Terms Which Have Disappeared

[2jakes]

My father also used to say that.

As many times as I’ve seen this movie, when Rod Steiger is on
I forget that there are other actors in the scene with him.
That’s how good he was for me.
Dr. Zhivago is another.

 

[wallypop]

How about: "picture on a post office wall?"

 

[tonyb]

How about: "picture on a post office wall?"

Come to think of it, I haven't seen pictures of wanted fugitives at the Post Office in so long I can't remember how long it has been.

Used to be a standard joke. As in, "I think I recognize his face. Saw it at the Post Office, I think."

 

[Bruce Wayne]

"The Natural”, 1984
View attachment 83580

Wet nurse is another one that you don't hear.

 

[2jakes]

“Operator”
(When a human voice would answer instead of a recording)

 

[skydog757]

Calling "No bottle caps" when choosing which team would bat first.

 

[Fading Fast]

My father also used to say that.

As many times as I’ve seen this movie, when Rod Steiger is on
I forget that there are other actors in the scene with him.
That’s how good he was for me.
Dr. Zhivago is another.

I agree - Steiger is that insanely good. In a weird way, he is the glue in Doctor Zhivago.

 

[Upgrade]

There are sometimes operators, but it's a subtle shift from "How may I connect your call" vs. "How may I direct your call?"

 

[Fading Fast]

Ballyhoo

Great word - hardly ever hear it anymore.

As happens 90% of the time, it just popped out of my head as I was posting on another thread and thought, that's one you don't hear much at all now.

 

[MisterCairo]

Possibly noted earlier, but just in case -

Ruckus. Tom foolery. Shenanigans. Skullduggery. Hijinks.

These came up the other day in a discussion.

 

[Upgrade]

I always did wonder whether people from Missouri were more skeptical and whether it still holds up today.

 

[BobHufford]

I always did wonder whether people from Missouri were more skeptical and whether it still holds up today.

I'll suspend judgement on that for the time being.

 

[2jakes]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ballyhoo

Great word - hardly ever hear it anymore.

As happens 90% of the time, it just popped out of my head as I was posting on another thread and thought, that's one you don't hear much at all now.

"Ballyhoo" was the most popular humor magazine of the 1930s, combining smeary sex jokes with deep-cutting satires of advertising and popular culture.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Ballyhoo" was the most popular humor magazine of the 1930s, combining smeary sex jokes with deep-cutting satires of advertising and popular culture.

That might vaguely ring a bell. Sounds like an early version of Mad magazine combined with a tamer Playboy - yes / no?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Similar, but more cartoon-oriented. Their fake ads were much more brutal than Mad's ever were.

The editor of Ballyhoo, a fellow by the name of Norman Anthony, was one of the biggest names in humor in the 1920s and early 1930s -- he'd been the editor of Judge, which he turned into the snappiest humor sheet of the twenties by hiring people like S. J. Perelman, Jefferson Machamer, and Dr. Seuss, and when Dell Publishing lured him over to start Ballyhoo it was hot news for comedy fans. Anthony rode the success of Ballyhoo magazine all the way to Broadway, creating a stage revue called "Ballyhoo of 1932" which featured Bob Hope in one of his first starring roles, and song lyrics by Yip Harburg.

Anthony remained influential until the end of the thirties, when Ballyhoo folded, and he dropped completely off the map. But a lot of the people who created "Mad" in the 1950s grew up reading his work -- and his influence is clearly evident in theirs.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ everything has antecedents that go back further than one thinks.

 

[Big Cat]

My grandpa always used the term "Well, I'll be jiggered", when something had him stumped.

I occasionally use that and people just looooooook at me...

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Possibly noted earlier, but just in case -

Ruckus. Tom foolery. Shenanigans. Skullduggery. Hijinks.

These came up the other day in a discussion.

Along with "Shenanigans", other words from the period when recent Irish immigrants were the disfavored minority: hooligan, malarkey, paddy wagon. Any others come to mind?

 

[LizzieMaine]

"ya dorrrrrty spalpeen!"