Terms Which Have Disappeared

[HudsonHawk]

I believe somewhere back in this thread we chatted about "catawampus" being a term that had disappeared. I even think it was Hudson Hawk and I who discussed it. Well, I was blown away this morning reading a WSJ article about the sad state of LaGuardia Airport when this line popped up:

In Concourse B, home to Southwest, Spirit and JetBlue, there are deep cracks in the floor, the slats in the ceiling are catawampus in many places. Some fluorescent lights are dim, some flicker and others are burned out.

So I guess the term hasn't completely disappeared. It was great to see it in use.

Catawampus (or cattywampus) is a great word. One should try to work it in whenever possible. Another great Southern word is "fixinto", as in "I'm fixinto go to the store", or more often "I'm fixinto whip your ass."

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hmm..always thought it was "Um fixinto whoop ya'alls ass"....

 

[fashion frank]

Hi ya Mac ! When was the last time you heard that if at all ! All the Best , Fashion Frank

 

[LizzieMaine]

Out of the same mold, there's "Hey, Rube!," which was thru much of the 20th Century a coded phrase used by circus, carnival, and other traveling show business folk meaning "We got trouble, let's clean it up." Usually it meant a drunken or rowdy customer was getting out of control, and all fellow workers within hearing of the shout were to come together to take care of the problem.

From that came "heyrube," a showbiz slang term for a brawl -- "we had a real heyrube at last night's show."

 

[zeus36]

"Do you want to go watch a flicker?"

 

[DNO]

Just spotted this one on a local news website:



I thought 'brouhaha' had been consigned to the past...nice to see it again!

 

[BobHufford]

I thought 'brouhaha' had been consigned to the past...nice to see it again!

Aged butler: What's all this brouhaha?
Nick Danger: Brouhaha? Hahaha.
Aged butler: Hahahaha...
Nick Danger: HAHAHAHAHAHA...
Aged butler: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*SLAM*
Nick Danger: Wait... wait a minute!

from the album "How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All" by The Firesign Theater

 

[LizzieMaine]

In the Northeast, a close kin to a brouhaha was a "brannigan," which usually involved a considerable amount of liquid cheer along with the rumpus and confusion.

 

[Zombie_61]

Brouhaha? Is that anything like a donnybrook?

 

[Stearmen]

She's a real pistol!

 

[HudsonHawk]

Brouhaha? Is that anything like a donnybrook?

A brouhaha is just like a donnybrook or a hubbub that doesnt' quite escalate into a rhubarb where you might see haymakers and slobberknockers.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Do you guys still "see a man about a horse" or do ladies still "powder their noses", or has the world got just too frank for that?

 

[skydog757]

Do you guys still "see a man about a horse" or do ladies still "powder their noses", or has the world got just too frank for that?

Yes, I still use the "horse" phrase in the right company and the right mood.

 

[Zombie_61]

Do you guys still "see a man about a horse" or do ladies still "powder their noses", or has the world got just too frank for that?

I'll also use the "horse" phrase occasionally, but can't say I've ever heard anyone use the "powder my nose" phrase in a non-facetious manner. In our circle of family and friends people usually say, "I need to use the rest room," which is pretty much on-point. Or they'll simply say, "I'll be back," as a way of excusing themselves, and leave to let everyone figure it out on their own.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Does anyone remember the term "skew gee" for something that was off kilter, cockeyed or cattywampus? The opposite was "skew hunky".

 

[Fading Fast]

Ever since we had a few posts on "grip" not that long ago, I can't not run into the word. It was in a couple of TCM movies recently - to refer to a piece of luggage - and in a modern story I read on film making which referred to individuals who work on movies in kind of factotum roles as grips. Has the happened to others where we discuss a word here and, then, you start noticing it more?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Do you guys still "see a man about a horse" or do ladies still "powder their noses", or has the world got just too frank for that?

My mother says "Going to visit Mrs. Jones," which is actually something she picked up relatively recently. When we were kids it was just "going to the can."

 

[zeus36]

"It's all gas and gaiters"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Pig Latin used to be a lot more common than it is. "Ix-nay! Ix-nay!" was a common interjection when someone started saying something you'd rather not have them say, usually accompanied by a throat-cutting gesture.

 

[Frank chops]

I'm fond of the old Dragnet radio shows. My local (USA) public radio station airs old radio on Sunday evenings, and Dragnet is on from 7:30 to 8:00. I like them so much, that when I saw a complete collection available on Audible.com, I snapped them up.

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.

How about some other terms which have vanished from common use in the past 60 years that were once so common that you could use them in a radio script with the assumption that all the listeners would understand them?

Hipster, Double feature,saving stamps,blue plate special,draft board,barn burner, rag top.