Murgatroyd

 

Do you remember that word?  Would you believe the spell checker did not recognize the word Murgatroyd?

Heavens to Murgatroyd... Where's that little paperback dictionary I used to have? 

Lost words from our childhood:  Words gone as fast as the buggy whip!  Sad really! 

The other day a not so elderly (75) lady said something to her grandson about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her with a 'deer-in-headlights' look and said "What the heck is a Jalopy grandma?" 

He never heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was old….. but not that old.   And of course, even though so many of these words and phrases are gone now, WE still use them now and then - shaking our heads at the blank stare we get back when we do.

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," "Roll down your window", "You sound like a broken record" and "Hung out to dry." 

Back in our day we had a lot of 'Moxie.'  We'd put on our best 'bib and tucker' to' straighten up and fly right'.  Heavens to Betsy!  Gee willikers!  Jumping Jehoshaphat! Holy Moley! 

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

Back in those days, we tried to be "fair and squre" and wanted to be "happy and gay".  That sure has changed.  And life used to be swell, but when's the last time anything was swell? 

Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.  Gone are spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pedal pushers...AND DON'T FORGET.... Saddle Stitched Pants.  Oh, my aching back!  Kilroy was here!  But he isn't anymore. 

We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, 'Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!'  Or, This is a 'fine kettle of fish'!  Or, 'Living the life of Riley', we discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed as omnipresent as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice - from our tongues and our pens (and our keyboards). 

Poof, go the words of our youth, the words we’ve left behind.  We blink, and they're gone. 

Where have all those great words and phrases gone?. 

Long gone: Pshaw,  The milkman did it.  Hey!  It's your nickel.  Don't forget to pull the chain.  Knee high to a grasshopper.  Well, Fiddlesticks!   Going like sixty.  I'll see you in the funny papers.  Don't take any wooden nickels.  Wake up and smell the roses – or coffee.  Dear Ann Landers.  “See ya later, Alligator!”  “Okie dokie!” 

It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter has liver pills.  (Yes, I know..."Carter's Little Liver Pills" are gone too!) 

We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changing times. For a child each new word is like a shiny new toy.  We at the other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering hearing or reading words that once did not exist and there are now words no longer heard any more, except in our collective memory.  It's one of the greatest advantages of aging.

And with everyone glued to their cell phone these days, when's the last time you saw a  a pay phone?   It leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth...

 

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FABULOUS 50'S…

NO ONE WILL EVER HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY AGAIN...

WE (OR AT LEAST MOST OF US) STILL HAVE ONE OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS:

............OUR MEMORIES……….