# "Aw, Nerts!" Antiquated Phrases You've Heard or Used **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286 "2002-04-29T14:07:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/61 "2002-04-30T21:09:14Z")
I frequently use, “Scared the bejeezus outta me!” No clue what that means. What’s a bejeezus? My mom used to say, “for the love of Pete”. My sister-in-law says, “I didn’t know whether to shit or go blind!” She also has a nickname for the neighborhood floozie: The Town Pump. That just slays me! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/62 "2002-04-30T21:17:57Z")
Thought I’d pop back in here and note that in this week’s issue of [_The Onion_](http://www.theonion.com), the “What Do You Think?” feature quotes a “man in the street” concerning the Robert Blake murder case: > [@](#): > > Bonny Lee Bakley was hardly a saint. She was a con-woman, a grifter. A flim-flammer and a bunko artist. This doll had more angles than an octagon. ---
**Author:** ![Clever\_Hans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Clever\_Hans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clever_Hans)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/63 "2002-04-30T21:31:16Z")
> [@](#): > > **Politzania** > > Would “bummer” be considered antiquated? Or just uncool? Why would bummer be uncool, I use bummer, dig, jive, and hip… and I’m a happening dude. Right? …right? Anyhoo I’ve been thinking about trying to bring back “Coolidge in '25” anyone with me? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/64 "2002-04-30T22:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EchoKitty \* > \*\*I > My mom used to say, “for the love of Pete”. > \*\* Oh, hey! I just remembered “Oh, for the love of Mike!” was something my dad used to say whenever he was exasperated. I’d forgotten all about that until EchoKitty reminded me. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/65 "2002-04-30T23:12:48Z")
At the risk of bragging (or, conversely, showing what a nerd I am) my friends say I have the most unique vocabulary of expletives they’ve ever heard. A few examples: “Mother of Trotsky!” a general exclamation. “Shut your biscuit-trap!” A gentle request for silence. “Judas Priest!” another general exclamation, although I used to vary it with “Judas Ignacious!” or “Jude the Obscure!” One that used to irk my ever-grammatically-correct mother was “Perish forbid!” She would remind me that I should say either “Heaven forbid!” or “Perish the thought.” Years later, I could have explained to her that the original is just funnier, especially in the ironic sense: [when talking to someone in a hideous outfit] “You – look ridiculous in that? Perish forbid!” My grandmother always said swearing was the sign of a limited vocabulary. I grew to believe her. Nowadays, I think it funnier and more potent when someone, especially in a movie, uses a non-swear word (e.g. in _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_, when his sister knocks the collection can out of the guy’s hand, he calls her a “heartless wench!” 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/66 "2002-05-01T02:43:00Z")
Sometimes I ask for the “lowdown”, sometimes the “skinny”. My Dad’s eternal chant, “You’ll put your eye out with that!” Schmaltz. I use “verklempt” from SNL. Is it a real word? Also I use, “no big whoop”. Sakes Alive! Glory be! ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/67 "2002-05-01T04:53:29Z")
What in the “Sam Hill” are ya’ll talking about? My Dad always said “dagnabbit” and “I’m wore to a frazzle”. Or “flatter than a flitter”. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InternetLegend \* > \*\*Does “hell fire and save matches” count, or is that my mother’s own invention? \*\* My mom’s version of this was “sh\*t fire and save matches”. “I feel like I’ve been rode hard and put up wet.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/68 "2002-05-01T15:29:17Z")
CaptMurdock, your “Mother of Trotsky!” reminded me, I am fond of exclaiming, when surprised, “Holy Mother of Mary Pickford!” ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/69 "2002-05-01T18:02:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*CaptMurdock, your “Mother of Trotsky!” reminded me, I am fond of exclaiming, when surprised, “Holy Mother of Mary Pickford!” \*\* 🆒 **Eve** , you reminded _me_ of one I used recently, inspired by Jack McFarland on _Will and Grace_: “Jennifer Love Hewitt on a Popsicle stick!” More frustration than surprise, though. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/70 "2002-05-02T05:54:06Z")
nifty, spiffy, swell, boss, neato-keen, groovy = all parts of my daily vocabulary. I also say “no duh” “no doy” and “Guy” (guy sort of excamatiion/god replacement way, not as in a guy) ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/71 "2002-05-02T06:41:43Z")
I use spiffy, or just “lookin’ spiff” but don’t know where I got that from. “Rode hard and put away wet” is another I use a lot. Jeez Louise is for polite company. Family language that’s crept into my vocab.: My grandmother called raisins “bitchy bugs” (or bitchybugs, if you prefer). My sister and I still use that one. My father called a nose a “snotlocker” (or snot locker) and prefaced every trip with the phrase “. . . and we’re off like a herd of turtles.” ---
**Author:** ![Deadly\_Nightlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Deadly\_Nightlight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deadly_Nightlight)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/72 "2002-05-02T07:24:40Z")
Great Googly moogly Jumpin Jehosophat dressed to the nines egads! Gravy! For the Love of Snickers! ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/73 "2002-05-02T08:09:24Z")
Surely these phrases aren’t so much as antiquated, in the sense of being obsolete…just hip in a different time or place? * * * A couple of quotes cited here aren’t actually the original. Is the emotion is more important than the word specifics? * * * I’m fond of “That’s just ducky” and say it from time to time. I like several of the connotations. It’s hard to fault ducks. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/74 "2002-05-02T13:20:41Z")
aw, **partly\_warmer** , ya beat me to it! I’ve lived in PA, VA, ME, CA, LA, MS and WA (after 5 states, I get lazy), and I always get a raised eyebrow when someone asks me how I am and I say “just ducky”. Not an affectation-just something I’ve always said. People bring me rubber ducks for my desk, thinking I’m really into ducks.(nothing against ducks, but my creature of choice is an armadillo) 😛 Mr. Singular and I both got hooked on Damon Runyon and the phrase “more than somewhat” stuck with us more than somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Mooney252](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mooney252](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooney252)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/75 "2002-05-02T15:01:33Z")
“Oh pshaw!” which you still see occasionally in period pieces. “I have to see a man about a dog.” a phrase with two different meanings – either it’s time to hit the water closet or it’s time for a drink. “You weren’t born in a barn.” a reminder to children to close the door after they enter the house. “Don’t forget the magic words.” a reminder to children to use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when asking for something. A colleague at work had never heard of the “magic words” and guessed that ‘f— you’ was correct. “What do you want? An egg in your beer?” a Polish expression meaning ‘so you want to have your cake and eat it too?’ An raw egg served in a beer is a Polish luxury – and it’s tastier than it sounds. If I think about this for a day, I’ll probably find a dozen more that are farm-related. My mother peppered her conversation with them. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/76 "2002-05-02T15:47:22Z")
I’m partial to “Let’s blow this popsickle stand,” myself. Since I have two small boys, I also find myself saying “Darn” and “Shucks” a lot. I had a friend who used to tell bankers to “Cancel that Exchequer,” but that was just silly. (He was also the guy who’d occasionally say that we should “Jolson up and go incog-Negro,” which I think he also invented.) Is “If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs – if we had some eggs” outdated or just regional? (My wife tends to sigh when I say that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/77 "2002-05-02T18:21:17Z")
“Now we’re cooking with gas” is one of my grandpa’s, but the thing that confused me until I was older was that although he used it occasionally about getting something working, he used it DAILY in the summer when they stayed at their summer cottage and he was lighting the fire in the cookstove. A woodburning cookstove. Another one of his which I like, and use to amuse the seniors I work with “If that isn’t the oyster’s earmuffs”, meaning its just perfect, or very cute, or something wonderful. Grandpa grew up in rural farming area of Suthern Ontario, then became a sailor on the Great Lakes/ St Lawrence Seaway. So his speech was pretty rich with idioms. And little rhymes. And he never ever ever went to bed. He went “to bunk”. Even when it was a twin bed with a chantilly lace spread in the rose and green bedroom he and my Grandma shared. Sniff. I miss my grandpa. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/78 "2002-05-02T19:38:49Z")
Eve, you’re getting to me. I just told one of my vendors that I didn’t want ‘to get him in Dutch with his boss’. No foolin’. And I know who to blame. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/79 "2002-05-02T19:46:42Z")
What about “shits and giggles”? I just realised I use this all the time but I really haven’t heard anyone else use it. If I’m doing something for the hell of it, I’m doing it for shits and giggles. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286/80 "2002-05-02T19:48:34Z")
Hey—don’t go blaming ME, or I’ll have your guts for garters, you . . . you . . . impertinent jackanapes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-nerts-antiquated-phrases-youve-heard-or-used/106286.md?page=5)