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Phrases you don't hear anymore: (Original Post) Buttoneer Dec 21 OP
A friend laughed at me the other day when I said walkingman Dec 21 #1
"No one says 'rubbers' anymore" JoseBalow Dec 21 #13
That's just swell. dchill Dec 21 #77
A generation prior to me called them "safes" TexLaProgressive Dec 21 #111
Alas, I don't think people say "Gee Whiz" any more Stargleamer Dec 21 #2
I like to use antiquated phrases. johnp3907 Dec 21 #3
Me, too. It's fun. Iggo Dec 21 #89
You must live for September 19 each year. soldierant Dec 22 #149
Aarh. Iggo Dec 22 #165
I remember my mother... Pluvious Dec 21 #98
Hey, that was my dad's first job! (n/t) Iggo Dec 22 #166
"Groovy, man." Dave Bowman Dec 21 #4
Far out, man. calguy Dec 21 #84
Rumpy-pumpy chowder66 Dec 21 #5
wotcha! UK Shellback Squid Dec 21 #6
I'm gonna... WestMichRad Dec 21 #7
Holy cow. Never understood it but but always thought cows somehow deserved a phrase like that. dgauss Dec 21 #8
My daughter says that all the time radical noodle Dec 21 #10
"Holy cow" lost a major proponent True Dough Dec 21 #16
Phil Rizzuto always used Holy Cow Sanity Claws Dec 21 #47
Baseball Hall of Famer displacedvermoter Dec 21 #52
Carey enid602 Dec 21 #107
You're joking, right? True Dough Dec 21 #110
Confusion enid602 Dec 22 #137
Ah, I see. True Dough Dec 22 #139
And the great uncle of Mariah Carey. FSogol Dec 22 #155
Isn't that Hindu? n/t malthaussen Dec 21 #90
Never thought of that. From Wikipedia: dgauss Dec 21 #109
My husband is doing his best to keep... 3catwoman3 Dec 21 #9
My cousin's maiden name was Keene Nittersing Dec 21 #38
Mature Republican RainCaster Dec 21 #11
Phonograph and record player. rubbersole Dec 21 #12
Add LP and 45 to that. wnylib Dec 21 #18
Try "spindle." Some of the earliest records were wax cylinders. royable Dec 21 #19
And yet... Pluvious Dec 21 #99
My late ex had every Elvis, Beatles, Baez etc. LP and 45 ever made. rubbersole Dec 21 #106
They could be very lucky indeed... Pluvious Dec 21 #112
When moving, the one that caught my eye... rubbersole Dec 21 #116
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 21 #14
I wonder if the dog sled driver was supposed to yorkster Dec 21 #67
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 21 #74
I too have heard by jingo in the wayback of my yorkster Dec 21 #82
Should add that I read those books so long ago, yorkster Dec 21 #75
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 21 #78
Wurlitzer Keepthesoulalive Dec 21 #15
Family Friends Had One ProfessorGAC Dec 21 #94
There is still a Wurlitzer Keepthesoulalive Dec 21 #124
Oh, The Giant Pipe Organ ProfessorGAC Dec 21 #125
Here are a few: True Dough Dec 21 #17
My late boyfriend, named Bob used to say Bob'syour uncle Walleye Dec 21 #21
Dropping a dime sdfernando Dec 21 #103
"Bob's your uncle"! whathehell Dec 21 #105
Drop a dime on someone MaryMagdaline Dec 21 #57
There are still pay phones in the US Wiz Imp Dec 21 #132
I still say Six of one; half dozen of the other. So does Mr YD nt yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #176
Bull in a china shop. wnylib Dec 21 #20
"Don't use my good scissors" JohnnyRingo Dec 21 #41
that depends If there is a person who likes to sew in the house yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #178
Hahahaaa! That was my mom on rare occasion... electric_blue68 Dec 23 #190
About a decade ago I promoted my good china PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 21 #43
Nice! I use mine as well. Also the silver. Keeps it sparkly MaryMagdaline Dec 21 #55
Never got the good silver, unfortuately. If I had PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 21 #62
I sold my Grand Baroque patterned sterling silver set I inherited from my mother. Nodody polishes silver any more. CTyankee Dec 21 #81
my mom had her mother's sterling which was a very old pattern yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #179
I say Bull in a china shop quite often and yes I have not one but two sets of fine china yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #177
My mother also had a set of fine china from my brother wnylib Dec 23 #184
Momisms from my mom: 10 Turtle Day Dec 21 #22
my mom had some weird sayings. Can't remember all them, but pants were britches. LeftInTX Dec 23 #186
My mom called Earl_from_PA Dec 21 #23
Mine too! Nittersing Dec 21 #40
My English husband calls it "bum fodder" iwillalwayswonderwhy Dec 21 #54
Abbreviated "BUMF," should you ever encounter that word. n/t malthaussen Dec 21 #91
Monkey Business Phentex Dec 21 #24
Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle !! Pluvious Dec 21 #100
Now that reminds me of a science fiction story soldierant Dec 22 #150
Colder than a well diggers ass. Emile Dec 21 #25
Thermometer? Wicked Blue Dec 21 #53
LOL picturing my mother-in-law holding a thermometer Emile Dec 21 #58
That was one of my dad's favorites too jmowreader Dec 22 #145
LOL, sounds just like what my mother-in-law used to say. Emile Dec 22 #147
Cool beans! Lars39 Dec 21 #26
Right on surfered Dec 21 #27
Far out. Groovy. Ocelot II Dec 21 #28
thats what I was thinking. peacebuzzard Dec 21 #126
Bitchen DBoon Dec 22 #153
Back 40 lark Dec 21 #29
We still call the back corner of our yard cksmithy Dec 21 #73
Tons of ranching and agriculture in CA, so it would make sense they'd use it too, lark Dec 22 #140
I grew up in Texas and we said "Hot damn" a lot... CTyankee Dec 21 #123
My son says it. LeftInTX Dec 23 #187
Easy Peasy NT macwriter Dec 21 #30
I hate that phrase. JohnnyRingo Dec 21 #39
I have a friend who likes it soldierant Dec 22 #151
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Niagara Dec 21 #70
Par for the course. Diamond_Dog Dec 21 #31
I remember that "wake up and smell the coffee" got new life... Pluvious Dec 21 #101
I will have to ask Mr. Diamond Diamond_Dog Dec 21 #118
I might be miss remembering... Pluvious Dec 22 #142
I don't know if Ann Landers originated that phrase Diamond_Dog Dec 22 #143
A bit more background on the phrase Pluvious Dec 22 #144
Ann Landers and Dear Abby ("Abigail van Buren") soldierant Dec 22 #154
Some I wish I never heard again like "My Bad", calling a movie a "Flick", "Dude" doc03 Dec 21 #32
A big YES to all of those, doc03! Diamond_Dog Dec 21 #44
Gonna sit right down and right me a letter! chouchou Dec 21 #33
Can we add "it is what it is"? JohnnyRingo Dec 21 #34
It depends on what the meaning of the word is is! Zambero Dec 21 #42
Very 90's & 00's to me underpants Dec 21 #79
Hate that expression MaryMagdaline Dec 21 #95
I hear this from one of my housemates and no one else. nocoincidences Dec 21 #35
we both say "That's My Story and I am sticking to it" . nt yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #180
Land o' Goshen! ... and "Republicans are the party of fiscal reasonability" JohnnyRingo Dec 21 #36
The Bees Knees Zambero Dec 21 #37
Spinster. greatauntoftriplets Dec 21 #45
Goes with #31 - "old maid"... rubbersole Dec 21 #71
"Dial a phone number" sop Dec 21 #46
"Out in the tules." hunter Dec 21 #48
Perhaps not politically correct and... icnorth Dec 21 #49
"loyal opposition" marble falls Dec 21 #50
I use so many of these ! ShepKat Dec 21 #51
Big Hairy Deal iwillalwayswonderwhy Dec 21 #56
Faaaaar freaking out Wicked Blue Dec 21 #59
I still say "bummer." Diamond_Dog Dec 21 #65
Me too Wicked Blue Dec 21 #69
In college in the late sixties we actually made fun of ourselves by saying "farm out" and "out of state"..... EarnestPutz Dec 21 #122
Keep on Trucking soldierant Dec 22 #157
Malarkey and shenanigans have come back MaryMagdaline Dec 21 #60
Character matters. keithbvadu2 Dec 21 #61
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. yorkster Dec 21 #63
Sealed with a Kiss. patphil Dec 21 #64
A dime a dozen Clouds Passing Dec 21 #66
Mano-Manaschevitz! bif Dec 21 #68
😂. That's a good one, I forgot about that! Diamond_Dog Dec 21 #72
Takes two to tango Marthe48 Dec 21 #76
Always heard the hands one as.... getagrip_already Dec 21 #80
"Play fast and loose" goes back to medieval times soldierant Dec 22 #159
Interesting Marthe48 Dec 22 #161
"Hot diggity dog!" CTyankee Dec 21 #83
This message was self-deleted by its author comradebillyboy Dec 21 #85
Jimminy Cricket, golly jeezers. bless your little heart. erronis Dec 21 #86
"Bless Your Heart will never go away as long as there are still Southern grand mothers. !!! nt yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #182
Let's see... OldBaldy1701E Dec 21 #87
This message was self-deleted by its author Prairie_Seagull Dec 21 #88
"Built like a brick outhouse" malthaussen Dec 21 #92
In certain circumstances, soldierant Dec 22 #168
Didn't know that! n/t malthaussen Dec 22 #174
Heavens to murgatroid (OMG) crud Dec 21 #93
Wasn't it Mr Magoo that said it ? Pluvious Dec 21 #114
Might've been Snagglepuss. Iggo Dec 22 #167
This message was self-deleted by its author Kaleva Dec 21 #96
No one today would say... Pluvious Dec 21 #97
"Not on your tintype!" LisaM Dec 21 #102
Does anyone else find this thread somewhat depressing? EarnestPutz Dec 21 #104
That could explain why... Pluvious Dec 21 #115
You make a very good point. EarnestPutz Dec 21 #121
I would certainly recommend it soldierant Dec 22 #171
Not really - soldierant Dec 22 #169
Calling person to person mobeau69 Dec 21 #108
Good golly miss molly ! Pluvious Dec 21 #113
"Woo doggies" was his phrase LeftInTX Dec 23 #188
The Life of Riley Niagara Dec 21 #117
"The Life of Riley" was a 1950s TV show. Jeebo Dec 22 #136
I have a neighbor that had a previous dog before it succumbed to an age related illness Niagara Dec 22 #146
If any of us were holding my Mom up mercuryblues Dec 21 #119
This may date me a tad bit: "The British are coming!" GreenWave Dec 21 #120
OK, that got a LOL from me. soldierant Dec 22 #170
Let's split kimbutgar Dec 21 #127
Haven't heard that in ages. (60's-70's) LeftInTX Dec 23 #189
Cold weather WmChris Dec 21 #128
I like Lima Beans. debm55 Dec 21 #129
Cutting the cheese happybird Dec 21 #130
Swell! if..fish..had..wings Dec 21 #131
"That really burns my cork." 3catwoman3 Dec 22 #133
Like a monkey fucking a football MichMan Dec 22 #134
Everything's hunky-dory. Jeebo Dec 22 #135
Wasn't that about the time period that "copacetic" wa current too? soldierant Dec 22 #173
still say copacetic from time to time. It was a favorite of my grandfather! nt yellowdogintexas Dec 23 #181
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson loved the word and used it frequently. soldierant Dec 23 #183
"It's all the go" marigold20 Dec 22 #138
nobody says this anymore... SonOfNebanaube Dec 22 #141
In like Flynn. Buttoneer Dec 22 #148
Snug as a bug in a rug. Golden Raisin Dec 22 #152
"Include a self-addressed stamped envelope." Prof. Toru Tanaka Dec 22 #156
I still use "chasing the dime" even though it was outdated FSogol Dec 22 #158
Not to worry DeeDeeNY Dec 22 #160
"Wicked pissah" Submariner Dec 22 #162
"Would you like me to check under the hood?" madamesilverspurs Dec 22 #163
Useless as teats on a boar pig. CanonRay Dec 22 #164
I use that one, a bit different: "useless as tits on a boar hog." raccoon Dec 23 #191
I have several such as moniss Dec 22 #172
Here's one we don't hear any more. C0RI0LANUS Dec 23 #175
Gay and carefree meaning the same thing. As in the "The Gay Divorcee" LeftInTX Dec 23 #185

walkingman

(8,636 posts)
1. A friend laughed at me the other day when I said
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:03 AM
Dec 21

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

No one says "rubbers" anymore - condoms.

Stargleamer

(2,292 posts)
2. Alas, I don't think people say "Gee Whiz" any more
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:07 AM
Dec 21

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



johnp3907

(3,922 posts)
3. I like to use antiquated phrases.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:12 AM
Dec 21

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

Iggo

(48,643 posts)
89. Me, too. It's fun.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:01 PM
Dec 21

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

Stuff like that.

Pluvious

(4,836 posts)
98. I remember my mother...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:54 PM
Dec 21

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

dgauss

(1,181 posts)
8. Holy cow. Never understood it but but always thought cows somehow deserved a phrase like that.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:42 AM
Dec 21

radical noodle

(8,876 posts)
10. My daughter says that all the time
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:54 AM
Dec 21

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

Sanity Claws

(22,075 posts)
47. Phil Rizzuto always used Holy Cow
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:15 AM
Dec 21

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

True Dough

(21,213 posts)
110. You're joking, right?
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:44 PM
Dec 21

Because they are not father/son.

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

enid602

(9,104 posts)
137. Confusion
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 05:56 AM
Dec 22

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

True Dough

(21,213 posts)
139. Ah, I see.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 08:15 AM
Dec 22

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

dgauss

(1,181 posts)
109. Never thought of that. From Wikipedia:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:42 PM
Dec 21
"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)

royable

(1,379 posts)
19. Try "spindle." Some of the earliest records were wax cylinders.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 06:15 AM
Dec 21

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

(4,836 posts)
99. And yet...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:00 PM
Dec 21

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

(8,789 posts)
106. My late ex had every Elvis, Beatles, Baez etc. LP and 45 ever made.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:28 PM
Dec 21

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

(4,836 posts)
112. They could be very lucky indeed...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:12 PM
Dec 21

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

(8,789 posts)
116. When moving, the one that caught my eye...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:47 PM
Dec 21

...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 😌.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

yorkster

(2,566 posts)
67. I wonder if the dog sled driver was supposed to
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:16 AM
Dec 21

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

Response to yorkster (Reply #67)

yorkster

(2,566 posts)
75. Should add that I read those books so long ago,
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:07 PM
Dec 21

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...

Response to yorkster (Reply #75)

ProfessorGAC

(70,957 posts)
94. Family Friends Had One
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:27 PM
Dec 21

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

(866 posts)
124. There is still a Wurlitzer
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 08:01 PM
Dec 21

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

(70,957 posts)
125. Oh, The Giant Pipe Organ
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:17 PM
Dec 21

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

(21,213 posts)
17. Here are a few:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:28 AM
Dec 21

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

(36,714 posts)
21. My late boyfriend, named Bob used to say Bob'syour uncle
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:00 AM
Dec 21

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

(5,466 posts)
103. Dropping a dime
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:16 PM
Dec 21

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

And who says “nowadays” anymore??

whathehell

(29,911 posts)
105. "Bob's your uncle"!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:24 PM
Dec 21

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

Wiz Imp

(2,624 posts)
132. There are still pay phones in the US
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:08 PM
Dec 21

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.

wnylib

(25,015 posts)
20. Bull in a china shop.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 06:22 AM
Dec 21

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:27 AM - 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?



yellowdogintexas

(22,893 posts)
178. that depends If there is a person who likes to sew in the house
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:45 AM
Dec 23

you will hear the scissors comment!

electric_blue68

(19,108 posts)
190. Hahahaaa! That was my mom on rare occasion...
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 05:20 AM
Dec 23

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

(26,917 posts)
43. About a decade ago I promoted my good china
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:55 AM
Dec 21

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.

CTyankee

(65,432 posts)
81. I sold my Grand Baroque patterned sterling silver set I inherited from my mother. Nodody polishes silver any more.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:46 PM
Dec 21

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

yellowdogintexas

(22,893 posts)
179. my mom had her mother's sterling which was a very old pattern
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:49 AM
Dec 23

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

(22,893 posts)
177. I say Bull in a china shop quite often and yes I have not one but two sets of fine china
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:41 AM
Dec 23

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

(25,015 posts)
184. My mother also had a set of fine china from my brother
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 02:58 AM
Dec 23

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

(545 posts)
22. Momisms from my mom:
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:22 AM
Dec 21

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

(31,171 posts)
186. my mom had some weird sayings. Can't remember all them, but pants were britches.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:18 AM
Dec 23

She was from Florida.

Phentex

(16,577 posts)
24. Monkey Business
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:08 AM
Dec 21

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

They never heard of it

soldierant

(8,075 posts)
150. Now that reminds me of a science fiction story
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:33 PM
Dec 22

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

(31,295 posts)
25. Colder than a well diggers ass.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:15 AM
Dec 21

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

jmowreader

(51,686 posts)
145. That was one of my dad's favorites too
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:57 AM
Dec 22

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."

lark

(24,393 posts)
29. Back 40
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:21 AM
Dec 21

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

cksmithy

(259 posts)
73. We still call the back corner of our yard
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:54 AM
Dec 21

"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.

soldierant

(8,075 posts)
151. I have a friend who likes it
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:38 PM
Dec 22

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

Diamond_Dog

(35,409 posts)
31. Par for the course.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:28 AM
Dec 21

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:03 AM - 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

(4,836 posts)
101. I remember that "wake up and smell the coffee" got new life...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 03:10 PM
Dec 21

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

Pluvious

(4,836 posts)
142. I might be miss remembering...
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:20 AM
Dec 22

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

(35,409 posts)
143. I don't know if Ann Landers originated that phrase
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:29 AM
Dec 22

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

(4,836 posts)
144. A bit more background on the phrase
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:48 AM
Dec 22

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

(8,075 posts)
154. Ann Landers and Dear Abby ("Abigail van Buren")
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:45 PM
Dec 22

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

(37,093 posts)
32. Some I wish I never heard again like "My Bad", calling a movie a "Flick", "Dude"
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:30 AM
Dec 21

I ain't no fucking dude, "Woke"

Diamond_Dog

(35,409 posts)
44. A big YES to all of those, doc03!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:57 AM
Dec 21

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

JohnnyRingo

(19,486 posts)
34. Can we add "it is what it is"?
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:47 AM
Dec 21

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

(9,786 posts)
42. It depends on what the meaning of the word is is!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:55 AM
Dec 21

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

underpants

(187,690 posts)
79. Very 90's & 00's to me
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:24 PM
Dec 21

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

hunter

(39,113 posts)
48. "Out in the tules."
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:18 AM
Dec 21

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

(1,033 posts)
49. Perhaps not politically correct and...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:32 AM
Dec 21

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.

ShepKat

(438 posts)
51. I use so many of these !
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:38 AM
Dec 21

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)

Wicked Blue

(6,860 posts)
59. Faaaaar freaking out
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:48 AM
Dec 21

also Faaaar f*cking out.

Too cool. Too cool for school.

Total bummer.

He's such a winner (meaning loser)





EarnestPutz

(2,714 posts)
122. In college in the late sixties we actually made fun of ourselves by saying "farm out" and "out of state".....
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 07:40 PM
Dec 21

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

MaryMagdaline

(7,926 posts)
60. Malarkey and shenanigans have come back
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:49 AM
Dec 21

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

yorkster

(2,566 posts)
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.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:00 AM
Dec 21

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

(7,182 posts)
64. Sealed with a Kiss.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 11:06 AM
Dec 21

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

Marthe48

(19,583 posts)
76. Takes two to tango
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 12:08 PM
Dec 21

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.





soldierant

(8,075 posts)
159. "Play fast and loose" goes back to medieval times
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 09:57 PM
Dec 22

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."

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

erronis

(17,339 posts)
86. Jimminy Cricket, golly jeezers. bless your little heart.
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:38 PM
Dec 21

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

yellowdogintexas

(22,893 posts)
182. "Bless Your Heart will never go away as long as there are still Southern grand mothers. !!! nt
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:59 AM
Dec 23

OldBaldy1701E

(6,799 posts)
87. Let's see...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 01:43 PM
Dec 21

"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.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

malthaussen

(17,810 posts)
92. "Built like a brick outhouse"
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:11 PM
Dec 21

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

-- Mal

soldierant

(8,075 posts)
168. In certain circumstances,
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:11 PM
Dec 22

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.)

crud

(857 posts)
93. Heavens to murgatroid (OMG)
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:14 PM
Dec 21

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.

Iggo

(48,643 posts)
167. Might've been Snagglepuss.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:09 PM
Dec 22

Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Whoever it was has a lisp.

Response to Buttoneer (Original post)

Pluvious

(4,836 posts)
97. No one today would say...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 02:51 PM
Dec 21

Help me buckle up my shoes

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

Pluvious

(4,836 posts)
115. That could explain why...
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:25 PM
Dec 21

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

soldierant

(8,075 posts)
171. I would certainly recommend it
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:25 PM
Dec 22

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

soldierant

(8,075 posts)
169. Not really -
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:17 PM
Dec 22

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.

Niagara

(9,972 posts)
117. The Life of Riley
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 04:57 PM
Dec 21

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

(2,338 posts)
136. "The Life of Riley" was a 1950s TV show.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 02:02 AM
Dec 22

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

(9,972 posts)
146. I have a neighbor that had a previous dog before it succumbed to an age related illness
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 12:03 PM
Dec 22

Last edited Sun Dec 22, 2024, 01:05 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

(15,309 posts)
119. If any of us were holding my Mom up
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 05:05 PM
Dec 21

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

WmChris

(237 posts)
128. Cold weather
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:03 PM
Dec 21

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

happybird

(5,242 posts)
130. Cutting the cheese
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:18 PM
Dec 21

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.

131. Swell!
Sat Dec 21, 2024, 10:58 PM
Dec 21

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

(25,838 posts)
133. "That really burns my cork."
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 12:31 AM
Dec 22

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

Jeebo

(2,338 posts)
135. Everything's hunky-dory.
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 01:44 AM
Dec 22

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

(8,075 posts)
183. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson loved the word and used it frequently.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 02:08 AM
Dec 23

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

(923 posts)
138. "It's all the go"
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 06:53 AM
Dec 22

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

madamesilverspurs

(16,098 posts)
163. "Would you like me to check under the hood?"
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 10:41 PM
Dec 22

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


.

moniss

(6,250 posts)
172. I have several such as
Sun Dec 22, 2024, 11:26 PM
Dec 22

"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

(2,266 posts)
175. Here's one we don't hear any more.
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 01:28 AM
Dec 23

"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

(31,171 posts)
185. Gay and carefree meaning the same thing. As in the "The Gay Divorcee"
Mon Dec 23, 2024, 03:09 AM
Dec 23

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

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