Mur=
gatroyd ? Do you remember that word?
Wou=
ld you believe the spell-checker did not recognize the word, =
Murgatroyd?
Hea=
vens to Murgatroyd!
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.
Wel=
l, I hope you are Hunky Dory when you read this and chuckle.
Abo=
ut a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become =
obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology.
The=
se phrases included: Don’t touch that dial; Carbon copy; You sound like =
a broken record; and Hung out to dry.
Bac=
k 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.
Hea=
vens 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!
Bac=
k 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! Evidently Kilroy was here, but he sure 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. =
Poo=
f, 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?
Lon=
g gone: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Hey! It’s your nickel. Don’t forget =
to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper.
Wel=
l, 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!)
Lea=
ves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth.
See=
ya later, alligator! Okey-Dokey .
(thanks to my =
OLD friend Steve M for the forward)
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"