I was walkin’ down the street yesterday and I heard a fellow talking about his car to another fellow: “I don’t care if it breaks down while I’M driving it, but my wife don’t know shit from Shinola!”
I gave a little squeak of delight, as I so rarely hear that phrase (though I have had much occasion to use it myself this past month). I sprinkle my conversation with 1920s-era expletives such as “nerts,” “ba-nanner oil” and “ain’t THAT a load o’ clams!” James Lileks recently discussed the phrase “get a horse!” (yelled to people in broken-down cars, c1910), which still pops up from time to time—I yelled it at a friend in the subway, after I’d breezed through the turnstile with my token and he was still re-swiping his Metrocard.
How about you—have you heard, or do you use, phrases whose sell-by dates expired ages ago?
I use “shit from Shinola” occasionally. I say “criminy!” a LOT; I call snobs cake-eaters; when stuff is good it’s spiffy, swanky, keen, ritzy, or the bee’s knees, and I express shock with “Well I’ll be!” and “Land sakes!” I don’t think I’m anywhere near your encyclopedia knowledge of antiquated phrases, though. I’ll have to work on it.
My mother taught me “Cheese and Rice” and “'phooey” - and I use both everyday. People seem to love phooey a lot - I get a lot of comments about that one.
My wife’s parents lived a substantial distance from their own parents during her birth, childhood, and youth. One of the first homes they rented was an apartment in the house of the widow who was my great-aunt, who served as an “honorary granny” to her for most of her early life.
A lot of old rural upstate New York terminology got handed down through the two families – and every so often, fishing for the proper term, we’ll hit on one of it, and end up laughing over it.
Some classics:
> “Icebox” (Never mind that it’s a frost-free electric refrigerator and that neither of us have ever seen an actual icebox-style food-cooler outside a museum; that’s what our grandparents called it.)
> “Wheel” (Apparently exclusive to my paternal grandparents and aunt, this was the term for a bicycle.)
> “Sitting room” (Distinguished from a parlor, this was an auxiliary casual room with couch and armchair, usually smaller in size, where people could go when desiring private conversation while the living room was otherwise occupied.)
> “Down home” (Not the southern usage for “folksy”, it merely meant the residence of any grandparent.)
> “Opera glasses” and “binoculars” (two similar but distinct optical instruments) as exact synonyms.
There are easily a hundred others, but those come to mind.
Also, a verbal faux pas committed by my aunt that became a catch phrase – Referring to the decline in daylight hours and consequently earlier sunsets as fall advanced, she remarked, “It gets late so early these days!”
The midwestern version of “shinola” is “apple butter”, as in “He doesn’t know shit from apple butter”. Apple butter???
I think the upper midwest is the retirement home for antiquated phrases. They’re dozens still in common use up there. I think it’s the Lutherans. Let me think of some more…
Hm. Can I get any points for “Egads”, “Gadzooks”, “Ye cats”, and “Odd’s bodkins”, all of which I say regularly? How about “By Gadfrey”, as in, “Are you threatening me, sir? For if you are, by Gadfrey, I’ll…”
I’m a big time user of “gosh.” As in, “Gosh, I don’t think I can handle much more today.” It’s not a profanity substitute; witness today’s “Gosh, I hate this goddamned town.” There are times when I can hardly start a sentence without it.
Well I use great googely moogely, but lets face facts, I got that one from a commercial for snickers. I still use “hoot” but mayhaps that came back into the mainstream thanks to the efforts of a certain cartoon cow, who will remain nameless.
I see alot of words that I use, and could not help but put a sweedish accent to yumpin yiminy.
“NOW you’re cooking with gas!” (Meaning, now you’re seeing some success from your efforts, or now you’re speeding up your process.)
I don’t know if this is strictly North Dakota Norwegian Lutheran (from my mother) or was ever more universally used: “That looks like tunket!” (Awful.) And, “Honey, why are you looking bedottly?” (Sad, downcast.) Oh, and “It looks as though it’s going to clobber up and churn!” (Rain.)
And Bob’s your uncle! (Yes, Encinitas, I say it all the time too…and I’ve got people in my office saying it now!)
During an army training course in 1996, I told another student that he was a “rube” because he was all goggle-eyed at Tomb Raider. This became a standard course phrase directed at anyone (including me) who said something dumb or obvious.
Aw, “rube” isn’t all that dated. I like using “jay” to mean the same thing, which goes back to the 1880s at least and NOBODY knows what it means any more. (Although “jay-walker” is still in common use, derived from the the spectacle the poor bumpkin made rushing across the avenue flapping his arms and ducking between the horse-cars.)
I also enjoy calling someone “strictly a square from Delaware.”
You can tell some of us hung out with our grandparents a lot.
When I became a mom, I foreswore the swearing and started using grandma-speak. I now say “goodness gracious!” “criminy!” “jeezum crow,” and when searching for something which has been in plain sight all the time, “well, if it had been a snake, it’d bit me.”
