Forgotten language

[red750]

Mergatroyd!     Do you remember that word?  Would you believe the spell-checker did not recognize the word Mergatroyd?  Heavens to Mergatroyd!

 

The other day a lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy;     and he looked at her quizzically and said, "What the heck is a Jalopy?"  He had never heard of the word jalopy!  She knew she was old ... But not that old. 

 

Well, I hope you are Hunky Dory after you read this and chuckle.

 

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology.  These phrases included: Don't touch that dial, Carbon copy, You sound like a broken record, and Hung out to dry.

 

Back in the olden days we put on our best bib and tucker.

 

Heavens to Betsy!     Gee whillikers!         Jumping Jehoshaphat!       Holy Moley!

 

We were in like Flynn and  living the life of Riley; and even a regular guy couldn't accuse us of being a knucklehead, a nincompoop or a pill.   Not for all the tea in China!

 

We wake up from a short nap, and before we can say,  "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!" Or, "This is a fine kettle of fish!"      

 

Poof, go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind.  Where have all those great phrases gone?

 

Long gone: Pshaw, The milkman did it.  Don't forget to pull the chain.  Knee high to a grasshopper.Well, Fiddlesticks!    I'll see you in the funny farm. Wake up and smell the roses.

 

Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth... 

 

See ya later, alligator!     Okidoki.

 

You'll notice they left out "Monkey Business"!!! and ‘Dry as a dead dingo’s donger’!

 

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FABULOUS 40’s and 50'S ... NO ONE WILL EVER HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY AGAIN .. WE WERE GIVEN ONE OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS:  LIVING IN THE PEACEFUL AND COMFORTABLE TIMES, CREATED FOR US BY THE "GREATEST GENERATION"           

[pmccarthy]

A popular new TV series will allow young people to understand this.

Christine Keeler's a b….. nice sheila 

But Mandy's just as nice for half the price.

[old man emu]

Hidy-ho, everybody! Rick-a-poody and a fan-doogly.

 

Strewth, Red. You went at that topic like a bull in a china shop. Nearly knocked me as flat as a shit carter's hat with his 24-door sedan. I wish I could post more quickly, but I'm as slow as a wet week using this TRS-80. It's as useless as an ashtray on a motorcycle, or a hip pocket in a singlet. What will he do next, customers? Take the money or box? 

 

Say some of these things to the Young Folk and they'll think you are as mad as a two bob watch.

 

[red750]

Watch yourself, fella-me-lad. Any more of that lip and you'll get a thick ear!

[Old Koreelah]

Related topic: try typing Aussie lingo on you computer, tablet or phone and you’ll have to disable spellcheck, because it will respell proper Aussie words like arvo, metho, plurry, bluddy…

 

In disgust at our American computer makers’ lack of knowledge, I’ve switched off Spellchecker. The downside is my miss-typed words don’t get corrected automatically, but the upside is my brain now gets a bit more of a workout while typing.

[old man emu]

I simply add Aussie dialectic words to the spellchecker and, like a "Pelaco shirt, 

 

It was widely thought that the aboriginal horseman Mulga Fred was the model for "Pelaco Bill" in advertising artwork created by Tom Mockeridge. 

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mulga-fred-11194

 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/64416717

[onetrack]

Strangely enough, I've never heard an Aboriginal say "mine tink it"!  That seems like a pidgin English corruption. The Abo's will say "Pord Palcon" for Ford Falcon, but they're generally understandable.

[pmccarthy]

In PNG a sausage is a bullamacow banana.

[Old Koreelah]

In the Territory, a box of matches is a Bry-May bulldozer.

[old man emu]

 

[Yenn]

I lend money. "pigs arse I do"

[old man emu]

I've been ignoring my emails and now I'm further behind than Walla Walla.

[onetrack]

"How ya going?" .... "Fit as a Mallee Bull, and twice as dangerous!"

 

When questioned about poor tyre grip.  "Slides like s**t off a shiny shovel!"

 

Referring to a bald-headed, disliked, know-it-all.  They call him "Mudguard".  "Why?"  "Shiny on top, and nothing but s**t underneath".

 

When it's preferable to keep something, or an event, hidden.  "What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over".

 

 

[facthunter]

I'll bet you London to a brick on  at the end of the day  when all's said and done you'll have buckleys chance of  what "stone the crows and stiffen the Jewy lizards" means, even if we wait till the cows come home .Blind Freddy can see you wouldn't savvy the lingo.   Nev

[old man emu]

I wouldn't have missed this conversation for all the tea in China.

[willedoo]

 

On 21/09/2021 at 8:27 PM, pmccarthy said:

In PNG a sausage is a bullamacow banana.

I like the way in the islands, they call a cyclone a 'buggerup'.

[Marty_d]

2 hours ago, willedoo said:

 

I like the way in the islands, they call a cyclone a 'buggerup'.

Funny how the same word means different things in different places, that's our word for government policy.

 

[nomadpete]

And it happens a lot more frequently than cyclones.....

[facthunter]

Cyclones go round and round and our "TOP" politicians SPIN.. Nev

[old man emu]

My Dad told me that when he first enlisted in WWII and was getting set up in the barracks, someone asked the Corporal what would they sleep on since there were no cots around. The Corporal snapped that they would sleep on their "pally asses". Now my old man had knocked around a bit, and knew of poofs, so he was wondering what sort of mob he'd joined up to.

 

Unfortunately, his education at that time was a bit lacking, having grown up a child of the Depression. It wasn't until he realised that when he was given a chaff bag and pointed to a pile of straw what a palliasse was.

[Old Koreelah]

10 hours ago, old man emu said:

My Dad told me that when he first enlisted in WWII and was getting set up in the barracks, someone asked the Corporal what would they sleep on since there were no cots around…

Had to spend a cold night in a woolshed once, with no sleeping bag. I noticed a pile of nice, warm wool and burrowed in, dog tired, slept well.

Next morning everyone gave me a wide berth. Not being from sheep country, it was a memorable introduction to piss-saturated belly wool.

[red750]

In a similar vein...

 

SLEEP TIGHT-   Early  beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across the frame in a crisscross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top of the ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The owner would then tighten the ropes to get a better night’s sleep.

 

'A SHOT OF WHISKEY'      - In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents, so did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash, he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a "shot" of whiskey.

 

 BUYING  THE FARM -   This  is synonymous with dying. During WW1 soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you "bought the farm" for your survivors.

[red750]

A few more to keep you going....

 

 

OVER A BARREL -   In  the days before CPR, a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in an effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel, you are in deep trouble.

  BARGE IN -   Heavy  freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into piers or other boats. People would say they "barged in".
 

HOGWASH -   Steamboats  carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they would be washed before being put on board. The mud and other filth that was washed off were considered useless “hog wash".

  CURFEW -   The  word "curfew" comes from the French phrase "couvre-feu", which means "cover the fire". It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles. It was later adopted into Middle English as “curfeu" which later became the modern "curfew". In the early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the center of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would be covered with a clay  pot called-a “curfew".

  BARRELS OF OIL -   When  the first oil wells were drilled, there was no provision for storing the liquid so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we speak of barrels of oil rather than gallons.

HOT OFF THE PRESS - As the paper goes through the rotary printing press friction causes it to heat up  Therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press, it’s hot. The expression means to get immediate information.

There, don't you feel smarter now?

  Betcha Didn’t Know ...  

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood plasma.

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No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven (7) times.

Oh, go ahead.. I'll wait...

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Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes or shark attacks.
(So, watch your Ass)

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You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television

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Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age, or older.

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The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.

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The King of Hearts is the only king WITHOUT A MUSTACHE

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American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive
From each salad served in first-class.

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Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

(Since Venus is normally associated with women, what does this tell you?)

(Those women are going in the 'right' direction...?)

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Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

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Most dust particles in your house are made from DEAD SKIN!

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The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer.
So did the first 'Marlboro Man'.

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Walt Disney was afraid OF MICE!

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PEARLS DISSOLVE IN VINEGAR!

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The ten most valuable brand names on earth:  Apple, Coca Cola, Google, IBM, Microsoft, GE, McDonalds, Samsung, Intel, and Toyota,
in that order.

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A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

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Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.

(I keep my toothbrush in the living room now!)

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[old man emu]

A word that gets used because its makes people seem smarter than they are is "eponymous". What's it mean? A small rodent from Ipanema?  Nup. Eponymous is an adjective that refers to the person, place, or thing that something else is named after. A common example is found in the identification of cars - a Ford; a Holden; a Honda. Here the car is named after the manufacturer. However the use of the word can be a trip hazard in some sentences: There is a scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian in which the eponymous hero wakes up to find his home surrounded by disciples.

 

You have to question the clarity of communication in that sentence, which could be clearer if it was written, ... the hero, Brian, wakes up .... 

 

 

[Marty_d]

On 04/12/2021 at 7:23 PM, red750 said:

 

OVER A BARREL -   In  the days before CPR, a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in an effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel, you are in deep trouble.

 

 

I thought that came from somewhere in the deep south of the USA, where the definition of a virgin was someone who could run faster than her brothers.  In those areas, if you got put over a barrel, you'd really be in trouble...