H=
eavens to Murgatroyd! Murgatroyd? When was the last time you heard the =
word Murgatroyd? There are so many “Lost Words from our youth. =
‘Words gone as surely as the buggy whip! Sad =
really!
T=
he other day, a not so elderly (65) lady said something to her grandson =
about driving a “jalopy” and he looked at her quizzically =
and said what in the world is a jalopy? OMG (new phrase!), he had never =
heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was old but not that =
old.
W=
ell, I hope you are “hunky dory” after you read this and =
chuckle.
T=
here are phrases and words, expressions that have become obsolete =
because of the inexorable march of time and technology. These phrases =
included "Don’t touch that dial," “carbon copy," =
"You sound like a broken record" and "Hung out to =
dry."
B=
ack in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We tried to straighten up =
and fly right. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers! Jumping Jehoshaphat! =
Holy moley! Peachy keen! We were 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!
B=
ack in the olden days, life used to be swell but when was the last time =
anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of the D.A, the duckbill =
hairdo, penny loafers, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, and pedal pushers. =
Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here but he isn’t =
anymore.
W=
e wake up from what surely has been just a short nap and before we can =
say, “Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!/This is a fine kettle of =
fish!” – we discover that the words we grew up with, the words =
that seemed as omnipresent as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a =
notice from our tongues, our pens, and our =
keyboards.
P=
oof, go the words of our youth, the words we’ve left behind. We blink =
and they’re gone. Where have all those phrases =
gone?
L=
ong gone: Pshaw, The milkman did it, Hey!, It’s your nickel. Don’t yank =
my chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Fiddlesticks! I’ll see you in the =
funny papers. Don’t take any wooden nickels. How about a =
"whatchamacallit"?
I=
t turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than =
Carter has liver pills. This can be disturbing stuff! We of a certain =
age have been blessed to live in changeful 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 fond memories there are words that once =
did not exist and there were words that once strutted their days upon =
the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our collective =
memory. See ya later, alligator!
[=
Thanks Mary Beth for the forward]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"