We walk the walk but do we talk the talk?

[Atterbury Dodd]

Me to brother: Snap out of it, sap!
Brother: Oh dry up, nut.

 

[dhermann1]

Daisy Buchanan sent me message in which she said that something "stinks rotten", which is a phrase my mother used, but I seldom if ever have heard since. I don't think she thought of it as an old term, but I really think it is. Downright quaint.
My theory of "dude" being used by the younger generation is this: The term was somewhat in vogue in the 60's but not like now. But in the 80's, when Ninja Turtles were all the rage, they used the term incessantly. The Disney Radio channel started using pseudo 60's hip talk in the 80's also. The result is that a whole generation thinks they use phrases that are "street smart", but they were actually spoon fed them by the mass media.

 

[Dr Doran]

Great thread, Mamajama (and all the rest of youse). I sadly confess to still using "dude" even after three effortful regimes over the years of attempting to remove it from my vocabulary. I MUST TRY HARDER. In the delightful film "Man of the Century" the protagonist uses many 20s terms, much to the confusion and chagrin of the modern New York world in which (unbeknownst to himself) he lives. I use "swell" a lot, but I have no idea if it bears the correct provenience.
The expression "you, sir, are a maniac" is wonderful and I shall adopt it.

 

[CharlieH.]

Oh, you bet I'm hep to the jive! Problem is that I can't squeeze into me chit chat without sounding like a drip, see...

 

[Decobelle]

I have not actually used the word "dude" except in the context of a discussion on western wear. Nor do I use the term "party" as a verb.

I never felt comfortable talking like other kids my age; I still recall in 4th grade, in a rare act of trying to assimilate (lasted about 1 second) I blurted out "that's awesome!" - and felt like a complete idiot. "That's just swell" is more my style, along with "Golly," Don't rush me, big boy" "that's a three column splash" (for a big news story), and "take a powder, buster" (this last handy when riding public transportation to work. It confuses them).

When Applewood Press began publishing reprints of the 1930s Nancy Drew books there was a lot of ink about their "rich language" and quaint expressions - "roadster," "ice-box," "chums," "shady characters." I read those books in the 70s and never questioned the language - it seemed perfectly usual to me.

 

[Adelaidey]

Completely forgot that I, too, use the term "ice box".... its just so normal to me that it slipped my mind as being vintage slang....

And I too, am now adopting "You, sir, are a maniac!".... along with "Take a powder, buster.".... Love it! lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

When Applewood Press began publishing reprints of the 1930s Nancy Drew books there was a lot of ink about their "rich language" and quaint expressions - "roadster," "ice-box," "chums," "shady characters." I read those books in the 70s and never questioned the language - it seemed perfectly usual to me.

Ah! Nancy Drew (and her unacknowledged cousins, the Dana Girls) cast a mighty influence on me as well. I once asked my mother if I could dye my hair "titian," and she looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

 

[patrick1987]

Reminds me of Steed calling Emma's hair color "titian" which is why I use that term to describe BegintheBeguine's hair color. With the same result from listeners as from LizzieMaine's mother..

 

[dhermann1]

Ice box

When I was a kid, in 1955, there were still ice boxes in Chautauqua, and an ICE HOUSE. The ice man had a truck (a generation earlier it would have bee a horse drawn wagon) and brought big blocks of ice around, which people stuck in the bottom section of their oak ice boxes. Now I don't believe the ice blocks still came from cutting pieces out of the lake in the winter, as they did in the 19th century, but maybe they did. Anyway I was in the ice house once. I was with camp counselor who had left a watermelon in there. We sat and gobbled down frozen watermelon in the ice house. Sadly, the roof of the ice house caved in from the snow the next winter.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I actually know a Sam Hill. I am more amused by his name than I ought to be. lol

--Leslie

I actually know a Jim Beam. No, he doesn't drink. lol

Lee

 

[panamag8or]

Daisy Buchanan sent me message in which she said that something "stinks rotten", which is a phrase my mother used, but I seldom if ever have heard since. I don't think she thought of it as an old term, but I really think it is. Downright quaint.
My theory of "dude" being used by the younger generation is this: The term was somewhat in vogue in the 60's but not like now. But in the 80's, when Ninja Turtles were all the rage, they used the term incessantly. The Disney Radio channel started using pseudo 60's hip talk in the 80's also. The result is that a whole generation thinks they use phrases that are "street smart", but they were actually spoon fed them by the mass media.

I am a child of the 80's, and I admit, I say "dude" all the time. I like to blame it on Jeff Spicoli, seeing as how I never watched the ninja turtles.

 

[Dan G]

I am a child of the 80's, and I admit, I say "dude" all the time. I like to blame it on Jeff Spicoli, seeing as how I never watched the ninja turtles.

Guilty as charged ... Jeff was too big an influence on me as well.... "well what's he gonna do? **** or kill us?!"

 

[Private Eye]

Brilliant!

Upon nearly being killed whilst merging onto the interstate, I apparently shouted "You, sir, are a maniac!" to the immense amusement of my passenger.

HA HA! That's rich!

I know I blurt out a lot of "anachronistic expletives" myself. They're pretty unconscious.

 

[Rafter]

I am a child of the 80's, and I admit, I say "dude" all the time. I like to blame it on Jeff Spicoli, seeing as how I never watched the ninja turtles.

"Fast Times At Ridgemount High",
I love it when Spicoli orders pizza and his teacher says,

"Am I hallicunating? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just learnin' about Cuba, havin some food."

Hahah.
Awesome film dude!!

 

[dhermann1]

Dude coming from Fast Times at Ridgemont High may be correct. I always seem to change the channel whenever that comes on. Not my generation, I guess.
Speaking of "Well I'll be dipped . . . etc." there's also the phrase "He doesn't know s**t from Shinola". Who remembers Shinola!?
(For you younger folks, it's an old shoe polish brand.)

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

This is a great thread! And I am glad to know what exactly Shinola was...I always wondered.
LizzieMaine-I LOVE the Dana Girls too!

My grandmother always said "davenport" instead of couch, so I tend to also. I say "coverlet" instead of bedspread, and I call some of my girlfriends "doll". I, too, have a good friend named Sam Hill, and he is currently teaching me how to speak jive, being as how he is black and I am not. He and my beau, who is also black, laugh and laugh at me when I try, poor little white girl from Oregon that I am. But I persevere!

I hate "dude". My soon to be 11 year old stepdaughter calls adults that, including me, but I am working on nipping that one in the bud. I make it very clear that it is NOT appropriate. My son, who is 7, says sir and ma'am if I prompt him. I think manners class should be required in schools!!

I must incorporate the "maniac" line into my life. That says everything you want to say without using one bad word! lol

 

[Feraud]

"Fast Times At Ridgemount High",
I love it when Spicoli orders pizza and his teacher says,

"Am I hallicunating? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just learnin' about Cuba, havin some food."

Hahah.
Awesome film dude!!

lol I just laughed out loud reading this one!
Fast times is a great movie.

 

[dhermann1]

This is a great thread! And I am glad to know what exactly Shinola was...I always wondered.
LizzieMaine-I LOVE the Dana Girls too!

My grandmother always said "davenport" instead of couch, so I tend to also. I say "coverlet" instead of bedspread, and I call some of my girlfriends "doll". I, too, have a good friend named Sam Hill, and he is currently teaching me how to speak jive, being as how he is black and I am not. He and my beau, who is also black, laugh and laugh at me when I try, poor little white girl from Oregon that I am. But I persevere!

I hate "dude". My soon to be 11 year old stepdaughter calls adults that, including me, but I am working on nipping that one in the bud. I make it very clear that it is NOT appropriate. My son, who is 7, says sir and ma'am if I prompt him. I think manners class should be required in schools!!

I must incorporate the "maniac" line into my life. That says everything you want to say without using one bad word! lol

They're called Davenports because there used to be a company in Davenport, Iowa that made sofas.

My mother, ever the archaic word user, once made an old friend crack up when she said counterpain, instead of bedspread.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

My dad, born in 1924, said pillowslip.
I have a chart that shows the difference between Davenports, Chesterfields, divans, sofas, couches and maybe something else.

 

[Decobelle]

"Fast Times At Ridgemount High",

Oh, now I know who you all mean. I didn't see the movie but there was a fellow - or rather, I suppose, a "dude" - at my high school in the 80s who dressed like that character all the time (he may be roaming the halls yet, for all I know). Ironically, though it was me, model student and vintage girl, who became a legend for ordering a pizza on campus!

LizzieMaine and Adelaidey, I wish we had known each other when we were 10! We could have swapped books and solved mysteries together.