Terms Which Have Disappeared

[FedoraFan112390]

Meanwhile, "give him the shaft" was all the rage with high school girls c. 1939. Meant the same thing as all of the above, but would be completely misinterpreted if used among modern folk.

Even Nixon used it in press conferences as late as 1962, in the same meaning as "treating someone unfairly."

 

[Stearmen]

Innerestin'.

I wonder if youngsters know the meaning of "shown the door."

That's how the Door Man got his job!

 

[Espee]

I'm going to plead Forum-Searching Ineptitude here. I think we had (and maybe I started) an examination of "I have a T. L. for you..." (1940s) and now years have passed and I can't find it for review.
I forgot all about it until last week when I heard Molly McGee say it to Fibber.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"trade-last," a second-hand comment about someone that you offer to trade them in exchange for a comment they've heard about you. The idea of it being a "trade last" is that you don't tell them the comment until you've gotten yours in exchange. It's a nineteenth century thing that was vestigal in the early twentieth century.

There's also a Yiddish explanation for "TL" that's unsuitable for the Lounge. The "T" in this explanation stands for "Toches," or backside.

 

[Espee]

The compliment-related meaning might have been very much diluted by 3/9/1948, when Fibber realizes the leg of the card table is broken and that he'll have to try to call Doc Gamble before he leaves his house (on his way over to play checkers.) So Doc can bring his own card table...
Molly says, "I've got a T.L. for you, Dearie... that IS Doctor Gamble's card table." Fibber had a habit of borrowing things, permanently.
It's like the sarcastic use of "a news flash" or "breaking news."

 

[skydog757]

A phrase that will be lost on most people these days is "He's wound up tighter than an eight day clock".

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^

To riff on that ...

It's been some time since I've heard anyone use "tight" to mean "drunk." It was a common usage within my memory.

"Tight" meaning "stingy" is still heard quite a bit.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Papa come home late last night
Mama said, 'Pop, you're tight'
When he tried to find the light
He faw down and go boom!
Papa, he begin to sing
Mama said, 'Bad old thing'
Then she took a great big swing
He faw down and go boom!"

-- song made popular by Eddie Cantor, 1929

 

[Stearmen]

^^^^^^

To riff on that ...

It's been some time since I've heard anyone use "tight" to mean "drunk." It was a common usage within my memory.

"Tight" meaning "stingy" is still heard quite a bit.

These days, tight means cool, as in, that song is tight! Tighten Up, used to be slang for a Promiscuous young lady, as in, she needs to tighten up, or she'll get in trouble!

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

These days, tight means cool, as in, that song is tight! Tighten Up, used to be slang for a Promiscuous young lady, as in, she needs to tighten up, or she'll get in trouble!

"Hi, we're Archie Bell and the Drells, and we're from Houston, Texas ..."

 

[MisterCairo]

^^^^^^

To riff on that ...

It's been some time since I've heard anyone use "tight" to mean "drunk." It was a common usage within my memory.

"Tight" meaning "stingy" is still heard quite a bit.

There's a line in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster along the lines "He's not crazy, he's just tight as an owl!" (i.e. drunk).

 

[tonyb]

... Tighten Up, used to be slang for a Promiscuous young lady, as in, she needs to tighten up, or she'll get in trouble!

I can see how that usage came about. It's easy enough to, um, sense it, although it wasn't until now that it occurred to me. In that context (as well as others), it means essentially the opposite of "loose."

 

[Stearmen]

"Hi, we're Archie Bell and the Drells, and we're from Houston, Texas ..."

While I am more then old enough to remember when that came out in 1968, it is probably considered ancient history to most!

 

[Stanley Doble]

"And we don't only sing, we can dance just as good as we want"

 

[CONELRAD]

On the topic of "tight"...

[video=youtube;sqZRl0GY04o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqZRl0GY04o[/video]

 

[skydog757]

"And we don't only sing, we can dance just as good as we want"

I'd always heard the line as " We dance just as good as we walk"; meaning that that it was easy. My ears and memory might deceive me, though.

 

[The Good]

You don't really hear variations of "What the devil," or "What in blazes" anymore, to express astonishment, agitation, or disbelief. I can only guess they're very infrequently used or next to non-existant now, well after the 1960s have ended. I've heard some of those phrases on the original Star Trek, most memorably by DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy. I think I've come across those in other TV shows or films from that era, as well.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I sat what the devil all the time.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

I'd always heard the line as " We dance just as good as we walk"; meaning that that it was easy. My ears and memory might deceive me, though.

+1

 

[The Good]

I sat what the devil all the time.

Although I didn't say it, I wrote it on Facebook the other day.