Backstory
It all started when I said to a young person, “Aw shucks.” It was meant to be a joke. But she had no idea what that meant. I realized she had probably never heard the comment. Oh dear! I had used language that is no longer spoken. I’m a dinosaur!
Obsolete Words
Someone sent me an email with obsolete words. They are the words or phrases that were common in our youth, that are never heard today.
Some would be considered politically incorrect – Like the Honeymooners’ threat to “send his wife to the moon.” When there was a guilty person to be found, you might hear – “The milkman did it.” Today’s kids would have no idea who that was.
How about – “Hey! It’s your nickel: . . . “Don’t forget to pull the chain” . . . “Knee high to a grasshopper.”
A junk car was known as a jalopy. When was the last time you heard – jalopy?
To someone repeating themselves, you might say – “You sound like a broken record.” Sure has no relevance today.
Believe it or not, a darn good cuss word was – “Fiddlesticks!” A really cool exit greeting – “I’ll see you in the funny papers.” A caution – “Don’t take any wooden nickels.”
And now, those words are obsolete. The words we grew up with have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues. our pens or our keyboards.
P.S. For any parent who wants to masquerade as cool, Hugateen.com has published Ultimate List of Teen Slang Meanings Every Parent Should Know. That should keep you in the groove –at least for another month or so. Use the slang in the wrong context and instead of cool, you’ll appear Cheugy – out of date, trying too hard. There may be no hope!
[Show #648]