They Say Em' From the Golden Era - Slang & Memorable Phrases

[Flivver]

One of my favorites from the 1920s..."Aw, applesauce!"

My Depression era parents used this one quite frequently..."Get off your high horse!" When I was a little kid I had visions of people riding horses with tall, giraffe-like legs. And I wondered why I never saw any.

 

[Godfrey]

...this is what my grandfather would say: Shake, speer, kick in the rear, glad to see ya from the top ol' pal! And there's actions to that as well, it's pretty funny!...

Just reminded me of one of my Grandfathers phrases I've picked up. For everything is just right - "All ship shape and Bristol fashion". Given he was at sea in the 30's and during the war and then moved to country Victoria (Australia) I'm guessing its vintage.

BTW - What are the actions?

 

[Forgotten Man]

BTW - What are the actions?

Well, I can't really describe it on here, I'd have to show ya! lol

 

[SamMarlowPI]

I use "How's tricks" all the time when greeting the concession kids as they report for work and none of them have the slightest idea what it means. Finally, one of them said "Tricks?? I don't turn tricks!!"

The language, sadly, has changed

thats funny...i know a gal who says that and i mentioned what it means nowadays and she knew but still liked saying it...funny...

 

[Forgotten Man]

I said "How’s tricks" to a boss I had once... she got all sorts of insulted! I didn't ever really know what it meant by today's standard... I was a little ignorant in that department... lol but, I had to explain it to her and her Mother worked there too and she helped me explain that it once was a greeting that a lot of people used before it was perverted in the 60s. Like most of everything.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

"Yo, Wasshup?" When meeting someone.
"How do you do?" as a response.

Nothing against that as such, but I think one should be natural about it. Be very careful not to answer in anything resembling an arrogant tone. This even includes the pompous attitude modern people assume when they quote older things.

Anyway, the issue of rhetoric questions reminds me of a prominent American ultra-Orthodox rabbi who asked a student of his: --How are you?
The other answered, as usual: --Borukh hashem (God be blessed).
The rabbi: --I asked "How are you?", not "How frum (pious) are you?".

 

[retrogirl1941]

The had cigarette dates? Is it me, or does that just seem foreign for someone born in today's era (even though we love the vintage)?

Maybe it was cheaper than a soda and movie date?lol I dont see how it would be foriegn for the time b/c smoking was more of a social thing like drinking can be.

Samantha

 

[Widebrim]

Go figure!

"Ah, nuts!" is one of my father's expressions. I didn't realize until I was very much an adult that "nuts" was considered a strong word years ago. Oh, and don't forget, "It (he, she, etc.) looks like the wreck of the Hesperus," one of my mother's.

 

[tortswon]

NUTS

That word should never be mentioned without a tip of the fedora to General McAuliffe. His response to the Nazis who surrounded his forces in Bastogne on Christmas in 1944 demanding their surrender... "NUTS!" It apparently drove the German translators crazy trying to translate it.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Also, when someone is complainin' about somethin, I just say: Oh, dry up!

That's another classic term.

Good to know. I use it too, although only with people I know very well, since it's not terribly polite.

I love this thread! The only thing I can think of offhand is "Hold your horses!" May or may not be vintage, but I sure use it.

 

[Gary Crumrine]

Historical Sayings

With a tip 'o the hat to KittT ("Historical Slang"), what are your favorite old sayings?

I was talking to Bill Bagwell once, and he referred to his local weather as being "Hot enought to cook a team of wet mules." Now, that's a hard one to forget.

One of my grandfather's hunting friends, when flustered, would mutter, "That'll put a hitch in yur git-a-long".

 

[Rachael]

I'm personally fond of one about a brass monkey but don't wish to get myself in trouble.

 

[Kassia]

As fine as frogs hair....
Not sure where and when that one was from but i have a friend that uses it now..

 

[LizzieMaine]

Slick as a cup o' custard.

 

[Gary Crumrine]

I'm personally fond of one about a brass monkey but don't wish to get myself in trouble.

I remember that one, Rachael. "Its cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey", wasn't it? Here's the backstory ...

Back when the British navy was more than a coastal defence, and cannon loaded with ball were in vogue, a certain number of cannonballs were stacked by each gun. By stacking them in a pyramid, the sailors could manage 24 balls. The difficulty is obvious. Cannonballs are round, and they would roll on a pitching deck. Someone developed an iron rack (visualize a muffin tin) that would keep the first course of balls stable, and that would support the higher courses. Life was good. Then winter came to the north Atlantic and it was found that the balls / muffin tin (now called "monkey", for reasons no longer remembered), having the same coefficient of expansion, would freeze together. No joy. An improvement was found when the monkeys were cast of bronze. Bronze and iron, having different coefficients of expansion, would not freeze together. But now, in dreadfully cold days, the balls would not stay stacked on the monkey. They would roll off. It had become, in other words, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

 

[Big Man]

As fine as frogs hair....
Not sure where and when that one was from but i have a friend that uses it now..

I always heard that one as "fine as frog hair split three ways".

 

[Rachael]

Gary, that's the one! I had been told the backstory before but it came from a less than credible source and I didn't want to put my foot in it.

and yes, living here I use that one a lot in the winter.

 

[Big Man]

Growing up, I used to hear this one from older folks (those who were adults during the Great depression): "Never cut a persimmon tree during a Republican administration - you might need something to eat."

 

[warbird]

When things is goin' 'specially good, "boy you're walking in tall cotton".

When you've been outside in the southern heat all day, "Stick a fork in me, cause I'm done."

When your scratching an itch in front of old folks, "fleas are good for a dog, keeps 'em, from brooding too much about bein' a dog, what's your excuse" It is also means, you ain't perfect.

When something is too easy, "that's as easy as sliding off a greasy log backward"

When you think you got it too good, "sun don't shine on the same dog's tail all the time"

My grandmother especially liked this saying, "Don't get too big for your britches britches", meaning don't think you're better than anybody else.

 

[Gary Crumrine]

When things is goin' 'specially good, "boy you're walking in tall cotton".

I remember that one, WarBird! How about "Worthless as teats on a boar hog"?