# Was "steal away" really common 1970s slang? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564 "2009-07-19T23:17:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/21 "2009-07-22T14:43:45Z")
I didn’t know the expression had become that uncommon, that people would be unfamiliar with it. Seems like a regular ol’ idiom to me, meaning the same as “sneak away” but more old-fashioned sounding. The question is whether it was more common in 1970s song lyrics than at other times, and maybe it was. I was a teenager in the 70s so I can think of a few examples, but I don’t have other decades to compare to. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/22 "2009-07-22T14:45:47Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I never heard it, and I grew up in the 70s, I mean other than the song here and there. Of course I lived in Chicago, which is always the last to get anything. > > Then again, I rarely heard words like groovy or other such “common” 70s expression. I certainly never said “groovy.” …though I do remember saying and hearing ‘far out’. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/23 "2009-07-22T14:54:57Z")
> [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > It was considered seriously played out by the time I was a teenager in the 70s. That wasn’t the only one, either. **Lois** How’d you like your first day on the job? **Clark** Frankly the hours were sort of longer than I expected, but on the whole, I mean meeting you and Jimmy and Mr. White - Gosh on the whole I’d say it’s been swell. **Lois** Swell? You know, Clark, there are very few people left in the world who feel comfortable saying that word. **Clark** What word? **Lois** Swell. **Clark** Really? It always sounded kind of natural. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/24 "2009-07-22T20:51:28Z")
> [@Mariemarie](#): > > The only other one I can think of right off is Led Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times” > Oh Rosie, oh girl, oh Rosie, oh girl, steal away, now, steal away… **Whitesnake** , on “Snake Bite” 1978, yep _Steal Away_ it is, fourth track. Every rocker should remember that one. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/25 "2009-07-22T20:55:27Z")
I’ve heard it occasionally in conversation since the 60’s. That’s as far back as I can personally cover. I seldom heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564/26 "2009-07-22T21:15:28Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > …though I do remember saying and hearing ‘far out’. 😛 So you’re angling for an invite to the Pizza Place Marcia? LOL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steal-away-really-common-1970s-slang/503564.md?page=1)