Phrases you don't hear anymore:

[Buttoneer]

"Confirmed bachelor"

Do you have an outdated phrase?

[walkingman]

1. A friend laughed at me the other day when I said

I need to put on my britches - instead of pants.

No one says "rubbers" anymore - condoms.

[JoseBalow]

13. "No one says 'rubbers' anymore"

Galoshes

[dchill]

77. That's just swell.

[TexLaProgressive]

111. A generation prior to me called them "safes"

You know the Greatest Generation

[Stargleamer]

2. Alas, I don't think people say "Gee Whiz" any more

I kind of miss it. "Only trouble is, Gee Whiz. . . ."

[johnp3907]

3. I like to use antiquated phrases.

Like “Gonna grab something outta the icebox and chill in front of the Dumont.”

[Iggo]

89. Me, too. It's fun.

On the regular I use blimey, sure and begorah, shiver me timbers…

Stuff like that.

[soldierant]

149. You must live for September 19 each year.

[Iggo]

165. Aarh.

[Pluvious]

98. I remember my mother...

... telling how when she was a little girl, the ice man would give them a few ice slivers as a treat in the summertime

[Iggo]

166. Hey, that was my dad's first job! (n/t)

[Dave Bowman]

4. "Groovy, man."

[calguy]

84. Far out, man.

That is so... heavy.

[chowder66]

5. Rumpy-pumpy

[Shellback Squid]

6. wotcha! UK

[WestMichRad]

7. I'm gonna...

… go stretch out on the Chesterfield and take a nap.

[dgauss]

8. Holy cow. Never understood it but but always thought cows somehow deserved a phrase like that.

[radical noodle]

10. My daughter says that all the time

But she's a teacher so has to watch what she says. The kids love that phrase and giggle when she says it.

[True Dough]

16. "Holy cow" lost a major proponent

with the death of Harry Carey decades ago.

[Sanity Claws]

47. Phil Rizzuto always used Holy Cow

Rizzuto was an announcer for the New York Yankees for ages. I think he retired in the 1980s.

[displacedvermoter]

52. Baseball Hall of Famer

Worked with Bill White for a long time, Frank Messer, too.

[enid602]

107. Carey

Never realized Drew Carey is his son until I saw this photo.

[True Dough]

110. You're joking, right?

Because they are not father/son.

Hard to tell via the innerwebz, but maybe you meant that in jest.

[enid602]

137. Confusion

The photo posted was not Harry Carey (American actor), but rather Harry Caray (né Carabina), Chicago sportscaster. Confusion indeed.

[True Dough]

139. Ah, I see.

Having the same name does not help matters! I'm unfamiliar with the actor, at least without doing some research.

[FSogol]

155. And the great uncle of Mariah Carey.

Small world!

[malthaussen]

90. Isn't that Hindu? n/t

[dgauss]

109. Never thought of that. From Wikipedia:

"Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, is a minced oath or euphemism. The expression dates to at latest 1905.[1] Its earliest known appearance was in a tongue-in-cheek letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Journal: "A lover of the cow writes to this column to protest against a certain variety of Hindu oath having to do with the vain use of the name of the milk producer. There is the profane exclamations, 'holy cow!' and, 'By the stomach of the eternal cow!'"[2] The phrase appears to have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language and may have been based on a general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions, particularly Hinduism.[1]

It may also have been adapted from a Gaelic phrase, holy cathu, meaning "holy sorrow."[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_cow_(expression)

[3catwoman3]

9. My husband is doing his best to keep...

…”peachy keen” from disappearing.

[Nittersing]

38. My cousin's maiden name was Keene

She was not a fan.

[RainCaster]

11. Mature Republican

They may be old, but they are NOT mature, stable or trustworthy.

[rubbersole]

12. Phonograph and record player.

"Turntable" sounds like it should have been first.

[wnylib]

18. Add LP and 45 to that.

[royable]

19. Try "spindle." Some of the earliest records were wax cylinders.

You mounted the cylinder on a spindle that spun, and lowered the record needle on a pivot to touch the rotatiing outside of the cylinder. The needle fed the sound to a big horn hanging from an arm over the spindle. So, no turning table.

[Pluvious]

99. And yet...

Some people are trying to keep it alive...

( there is a surprisingly vibrant secondhand market for vinyl albums, I was shocked at how much money I got dumping my old ones at the recycled records store )

[rubbersole]

106. My late ex had every Elvis, Beatles, Baez etc. LP and 45 ever made.

Our kids are not selling any of her vast (500+) collection of early '60s through '80s vinyl. They consider it a retirement investment. I was amazed at the demand.

[Pluvious]

112. They could be very lucky indeed...

Depending upon the rarity and condition

During my research on the resellability of them, I saw some staggering prices paid for some
of the most rare and sought after ones

[rubbersole]

116. When moving, the one that caught my eye...

...was a red translucent 45 Elvis record with a Sun Records label. Not mint but very unique. Might be worth a bag of groceries someday 😌.

[yorkster]

67. I wonder if the dog sled driver was supposed to

be Scandinavian. Maybe I'm thinking of
"Yumpin' yiminy!".

[yorkster]

82. I too have heard by jingo in the wayback of my

childhood...or maybe an old movie on TCM.

[yorkster]

75. Should add that I read those books so long ago,

that I only have a dim memory of them.
Good reads. I was about 14 or so and definitely was drawn by the titles...The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, etc. Who could resist...

[Keepthesoulalive]

15. Wurlitzer

[ProfessorGAC]

94. Family Friends Had One

Console organ. A million buttons and switches plus a rhythm box. But, I sounded weak compared to my dad's Hammond.
One of the schools where I sub has a Wurlizter piano. Not in very good shape, but the guy they bring in can still tune it. Wurlitzer never had good action, but their spinets were very affordable so lots of people had them. Like my aunt & uncle.
There was a store in the town where I grew up that was all Wurlitzer & Fender.
After Gibson bought Baldwin, who bought Wurlitzer, they quit making instruments with that name on them.
Their only products appear to be jukeboxes.

[Keepthesoulalive]

124. There is still a Wurlitzer

At Radio City Music Hall. When I was younger they would turn the lights on over it and then the Rockettes would come out.

[ProfessorGAC]

125. Oh, The Giant Pipe Organ

I read a book about those huge theater organs made by Wurlizter & Kimball.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that the RCMA organ was the Kimball design & layout but built by Wurlizter.
I got to play a big pipe organ a couple of times when I was a kid. 12 or 13 y/o as I recall.
When the volume pedal is pushed, you can just feel the sound.

[True Dough]

17. Here are a few:

Making whoopee

Jive turkey

Here's a dime. Call somebody who cares. (A dime ain't getting you much of anything these days.)

As nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers

You bet your sweet bippy!

Six of one, half a dozen of the other (My dad used to say that a lot.)

Bob's your uncle

[Walleye]

21. My late boyfriend, named Bob used to say Bob'syour uncle

And my mom loved six of 1/2 a dozen of the other. And kids today probably wonder where the expression “drop a dime on somebody” came from

[sdfernando]

103. Dropping a dime

has a whole different meaning nowadays…all together (gratuitous Airplane reference).

And who says “nowadays” anymore??

[whathehell]

105. "Bob's your uncle"!

That's British slang, I believe...I first heard it on a British TV series and found it hillarious!

[MaryMagdaline]

57. Drop a dime on someone

No pay phones and even when there were pay phones, no longer a dime

[Wiz Imp]

132. There are still pay phones in the US

but there are less than 100000 left.

https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/pay-phones-coming-back-free.htm

There Are Still Many Phoneless People

The slow death of the pay phone has been harder for some people than for others. Though the vast majority of Americans now own some kind of cell phone, there are still some — including impoverished or unhoused people — who depend on the availability of public pay phones.

In some cities, innovators are working to solve the problem. Futel is a project based in Portland, Oregon, that updates old pay phones to provide free calls and voicemail. It has eight outdoor, pay phone-style phones in Portland, plus one in Long Beach, Washington, and one each in Ypsilanti and Detroit, Michigan. "Denial of telephony services has long been a tactic used against undesirable populations," write Futel's founders, "and our devices will counteract that."

In Philadelphia, an "amateur phone collective" called PhilTel is doing more than just preserving old pay phones: They're installing new ones, minus the "pay" part. The project aims to create a network of phones that make free calls anywhere in North America.

though I guess if they're free, they're no longer payphones.

[yellowdogintexas]

176. I still say Six of one; half dozen of the other. So does Mr YD nt

[wnylib]

20. Bull in a china shop.

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:27 PM - Edit history (1)

I said that once in front of some younger people who had no clue what I meant. Seems to me that it is self-explanitary, but perhaps they never heard of a china shop.

Speaking of china, who says they are using the "good china" any more? How many people still have a set of china?

[JohnnyRingo]

41. "Don't use my good scissors"

haha

[yellowdogintexas]

178. that depends If there is a person who likes to sew in the house

you will hear the scissors comment!

[electric_blue68]

190. Hahahaaa! That was my mom on rare occasion...

She had gone to dressmaking school after HS in NYC.

She was a fabulous sewer! She knew enough from her design courses to alter things. She might have designed here & there, maybe more before she was married.

Our clothes often had the qualities of looking like they came from Sak's Fifth Ave! 😄 🥰

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

43. About a decade ago I promoted my good china

to being my every day china. I love it. I'm only sorry I didn't do it years earlier. The pattern is Royal Doulton Tonkin.

[MaryMagdaline]

55. Nice! I use mine as well. Also the silver. Keeps it sparkly

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

62. Never got the good silver, unfortuately. If I had

I would be using it daily.

[CTyankee]

81. I sold my Grand Baroque patterned sterling silver set I inherited from my mother. Nodody polishes silver any more.

I got $1,300 for the entire collection. Gorgeous pattern but too hard to keep up any more.

[yellowdogintexas]

179. my mom had her mother's sterling which was a very old pattern

I can't remember the name of it but she did use it. She also had her mother's everyday silver plate which was what we used most of the time.

I have a (now discontinued) heavy weight Oneida set of stainless which I love and it really pisses me off that it was discontinued. Of course I received all of the silver plate pattern I picked out with the first marriage and still have it.

[yellowdogintexas]

177. I say Bull in a china shop quite often and yes I have not one but two sets of fine china

One was mine which was mostly wedding presents from my first wedding. The other set belonged to Mr YD's mother. He brought it to her from Hong Kong when he was in the Navy. That was the one thing she wanted when he asked her what she might like him to bring her. The two sets are very similar: white with platinum rims. I have used them from time to time, when I had folks over for a nice dinner.

We also have a set of Mikasa Italian Countryside which I love! It is a beautiful white and looks nice enough to dress up for a company dinner,

The last time I had my china out, I had the entire family over for Thanksgiving and used a combo of my china and the everyday white I was using at the time. (Not the Mikasa, some heavy stoneware which I gave away because I kept dropping it)

[wnylib]

184. My mother also had a set of fine china from my brother

who sent it to her from Japan when he was in the Navy.

I never did have a set of fine china. Stoneware is ok with me.

[10 Turtle Day]

22. Momisms from my mom:

It’s your nickel - after calling her, which means talk as long as you want because I’m the one feeding the pay phone or paying the phone bill.

He pulled a shrewdie on me - when someone pulls a fast one on her

Damed if you do, damed if you don’t - no good choices

Tan your hide - get a spanking

Month of Sundays - a very long time

Skedaddle - leave in a hurry

Long tall drink of water - a handsome man

I just realized that the explanation to my first two, pay phone and pulled a fast one, are also no longer in use. I guess I’m officially old.

Edited to fix typo

[LeftInTX]

186. my mom had some weird sayings. Can't remember all them, but pants were britches.

She was from Florida.

[Earl_from_PA]

23. My mom called

The bathroom, "the water closet".

[Nittersing]

40. Mine too!

"WC paper" on the shopping list.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

54. My English husband calls it "bum fodder"

All 3 of my kids adopted it.

[malthaussen]

91. Abbreviated "BUMF," should you ever encounter that word. n/t

[Phentex]

24. Monkey Business

got some strange looks and a few chuckles after I said this to the Google Fiber installers

They never heard of it

[Pluvious]

100. Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle !!

[soldierant]

150. Now that reminds me of a science fiction story

in which a man decides to obliterate himself by time traveling to before he was born and killing his father. But when he does that, nothing happens. He is still alive and well. He says, "Well, I'll be a son of a b***h," and the author's last word is "And, in a manner of speaking, he was."

[Emile]

25. Colder than a well diggers ass.

My mother-in-law said that all the time. How did she know the temperature of a well diggers ass? I never asked.

[Wicked Blue]

53. Thermometer?

[Emile]

58. LOL picturing my mother-in-law holding a thermometer

[jmowreader]

145. That was one of my dad's favorites too

He also liked "shit in one hand and wish in the other, and see which one fills up first."

Also "I'm so hungry I'd eat a skunk's ass."

[Emile]

147. LOL, sounds just like what my mother-in-law used to say.

[Lars39]

26. Cool beans!

[surfered]

27. Right on

[Ocelot II]

28. Far out. Groovy.

[peacebuzzard]

126. thats what I was thinking.

[DBoon]

153. Bitchen

[lark]

29. Back 40

Mom was from rural TX and she and her family used phrase a lot but no one else does anymore.

[cksmithy]

73. We still call the back corner of our yard

"the back 40" because our yard is so small. Growing up in the 1950's it was a common expression on tv western shows that my parents always on. I'm from California.

[lark]

140. Tons of ranching and agriculture in CA, so it would make sense they'd use it too,

[CTyankee]

123. I grew up in Texas and we said "Hot damn" a lot...

[LeftInTX]

187. My son says it.

[macwriter]

30. Easy Peasy NT

[JohnnyRingo]

39. I hate that phrase.

Like something you'd say if you were a kindergarten teacher.

[soldierant]

151. I have a friend who likes it

and he is a retired pediatrician. Not exactly a kindergarten teacher - but not so different.

[Niagara]

70. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

[Diamond_Dog]

31. Par for the course.

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)

A fine how-do-you-do.

Wake up and smell the coffee!

Dollars to donuts.

Referring to an unmarried woman as an “old maid”. (Thank God that one is not used any more).

[Pluvious]

101. I remember that "wake up and smell the coffee" got new life...

... from a great scene in the first sequel to Alien, Aliens?

[Diamond_Dog]

118. I will have to ask Mr. Diamond

He loves both of those movies!

[Pluvious]

142. I might be miss remembering...

I thought it was the line :

"Game over man, game over man, wake up and smell the coffee"

But now I'm not so sure

I think I read that the phrase originated from Ann Landers an advice columnist of all places lol

[Diamond_Dog]

143. I don't know if Ann Landers originated that phrase

But it was one of her favorite phrases to use in her advice columns, which I read every day in the papers as a kid.

[Pluvious]

144. A bit more background on the phrase

This is what I stumbled upon

I'm guessing she picked it up from the Nescafé ads, and helped popularize it
( or was she in the ads saying it? I guess we'll never know lol )

This one, as far as we can tell, originated in a Nescafé ad campaign and was popularized by the late advice columnist Ann Landers. Some people think it should be "wake up and smell the roses" but they're wrong. That phrase is actually a mixture of the old standard "stop and smell the roses" and "wake up and smell the coffee."

https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/2013/0504/15-hidden-meanings-of-popular-food-phrases/Wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee

[soldierant]

154. Ann Landers and Dear Abby ("Abigail van Buren")

didn't just look alike - they were twin sisters. Their real first names were "Esther Pauline" and "Pauline Esther." I kid you not (now there's a phrase!) And their advice and their styles of writing were quite similar. Which makes it next to impossible to remember whether one picked up a phrase from one or the other. One is said to have originated the acronym MYOB (which desperately needs to get revived in today's America.) But don't ask me which.

[doc03]

32. Some I wish I never heard again like "My Bad", calling a movie a "Flick", "Dude"

I ain't no fucking dude, "Woke"

[Diamond_Dog]

44. A big YES to all of those, doc03!

Mr. Diamond still says “flick”. It drives me up the wall.

[chouchou]

33. Gonna sit right down and right me a letter!

[JohnnyRingo]

34. Can we add "it is what it is"?

I don't even know what that means or when everyone started saying it. It sounds like a capitulatory phrase when you're at a loss for more eloquent words.
Everybody says it though, and I can't change it. I guess it is what it is.

[Zambero]

42. It depends on what the meaning of the word is is!

Oops, scratch that one. It just might get you impeached!

[underpants]

79. Very 90's & 00's to me

I used to here it a lot at work mostly from people who feel like they HAVE to say something.

[MaryMagdaline]

95. Hate that expression

[nocoincidences]

35. I hear this from one of my housemates and no one else.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[yellowdogintexas]

180. we both say "That's My Story and I am sticking to it" . nt

[JohnnyRingo]

36. Land o' Goshen! ... and "Republicans are the party of fiscal reasonability"

Twofer!!

[Zambero]

37. The Bees Knees

[greatauntoftriplets]

45. Spinster.

[rubbersole]

71. Goes with #31 - "old maid"...

...my grandfather used both .

[sop]

46. "Dial a phone number"

[hunter]

48. "Out in the tules."

That was a California phrase my grandma and her sister used. If you lived far from the city you lived out in the tules, which were California's Central Valley marshlands before they were all drained and converted to farmland.

There were some derogatory connotations to it, not quite so harsh as "rube" or "bumpkin."

[icnorth]

49. Perhaps not politically correct and...

I may get smoked for saying it but, a looong time ago I heard this phrase expressing anatomical appreciation, "she has a nice hitch in her get along." Okay, I will leave quietly.

[marble falls]

50. "loyal opposition"

[ShepKat]

51. I use so many of these !

and not too many I don't. I swear i've said 75% of these in the last month.
Golly ! (I hear that in Clara's voice in back to the future 3)

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

56. Big Hairy Deal

One of my faves.

[Wicked Blue]

59. Faaaaar freaking out

also Faaaar f*cking out.

Too cool. Too cool for school.

Total bummer.

He's such a winner (meaning loser)

[Diamond_Dog]

65. I still say "bummer."

[Wicked Blue]

69. Me too

Also, what a drag.

[EarnestPutz]

122. In college in the late sixties we actually made fun of ourselves by saying "farm out" and "out of state".....

instead of "far out" and "out of sight".

[soldierant]

157. Keep on Trucking

was about the same time frame as those, I believe.

[MaryMagdaline]

60. Malarkey and shenanigans have come back

Malarkey - thanks to Joe Biden
Shenanigans - not sure why it’s back, but I love it

[keithbvadu2]

61. Character matters.

[yorkster]

63. There's one I wish would go away, well a few, but " threw up in my mouth a little" takes the cake, so to speak.

I get the idea, but there are so many other ways to convey this reaction that aren’t quite so repulsive, nauseating, sickening, disgusting….

[patphil]

64. Sealed with a Kiss.

That's like the Pot calling the Kettle black.
Make like a tree and leaf.
See you later alligator, after while crocodile.

[Clouds Passing]

66. A dime a dozen

[bif]

68. Mano-Manaschevitz!

[Diamond_Dog]

72. 😂. That's a good one, I forgot about that!

[Marthe48]

76. Takes two to tango

Made their bed, now they have to lay in it

Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas

Their chicken has come home to roost

A bun in the oven

Play fast and loose

Handsome is as handsome does

My Mom and Dad both liked 'Wish in one hand, sh*t in the other and see what you have more of'

I like the old phrases and I'm always on the lookout for ones I haven't heard.

[getagrip_already]

80. Always heard the hands one as....

See which one fills up faster.

[soldierant]

159. "Play fast and loose" goes back to medieval times

and the "fast" in it has nothing to do with speed. Grifters at fairs (which were not celebratory events primarily, but opportunities for merchants to sell to larger crowds) , then as now, had grifters. "Fast and Loose" was a game some of them used, similar in the sense of "the quickness of the hand" aspect to the "which cup is the ball under." The grifter would take a belt, often one belonging to the mark, an twist and tie it up quickly and confusingly, and challenge the mark to take a knife and drive it into a spot such that it would stay "fast" on the table when one tried to pick it up. But it would always turn out to be "loose."

[Marthe48]

161. Interesting

a new story for me

Thanks!

[CTyankee]

83. "Hot diggity dog!"

[erronis]

86. Jimminy Cricket, golly jeezers. bless your little heart.

Hope you do a re-post with a collection of these. (There is probably already a book/web page out there.)

[yellowdogintexas]

182. "Bless Your Heart will never go away as long as there are still Southern grand mothers. !!! nt

[OldBaldy1701E]

87. Let's see...

"May I help you?"

"I see your side of the argument and we should discuss it further."

"I have enough." (A particularly obsolete phrase that seem to have zero meaning for anyone in this country.)

"We need to look at the big picture." (If we did that, we'd see just how insidious those rethugs have been, so they got rid of that concept.)

And one of my all time favorites... an Irish prayer that means as much today as it did back when it was created.

"From ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Great Lord protect us!"

I used to hear the older people say this all the time way back when. We surely need it now.

[malthaussen]

92. "Built like a brick outhouse"

(That's the bowdlerdized version). It refers to a female of aesthetically pleasing figure.

-- Mal

[soldierant]

168. In certain circumstances,

it could also refer to a well-built man. In Terence Blanchard's opera "Champion, " based on the real life of Emil Griffith (who never intended to do anything else but make hats), the librettist has the fight manager he meets tell him that's how he is built, in just those words (uncensored). (He does become a boxer, a champion - I forget what weight - but is not at peace with himself after one of his blows in the ring kills another boxer.)

[malthaussen]

174. Didn't know that! n/t

[crud]

93. Heavens to murgatroid (OMG)

Red up the house (when straightening up the house for unexpected company)

If anyone calls, tell them Barnaby said hello (if you're from Cleveland you may have heard this)

The Stoop, when referring to the door step (might be a pennsylvania thing)

50 cents to see the elephant jump the fence. (when asking for ice cream man money)

These were some of my mom's sayings.

[Pluvious]

114. Wasn't it Mr Magoo that said it ?

"Road hog!"

[Iggo]

167. Might've been Snagglepuss.

Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2024, 04:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Whoever it was has a lisp.

[Pluvious]

97. No one today would say...

Help me buckle up my shoes

"Three four open the door, five six pick up sticks..."

[LisaM]

102. "Not on your tintype!"

Also, "By Jove!"

[EarnestPutz]

104. Does anyone else find this thread somewhat depressing?

[Pluvious]

115. That could explain why...

It's almost got 2000 views right now, and 115 replies, but only 14 recs

[EarnestPutz]

121. You make a very good point.

[soldierant]

171. I would certainly recommend it

if I could find the rec button. I have not been able to recommend an OP since the latedt changed in recommending comments.

[soldierant]

169. Not really -

even though I have not yet come across one I haven't heard somewhere before. Sur, it means I'm old, but what a rich life I must have lived to have heard all those generations of catch phrases.

[mobeau69]

108. Calling person to person

[Pluvious]

113. Good golly miss molly !

Was that Jed Clampet's phrase in The Beverly Hillbillies ?

[LeftInTX]

188. "Woo doggies" was his phrase

[Niagara]

117. The Life of Riley

The cat's meow

See a man about a dog/horse

Not on your Nelly

Hold your horses

Up your nose with a rubber hose

Up to snuff

What's your poison?

[Jeebo]

136. "The Life of Riley" was a 1950s TV show.

And a 1940s radio show. I used to watch it on TV in the late 1950s when I was a kid. I never knew it was a radio show in the 1940s, before I was born, until I got a Sirius satellite radio in my car a few years ago and discovered that they play episodes from that 1940s radio show often on their old-time radio classics station.

About 15 years ago I had a cat who came from one of my neighbors' houses and took up with me. I walked by him snoozing on a corner of a bookcase in my living room one day and suddenly had the thought, This cat has people feeding him, opening doors for him, giving him affection, he's living the life of Riley, so he must be ... Riley! And that was the perfect name for that cat. Somehow it just fit him to a T.

-- Ron

&t=36s

[Niagara]

146. I have a neighbor that had a previous dog before it succumbed to an age related illness

Last edited Sun Dec 22, 2024, 02:05 PM - Edit history (1)

The neighbor was outside snow blowing and shoveling and the dog stayed close to him.


I commented on how well behaved his dog was and asked about the dog's name.


He replied. "Riley. The Life of Riley."


I don't hear that too much anymore so I though that I would throw that phrase in.

[mercuryblues]

119. If any of us were holding my Mom up

she would tell us to Put some hustle in that bustle. IOW Stop dragging your ass hand hurry up.

[GreenWave]

120. This may date me a tad bit: "The British are coming!"

[soldierant]

170. OK, that got a LOL from me.

[kimbutgar]

127. Let's split

I never hear that anymore !

[LeftInTX]

189. Haven't heard that in ages. (60's-70's)

[WmChris]

128. Cold weather

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. From an old electric lineman.

[debm55]

129. I like Lima Beans.

[happybird]

130. Cutting the cheese

Came across that one at work again today.

"What are you doing next?"
"Cuttin' da cheese."

Literally, since it's a deli. We old people giggle, but we had to explain it to the younger ones because they just looked confused.

[if..fish..had..wings]

131. Swell!

My mother used to deny she ever said it, but all 5 kids agree she did

"I'm going to snatch you bald-headed"

[3catwoman3]

133. "That really burns my cork."

Something my dad, born in 1921, would say if really annoyed about something. I’ve never heard anyone else say it.

[MichMan]

134. Like a monkey fucking a football

[Jeebo]

135. Everything's hunky-dory.

It means everything's good. It means everybody's happy about the state of affairs. Which none of us here at DU are since November 5. I used to hear "hunky-dory" every once in a while but rarely hear it any more, so for the past few years I've been using it in an attempt to bring it back.

— Ron

[soldierant]

173. Wasn't that about the time period that "copacetic" wa current too?

[yellowdogintexas]

181. still say copacetic from time to time. It was a favorite of my grandfather! nt

[soldierant]

183. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson loved the word and used it frequently.

But he doesn't appear to have originated it. At least one white person picked it up from him and popularized it among white people. Of the many, the story I tend to believe is that is came from creole French and usage in the black communities of New Orleans.

[marigold20]

138. "It's all the go"

referring to something stylish. Something my mom (born in 1920) used to say.

[SonOfNebanaube]

141. nobody says this anymore...

"it's a free country..."

[Buttoneer]

148. In like Flynn.

[Golden Raisin]

152. Snug as a bug in a rug.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

156. "Include a self-addressed stamped envelope."

[FSogol]

158. I still use "chasing the dime" even though it was outdated

even when I was little.

[DeeDeeNY]

160. Not to worry

Has become "No worries"

[Submariner]

162. "Wicked pissah"

is/was regional and I never heard it outside of New England.

[madamesilverspurs]

163. "Would you like me to check under the hood?"

My body is getting cranky enough that I'm really missing full-service gas stations.


.

[CanonRay]

164. Useless as teats on a boar pig.

Courtesy my mother.

[raccoon]

191. I use that one, a bit different: "useless as tits on a boar hog."

[moniss]

172. I have several such as

"standards of journalism", "service with a smile", "rule of law", "nobody is above the law", "work hard and you'll get ahead", "new, exciting automotive style", "clean water", "low, low prices", "affordable rent", "she wouldn't do that to me", "he wouldn't do that to me", "I don't know", "nobody is that crazy", "bring a bottle of milk from the store", "your condition is covered", "somebody will stop it", "new and improved", "this won't hurt a bit", "leave our kids a better life than we had", "peace and harmony", "the public good", "he's not like Hitler", "I'll paint any car $29.95", "it'll only be for awhile", "our company was not aware of the harmful effects".

[C0RI0LANUS]

175. Here's one we don't hear any more.

"PDQ"

As in telling someone on 13 April: "Better get your taxes done, PDQ!"

(Pretty Darn Quick)

I used it at work; others went with ASAP.

[LeftInTX]

185. Gay and carefree meaning the same thing. As in the "The Gay Divorcee"

There were lots of phrases with gay in them when I was growing up.
We learned them in school.
They eventually went bye-bye.