# Old time phrases - **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196 "2011-11-26T23:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/61 "2011-12-05T16:30:53Z")
What does it say about me that I am only 34 and use 90% of these on a regular basis? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/62 "2011-12-05T18:58:18Z")
I just remembered another one my elderly friend used to say. Regarding someone who had really screwed up, creating a problem that would be difficult to resolve, Bill would say “He caught his tit in a wringer.” . ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/63 "2011-12-06T04:01:52Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > > > Whenever I finished something much more quickly than expected (often food-related, but not necessarily), my dad used to say “You went through that like a dose of salts through a tall Swede!” > > > > I still have no idea where the phrase came from, and none of the 5 hits that Google provides is any help. > > I would assume that the “salts” refer to Epsom salts used as a laxative Yes, I’m quite sure of that bit. What I don’t know, and have never been able to find out, is: why a Swede in particular, and a tall one at that? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/64 "2011-12-06T04:35:24Z")
Up until I was in my teens (born very early 80s) flip-flop sandals were referred to my by dad as “Jap flaps” Interesting since he was born 10 years after WWII, and even my grandfather on that side served in the military, but his war was Korea. My dad has dropped that unfortunate nomenclature in his old age (well, he’s mid-late 50s now) but on the downside he’s reverted back to some really uncomfortable and unacceptable other ethnic phrases. Let’s just say I hear “Negro” way more often than anyone in the 21st century should. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/65 "2011-12-06T05:20:41Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Up until I was in my teens (born very early 80s) flip-flop sandals were referred to my by dad as “Jap flaps” > > Interesting since he was born 10 years after WWII, and even my grandfather on that side served in the military, but his war was Korea. > > My dad has dropped that unfortunate nomenclature in his old age (well, he’s mid-late 50s now) but on the downside he’s reverted back to some really uncomfortable and unacceptable other ethnic phrases. > > Let’s just say I hear “Negro” way more often than anyone in the 21st century should. My dad ( in his 90’s) still uses “colored”, but I don’t think its really offensive, or is it? ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/66 "2011-12-07T21:13:46Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I just remembered another one my elderly friend used to say. Regarding someone who had really screwed up, creating a problem that would be difficult to resolve, Bill would say “He caught his tit in a wringer.” > . My mum would say, “I haven’t laughed so much since Grandma got her tit caught in the mangle” when she found something uproariously funny. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/67 "2011-12-08T04:34:46Z")
Heavens to Betsy…I haven’t heard some of these phrases in a coons age! My mom, in frustration, used to exclaim “Shit fire and save matches!”, I never did ask her for a light. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/68 "2011-12-08T06:01:12Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > What does it say about me that I am only 34 and use 90% of these on a regular basis? That you’ve got a sound grounding in colorful colloquialisms? (I use a fair number of them myself, and I’ve only got a few years on you.) ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/69 "2011-12-08T06:37:22Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > “persnickety” seems to be making a comeback. Persnickety never left my family’s vocabulary. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/70 "2011-12-08T14:44:50Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Heavens to Betsy…I haven’t heard some of these phrases in a coons age! > > My mom, in frustration, used to exclaim “Shit fire and save matches!”, I never did ask her for a light. My wife’s mother says “Shit fire and green weenies”, for some reason. I think she’s got her phrases crossed someways. She also often says that she’s made enough food to feed “Cox’s army”, whoever they are. Sometimes, when I find something pleasing, I say, “Well, feather my feet and start me grinnin’!” I’m also fond of “by Gadfrey”, as in, “Are you threatening me, sir? For if you _are_, by Gadfrey!..” Has no one truly mentioned “Odd’s Bodkins!”? I seem to recall reading somewhere that “Odd” is an antiquated reference to the devil and a “bodkin” is a dagger… ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/71 "2011-12-08T18:07:42Z")
My Dad used to say “Heaven’s to Murgatroyd!” Or “Murgatroid”, don’t know the spelling or who “Murgatroyd” is. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/72 "2011-12-08T20:47:16Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > My Dad used to say “Heaven’s to Murgatroyd!” Or “Murgatroid”, don’t know the spelling or who “Murgatroyd” is. Was he quoting Snagglepuss? Or is “Heavens to Murgatroyd” older than that? (Exit, Stage Left) Edit: answered my own question. See _[Heavens To Murgatroyd - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/heavens-to-murgatroyd.html)_ ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/73 "2011-12-08T21:02:30Z")
My Gram used to say “who tied the kittens” and “where the bear shit in the woods” to mean telling someone off. She also said “since Christ lost his sandals” meaning for a long time. I miss my Gram. ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/74 "2011-12-08T21:26:51Z")
My Grandmother would describe somebody who was too good to be true as one who could “work wonders and shit cucumbers”. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/75 "2011-12-08T21:35:20Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Was he quoting Snagglepuss? Or is “Heavens to Murgatroyd” older than that? > > (Exit, Stage Left) > > Edit: answered my own question. See _[Heavens To Murgatroyd - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/heavens-to-murgatroyd.html)_ Thank you, **TreacherousCretin**! I’d forgotten about that saying until this thread and it popped into my mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196.md?page=3)