There is great value in knowing a bit of historical, if not hysterical words used in the ancient days of the 1950’s or 60’s. Along with the words we spoke, we dressed in a certain style that marked us as definite fashionista divas.

Note that each ensamble has a matching purse.  Adorned with gloves and pearls. Our mom’s entered our schools for the semi-annual PTA meetings with our teachers. Lordy, Lordy bless my soul, my parents are talking to my teachers!

Skates and methiolaid went hand to knee. Teens used frozen orange juice cans to roll their locks. For the sluck look, we ironed our hair on an ironing board. Without getting too kinky, we also used pink curlers to get the perfect look. We prepared for each high school sock hop at the local Beauty Parlor. We wore prom dresses, and our date picked us up in his souped up rig with a corsage.

The other day I overheard a giggling childlike elderly lady (about age 72) telling her younger coffee mate that her first car was a Jalopy. With surprise, the youth asked “What the heck is a Jalopy?” She had never heard of the word jalopy! I felt totally Hunky Dory, chuckling to myself that my blue 1954 Plymouth was not a jalopy, it had heavy metal bumpers and a truck size steering wheel.

In 1969 I decorated it with purple flower power stickers with 76 balls straight up the antennae. If you catch my drift, you might be thinking “Heavens to Mergatroyd!” Do you remember seeing white wall tires and getting a written report card?

To further illuminate this generation with a few old expressions, the words detailed in this post should be studied before the charm of our vocabulary becomes obsolete. The march of technology into Ai – may eliminate these powerful phrases. An absolute horror it would be for our word history to become extinct along with the playtapus!

So, don’t touch that dial; you may want to make a carbon copy. To sound like a broken record, you must know how to spin one. Dont get left behind, or you will certainly be “Hung out to dry.” Back in the 50’s and 60’s we had a lot of hutzpah or moxie.

We’d put on our best bib and tucker, to straighten up and fly right. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers made us leap and hollar jumping
Jehoshaphat! Our meaning was not ever minimized as we said holy moley! We were in like Flynn and proud as punch to live the life of Riley.

Folks did not cuss, they just accused us of being a knucklehead! The worst word to be called was a definite nincompoop. Not for all the tea in China! Back in the golden days, life used to be swell. Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the Ducktail. People looked swell wearing blue and white spats, with taps on the heel clacking.

The fashion of white socks, with loafers was cool! Men wore knickers to play ball and a swank fedora caught our attention.  The poodle skirt and saddle shoes were what made a loud statement on the dancefloor. Pedal pushers were not those who drove bicycles. They were mid calf slacks, not tights.

Folks would sip an RC Cola and listen to records at the burger stand. Good golly, lunch was only 75 cents.  Kilroy was here, but he isn’t anymore. We were not woke, but awakened from napping as mom walked in to proclaim “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” Or, “This is a fine kettle of fish!”

The words we grew up with, are the words that filled the air with joy and hope.  Hearing one of these lost words is like oxygen. Be queer, be a queen and ignite a vanished vocabulary. Add some spice to your life. If you utter this language, you will engage a unique, upbeat conversation.  Our pens and our keyboards should not kerplunk. Without use, poof, go the words of our youth.

Where have all those great 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! I’ll see you in the funny papers. Don’t take any wooden nickels.

Wake up and smell the roses. It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter has liver pills. This can be disturbing stuff! Life has lost it’s luster as the bluster became a narrative not worth hearing. Ever wonder how Superman will ever find a phone booth again? See ya later, alligator! After a while crocodile. Oki-Doki artichokey. Call someone and use a few catchy phrases to cause a smile.

Siblings 1956