Terms Which Have Disappeared

[LizzieMaine]

Or as Mr. Benny might say, "Yiiiipe!"

 

[ChiTownScion]

Right up there with "egads!"

The challenge my wife and I occasionally throw at each other: "Curse like you're in a Walt Disney movie!"

Oh, gee.

Darn it.

Shucks.

Fiddlesticks.

 

[Stearmen]

Or as Mr. Benny might say, "Yiiiipe!"

Spelled different, but still 1940s!

 

[Stearmen]

A saying that is making a come back, Yippie kay yay! Bruce Willis uses an R rated version in some of his movies, but I have heard the G version in some Disney shows lately!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yippie Ki Yay

 

[Stearmen]

Yippie Ki Yay

Really, spelling police on slang?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yas

 

[Mister Cairo]

The deuce you say...

 

[p51]

The challenge my wife and I occasionally throw at each other: "Curse like you're in a Walt Disney movie!"

Oh, gee.

Darn it.

Shucks.

Fiddlesticks.

Consarnit!
Dagnabit!
Cripes!

 

[BlueTrain]

"Gosh, Nancy! I mean, GOSH!"

Line from a Nancy Drew movie.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Jumpin' Jiminiy Gee Whiz, Jack!"
"Quiet Billy, there's no time for that!"
-- Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy

 

[2jakes]

"Good grief Charlie Brown!"

Is there no end to this thread?

(I say the first part to my friends
in mock desperation on trivial things and they get the point without really offending them)

 

[Fading Fast]

"Good grief Charlie Brown!"

Is there no end to this thread?

I need "Peanuts" to stay relevant as I use variations of the "Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown" metaphor in my writing all the time - I need that crutch.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^

"Put 'em up...put 'em up...
I can beat ya with one paw
tied behind my back!"

Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion)

When I'm backed into a corner in
an argument which I'm loosing,
imitating Bert Lahr.
Other times, it's W.C.Fields..

"Godfrey Daniels!"

(Always breaks the tension)

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Ultimate W.C. Fields euphemism:
"There's a Ubangi in the fuel supply."
Even the euphemism would get you banned today.

 

[2jakes]

Ultimate W.C. Fields euphemism:
"There's a Ubangi in the fuel supply."
Even the euphemism would get you banned today.

Mostly if Ubangi much in public!

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^^^

"Put 'em up...put 'em up...
I can beat ya with one paw
tied behind my back!"

Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion)

When I'm backed into a corner in
an argument which I'm loosing,
imitating Bert Lahr.
Other times, it's W.C.Fields..

"Godfrey Daniels!"

(Always breaks the tension)

In addition to "Peanuts" the "Wizard of Oz" is a fount of metaphors and cultural references that I use all the time. There are so many that it is always easy to "pull one in" to add a small spark to an article.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ultimate W.C. Fields euphemism:
"There's a Ubangi in the fuel supply."
Even the euphemism would get you banned today.

When sportswriter Red Smith wrote a column in the mid-1940s wondering whether some of the dark-complected "Cuban" ballplayers then being signed by the Washington Senators might actually originate from a bit further north, he suggested that "a Senegambian might be lurking in the batpile."

 

[2jakes]

In addition to "Peanuts" the "Wizard of Oz" is a fount of metaphors and cultural references that I use all the time. There are so many that it is always easy to "pull one in" to add a small spark to an article.

My favorite....drives 'em nuts!

 

[Zombie_61]

My favorite....drives 'em nuts!

One of my favorites is when my wife asks me to remind her of something. "Would you remind me to 'fill in the blank'?" I pause, then say "Hey Toots, don't forget to..." Of course, over the 35+ years we've been married she's gotten wise to this and will often preface her request with, "Don't do it now, but remind me to..." When she does that, I just make that pause a little more pregnant.

Another favorite is a riff on a Groucho Marx routine in Horse Feathers. Someone will say something to me, and I'll reply with, "What?" They repeat what they said, and I'll reply with, "You just said that. Do you know you're repeating yourself?" Sometimes that gets them so confused that they forget what they were trying to tell me.

Of course, in both cases the trick is in the timing, and knowing when to do it and when not to.