Lost our childhood words

[scrollerpete]

How many do you remember?

Subject: Fwd: Lost Words From Our Childhood!

 

 

 

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 ... 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 D.A.; of 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 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!) 

Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth.

 See ya later, alligator!   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!"

 

[jerry walters]

AMEN

[barb.j.enders]

I am not a child of the '50s but I do remember some of those words.  Some that I use, that are met ????, are "stubble jumper" and "gloaming".  I am a prairie gal and those from the the prairies should recognize the phrases.

 

Edited March 31, 2024 by barb.j.enders

[Scrappile]

You are a little "whippersnapper" I was never sure what that was.  "Got a lick'n"   or plane "got a spanking".  "ain't whistling dixie". 
 

[Bill WIlson]

I'm 64 and am familiar with all of those.  Probably have used all of them at one time or another.  Every generation loses a part of their lexicon as they age.  I already see it with my kids and grandkids.  My daughters (or their husbands) will use terms & phrases that were popular when they were kids, but my grandkids look at them like they're speaking a foreign language.

[nrscroller]

I remember some of these, I made a copy of this post and gonna use it on my radio show I do.  I voluntter 2 days a week at a local FM station and have a 2 hour music show for the 55 and over audience and I play a lot of 40-60s music. 

Thanks

Bill

[ChelCass]

Oh Good Golly Miss Molly I remember them well. Still use some today.