Terms Which Have Disappeared

[pompier]

Dr. Dentons, now that brings back memories. When I was still a wee lad my Mom would say that sometimes. Would also refer to my friends as "Mutt and Jeff". Would refer to doubtful statements as being "malarkey" or say that's a "cock and bull story". My folks were born in the early to mid 1920s and I in the early 1960s. I remember teachers telling my classmates to ask their grandparents about WW2 and thinking it was strange as my Dad and most of my uncles served in the war. Mom and her older sisters worked in various "war plants".
I remember watching old movies late night on the weekends and the language used seemed perfectly normal to me but a bit odd to my friends. Guess I was used to hearing it around the house.

 

[Fading Fast]

Dr. Dentons, now that brings back memories. When I was still a wee lad my Mom would say that sometimes. Would also refer to my friends as "Mutt and Jeff". Would refer to doubtful statements as being "malarkey" or say that's a "cock and bull story". My folks were born in the early to mid 1920s and I in the early 1960s. I remember teachers telling my classmates to ask their grandparents about WW2 and thinking it was strange as my Dad and most of my uncles served in the war. Mom and her older sisters worked in various "war plants".
I remember watching old movies late night on the weekends and the language used seemed perfectly normal to me but a bit odd to my friends. Guess I was used to hearing it around the house.

"Mutt and Jeff" and "malarkey" were used regularly in my house growing up and, occasionally, even to this day, they will slip out of my mouth unintentionally.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Any pairing of a tall man and a short man was a "Mutt and Jeff." We don't really have any comparable phrase today -- sometimes when I see two of the theatre kids together I call them "Abercrombie and Fitch," but they think it's funny for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Renault]

Told a kid at the shop the other day, who was wearing an A & F shirt, " I remember when they used to sell guns!" The looks I get!

Mutt & Jeff still common in our house!

 

[MikePotts]

"Mutt & Jeff" was/is Cockney slang for 'deaf' - commonly shortened to Mutt'n/Mutton as in "she's a bit mutton"

Odd people down there......

 

[DNO]

At one time, 'Mutt and Jeff' was used by British/Commonwealth veterans of the First World War to refer to a pair of campaign medals: the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. They were the two most commonly awarded medals in the British/Commonwealth services.

When one added a 1914/14 Star to the mix, it became 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

At one time, 'Mutt and Jeff' was used by British/Commonwealth veterans of the First World War to refer to a pair of campaign medals: the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. They were the two most commonly awarded medals in the British/Commonwealth services.

When one added a 1914/14 Star to the mix, it became 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'.

Which was derived from a British comic strip in the "Daily Mirror." Pip was a dog, Squeak was a penguin, and Wilfred was a rabbit, all of whom lived with their master, "Uncle Dick," who didn't get a medal named after him.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Any pairing of a tall man and a short man was a "Mutt and Jeff." We don't really have any comparable phrase today -- sometimes when I see two of the theatre kids together I call them "Abercrombie and Fitch," but they think it's funny for all the wrong reasons.

I always refer to a father and son that I know (both named Peter, obviously) as "Pete" and "Re-Pete."

 

[Stearmen]

You'd complain if you were hung with a new rope!

 

[jamespowers]

You'd complain if you were hung with a new rope!

Yes because new rope is scratchy and not worn in.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

At one time, 'Mutt and Jeff' was used by British/Commonwealth veterans of the First World War to refer to a pair of campaign medals: the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. They were the two most commonly awarded medals in the British/Commonwealth services.

When one added a 1914/14 Star to the mix, it became 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'.

I have a British War Medal awarded to a one Pte Alfred Hicklin, South Wales Borderers.

 

[Stearmen]

Yes because new rope is scratchy and not worn in.

I was thinking of you James when I typed that! :biggrin:

 

[jamespowers]

I was thinking of you James when I typed that! :biggrin:

Thanks, I think…..

Now if it was a silk rope…..

 

[vitanola]

Now if it was a silk rope…..

I understand that there is an entire genre of Japanese film about the subject.

 

[vitanola]

Um, "Silk Rope" that is, not the strangulation of James Powers. THAT, as I recall is merely a minor sub-genre of early Rusyn Talkies.

 

[jamespowers]

Um, "Silk Rope" that is, not the strangulation of James Powers. THAT, as I recall is merely a minor sub-genre of early Rusyn Talkies.

I am glad you cleared that up. Not that I have any idea of what films you are talking about----just the strangulation part. :eeek:

 

[tonyb]

...

I was taking a walk yesterday at lunch, listening to Dragnet on my iPod. At a certain point in the show, Friday and his partner interview a woman who operates a "French Laundry" in Los Angeles. It took a little Googling to find what a French Laundry is. Most of the hits returned by Google were reviews of a restaurant with that name. One or two involved sex acts. I was pretty sure that Friday and Romero weren't investigating that!

Eventually, I learned that a French Laundry service provides specialized services in cleaning and pressing unusual or delicate clothing.

Now these shows were written and presented from the late 1940's though the mid-1950's. I was born in the mid-1950's, and though I have a good memory for words, and I had heard the term before, I had no idea what it meant. ...

Learned just recently that there's a restaurant in San Francisco called The French Laundry -- a very well regarded restaurant that does indeed serve French cuisine and is housed in a space that was once a French laundry.

 

[Zombie_61]

Yes because new rope is scratchy and not worn in.

True, but it won't be scratchy long if you're being hung by the neck with it.

 

[Haversack]

A bit of dialogue from Kind Hearts and Coronets, (1949):

Mr Elliot: Even my lamented master, the great Mr. Benny himself, never had the privilege of hanging a duke. What a finale to a lifetime in the public service!
Prison Governor: Finale?
Mr Elliot: Yes, I intend to retire. After using this silken rope, never again be content with hemp.

Haversack

 

[jamespowers]

Learned just recently that there's a restaurant in San Francisco called The French Laundry -- a very well regarded restaurant that does indeed serve French cuisine and is housed in a space that was once a French laundry.

Bring money if you go there.