They Say Em' From the Golden Era - Slang & Memorable Phrases

[Brooksie]

I know of a few phrases but I do not think they are from the golden era...

I know Amish people say: "Come next grass" and it means coming next spring.

Then when a person says how are you doing my Mom will some times answer "Fair to Middlin" she says that she has heard this phrase forever and she is 74.

I like to say "that's swell" a lot - it's got to be a golden era phrase because it just has that ring to it.

Brooksie

 

[Clara Noir]

I didn't realise how many of these I use without thinking!

So far I can check these off my list of vocabulary:

bee's knees
go to town
icky
drip
keep your shirt on
Bob's your uncle
hold your horses
cheesed off
piece of cake

now i'm off to check those links and see how vintage the rest of my idioms are. quite fascinating really

 

[Staggerly]

I love this thread!

My brother and I own a small delivery service and the business is named "Lickety Split Delivery".

Call me shallow, but if I was looking for a delivery service and saw "Lickety Split," you'd be my man!

...now I understand why WWII took so long. They couldn't understand each other

lol I think I'm going to have to take "chocks away." I think my aviation-buff dad would've appreciated it. It's a goodie.

 

[Parallel Guy]

In a recent trip to 1945, was surprised to hear on the radio shows "groovy" used by hipsters. The other that I found strange was that GI was rarely used in print, and in fact was considered an insult by some. Instead the term was doughboy or doughfoot (I thought those were only for WWI), live and learn.

Personally, I've always taken a shine to slang, it shows the language is alive and well.

 

[blacklagoon]

low life

I always remember the phrase: '' the guy's a real HEEL! ''
The phrase seems to refer to a criminal,who is so slimy in his characteristics,methods and activities,that it even surpassed the descriptive phrase: '' he's lower than a snake's belly! ''. ( my theory is that a snake can glide over a quagmire of thick,wet muddy water,whereas a heel simply sinks ).
so,if you don't mind if i add to this little dictionary:

heel - a low life criminal

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Cricket

I remember the Marx Brothers using that term, Blacklagoon:

Secretary: "The dean is tired of cooling his heels in the hall."
Groucho: "Tell him I'm cooling a couple heels in here."

Chamorro. How about "Cricket"?

I have a book of Dan DeCarlo's cartoons, which on one page has a near-naked girl asking a guy out of frame, "But is it cricket to play poker with a pinochle deck, Mr. Bitterman?!" Her hand has five kings, his has five aces.


Lee

 

[Ellie]

Forgotten Phrases

I love the old phrases that my grandparents use.

I think my favorite one which my grandpa says to my grandma if a telemarketer calls or if somebody is at the door is "If it's the War Department, tell them I'm out!"

Anybody else have any favorite old phrases?

 

[CharlieH.]

I always like to yell woids along these lines-

Hey you'se mugs!
Aaah, tell it to da marines!
That's one for mr. Ripley!
Hey! What's da big idea?
No soap!
What's buzzin', cousin?

 

[Ellie]

Wise guy, eh?

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

In the face of a challenge: "Let's have a go at it"

 

[BegintheBeguine]

My dad always said about my husband who likes to sing karaoke, "He can't carry a tune to save a duck." lol

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Since I pay the electric bill, "Turn out those lights!"


Lee

 

[Brooksie]

My mom always likes to say someone or something is stranger than a seven cent nickel. My mom and dad have all kinds of little strange sayings and phrases.

LB

 

[The Wolf]

Is this trip really necessary?

"Keep 'em flyin', boys."
"Ahh, applesauce!"
and I forgot the other ones I had in mind.

Sincerely,
the Wolf

 

[WideBrimm]

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink"

From the early years of the twentieth century: nineteen-one, nineteen-two, etc. (not nineteen-O-One like we say today). Grandma used to say she was born in Nineteen-two.

In the USA (in the Golden Era) nobody referred to Prohibition. It was always the Volstead Act.

Until WWII the previous war (WWI) was referred to as The Great War.

When was the last time (in the USA) anyone needed to use the lavatory ? Used to be a commonly used term.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My personal favorite....

Hey, what comes after 75? (Answers; "76!") That's the spirit!

Did you ever think about where some of these phrases come from? Take this one for instance: "What in tarnation!?". That is generations of southerners compressing the words "What in THE ENTIRE NATION!?" into simply, "...tarnation"!

Someone once told me that the words "twins", is simply the compression of two words, "two ones". Don't know about that one!

And, did you know that the dollar sign is a devolution of the letters U.S. superimposed on one another?! The original dollar sign was U (and) S, one on top of the other. Eventually the bottom of the U was dropped. And later still, one of the parallel lines of the U was dropped to form the present day $. You can take that to the bank! (to use and old expression!).

What was it that old Will Sonnet (Walter Brennan) used to say?...."No brag; just fact!"

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

In upstate New York, they refer to it as the 'basement'! I hadn't a clue what they were referring to! In England it's the 'bog' or the 'loo'! I don't care for this trend that is now starting, referring to it simply as the 'toilet'. I saw signs in the terminal at DFW recently; 'Toilet'. That's a bit crase for a public venue me thinks.

-dixon cannon

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

Johnny On The Spot

A toast my grandmother always used ..

"Here's to Eve, the mother of our race, who always wore her figleaf in the proper place ..
Here's to Adam, the father of us all, who was 'johnny on the spot' when the leaves began to fall!"

 

[Flivver]

During the first half of the 20th century, automobiles were often referred to in the U.S. as "machines".

I still remember visiting my grandfather and having him always ask my dad; "Where did you park your machine?"

When I visited Italy 15 years ago, I was pleased to hear the word "machina" (machine) still being used to refer to a car.

 

[scotrace]

Thanks for sharing that, Flivver. My great-grandfather, Ike, used to ask that very same question every time we visited.

He was a farmer, made moonshine during Proh... er... the Volstead Act, and lived to be 92.


So does anyone answer the Don Ameche?