like Flynn” “ cookin’ with gas,” and “living the life of Riley.” Even a regular guy couldn’t accuse us of being a “knucklehead,” a “nincompoop” or a “pill.” No, not for “all the tea in China!”
Back in our youth, life used to be “swell,” but when’s the last time anything was really “swell?”
Whatever happened to the hairstyles of “beehives,” “pageboys” and the “D.A.” What about the wearing of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle
shoes and pedal pushers?.
Oh, my aching back, remember when Kilroy was here? 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 and phrases we grew up with have all but vanished.
Long gone are: “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.”
This all leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth. Well, I hope you are all “Hunky Dory” after reading this.
My thanks to the loyal reader who sent me this look back at yesteryear, as well as the mystery writer who gathered all these once-familiar sayings to give us a delightful stroll down memory lane.
70 & COUNTING – Oceanside’s Earl and Connie Degrafft this week are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary (April 3, 1948). They are 50-year residents of Vista and Oceanside. They moved their family from Rhode Island to North County, fulfilling a dream Earl had of returning to his “Paradise” after being in the Navy, stationed in San Diego during World War ll. Earl and Connie presently live at Merrill Gardens in Oceanside. Congrats!
SCAG SEZ — Remember when we used to talk about who was missing at the birthday party, then we talked about who was missing from the wedding. Now we just talk about who’s missing. – Cecil Scaglione, Mature Life Features
FIND ‘UM – You can order any of my novels online at Amazon.com. For a list on line go to: www.Amazon.com, just look for my name.
Humorous or human-interest stories or notes for my osidenews.com column can be forwarded via e-mail to me at: quotetaker@msn.com