old people slang and idioms

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  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    what about standing on-line as opposed to in-line?

  • jaysusjaysus 787 Posts
    oh guys... quit pulling my chain!

  • HamHam 872 Posts
    This is a pretty interesting site on the origins of phrases. semi-related.

  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    I had a boss that caught me smoking weed one time, she was old and grey and actually said "It smells like jazz in here"

    That is awesome. It's almost Ralph Wiggum-ish.

    Expressions from my grandparents/parents:

    "Geeminy Christmas!"

    "Oh, go on!" (My grandmother would say this in response to a joke or sarcastic comment.)

    "Heavenly!" (Used to describe food that is really good)

    "Sexual intellectual" (I'm not sure who originated this, but my mom and grandmother both used to say it--it's a sly way of saying "fuckin' know-it-all," get it?)

  • what about standing on-line as opposed to in-line?



    vs


  • This is a pretty interesting site on the origins of phrases. semi-related.

    someone on here recommended a reference book on regional vernacular/dialectology here a while ago that looked really fun and i can't for the life of me remember the name. i wish i could recall the title so i can finally cop it

    edit:
    ha! i looked at the link and "balls to the wall" is on there. i used that all the time when describing music

  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    I was always partial to the exclamation "Christ on a crutch!"

  • Options
    Man this thread makes me feel old, I still say most of this stuff except cattywampus.

    "Jesus H. Christ" is a popular one with me, usually followed by someone asking what the H stands for. I always say Horace, why I don't know.

    "Onions" is standard replacement for testicles. "I'm wrestling with my nephew the other day and he caught me right in the onions, Jesus H. Christ that hurt like the dickens".

    "Hurt like the dickens" is another one, I copied that off a kid on my high school football team and have been using it ever since. He said it better though, had a southern drawl he did.

    One day my pops and I were hanging aluminum siding on his garage, and we were having a difficult time with one corner piece. It was an afternoon full of cursing and spitting up to this point, and I was looking forward to being done. It took us a couple of tries with his corner piece, with a couple of mistakes, and finally we thought we had it hung right. My dad steps back, takes a look, and shrieks "JESUS H. CHRIST, IT'S AS CROOKED AS KELSEY'S NUTS". I was laughing so hard I had to hide since he was in an Irish rage at this point. Later on I asked him where he pulled that one out of since I never heard it before, and all he said was "Did I say that? I have no idea."

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    kiddywampus
    kittywampus
    caddywampus
    cattywampus
    kaddywampus

    This is some old school shit. The only person I've ever heard use this word is my grandma and she also talks about eating tar sandwiches during the depression and whatnot.

  • tomfoolery

    i use that and highjinks pretty regularly. and i love HUBBUB but can't bring myself to say it without laughing.

    Try brouhaha

    outstanding


    My favorite is "hullabaloo".


  • I like referring to individual songs as "records", even if I am referring to a CD. Like, "that album has a lot of great records on it".

    For extra authenticity, say it old-school style: "rekkid."

    I have started saying "jive" recently and like it a lot as a descriptor for people who are Not About Shit. [/Shied]

    I like to modify it with the suffix "-ass": "I was watching a DVD of The Office last night and that Dwight Schrute is such a jive-ass..."

  • One day my pops and I were hanging aluminum siding on his garage, and we were having a difficult time with one corner piece. It was an afternoon full of cursing and spitting up to this point, and I was looking forward to being done. It took us a couple of tries with his corner piece, with a couple of mistakes, and finally we thought we had it hung right. My dad steps back, takes a look, and shrieks "JESUS H. CHRIST, IT'S AS CROOKED AS KELSEY'S NUTS". I was laughing so hard I had to hide since he was in an Irish rage at this point. Later on I asked him where he pulled that one out of since I never heard it before, and all he said was "Did I say that? I have no idea."



    I have heard variations of this one. "Hard as/Tight as Kelsey's nuts"

    for those not in the know, Kelsey was nut and bolt manufacturer, most notably for making the giant singular nut that held the wheels onto Ford Model T automobiles. Since this was before multiple lug nuts, that one nut had to be very very tigh, hence the expression.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    kiddywampus
    kittywampus
    caddywampus
    cattywampus
    kaddywampus


  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    Robbing Peter to pay Paul. I first heard this expression about a year ago. Sounds old.

    On the ball, as in get on the ball. My mom would use this term a lot.

  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    I say CRIPPLED H. CHRIST ON A CRUTCH! which is kind of a confusion of 2.


    I'm trying to add Jabbernowl to my vernacular. Fallagadoosha is there.


    I just started reading a 'book for men' from the 50s that has all sorts of crazy goodness that I have to write down. Chapters include "How To Deal With Virgins", "The Gentleman's Guide To Pinching" and "How to have an affair". Its the raddest book ever.


  • I'm trying to add Jabbernowl to my vernacular.

    i like how when you look up the definition for Jabbernowl on Answers.com, it says:

    "the same as Jobbernowl"


  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts

    I'm trying to add Jabbernowl to my vernacular.

    i like how when you look up the definition for Jabbernowl on Answers.com, it says:

    "the same as Jobbernowl"



    I never thought to actually look it up! I just got it from WC Fields.

  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    My grandpa had tons.

    Couch=Chesterfield
    Pants=Britches

    And he would always speak of a beast called a catty-mount which he swore was real.

  • My grandpa had tons.

    Couch=Chesterfield
    Pants=Britches

    And he would always speak of a beast called a catty-mount which he swore was real.

    I think a catamount is a cougar/mountain lion...

  • waxjunkywaxjunky 1,848 Posts


    I like to modify it with the suffix "-ass": "I was watching a DVD of The Office last night and that Dwight Schrute is such a jive-ass..."

    "Ass" also works well as a prefix, such as: "You're an ass-liar!"

  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    My grandpa had tons.

    Couch=Chesterfield
    Pants=Britches

    And he would always speak of a beast called a catty-mount which he swore was real.

    I think a catamount is a cougar/mountain lion...

    Makes sense. He was from NC. He said they would come after you if you went out after dark alone. The way he described them was more like a mythical monster. He was probably just trying to scare us.

  • knewjakknewjak 1,231 Posts
    kiddywampus
    kittywampus
    caddywampus
    cattywampus
    kaddywampus

    This is some old school shit. The only person I've ever heard use this word is my grandma and she also talks about eating tar sandwiches during the depression and whatnot.

    I hear it used all of the time. It is a term commonly used in machine/metal shops. Usually when a pounding in a race-bearing and it becomes askew on not one but two axis'. Never had to write it down though, lord knows how to spell it.


    oh and uh... Sakes Alive!

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    kiddywampus
    kittywampus
    caddywampus
    cattywampus
    kaddywampus

    This is some old school shit. The only person I've ever heard use this word is my grandma and she also talks about eating tar sandwiches during the depression and whatnot.

    I hear it used all of the time. It is a term commonly used in machine/metal shops. Usually when a pounding in a race-bearing and it becomes askew on not one but two axis'. Never had to write it down though, lord knows how to spell it.

    Truth be told I usually avoid hanging out where welding is done.

  • i say "dang" quite a bit

    sheesh

    holey moley

    bees knees

    dressed to the nines

    tom foolery


    my grandma calls rubber bands "gumbands" but thats just cuz she's from pittsburgh.

    the term buggery is old slang for sodomy.

  • I like the word "janky" (Jane-Key) for something that doesn't work well or the way it was intended.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,947 Posts
    "Stay-a-bed ne'er-do-well" is the best one, used in the North West to describe a local low-lifer.

  • POPPYCOCK

    I like to throw that one out there every once in a while.

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    I usually avoid hanging out where welding is done.


    "You know what? I believe you."

    On the blasphemy tip, I used to say "Christ on a bun" when I was younger, my mother-in-law says "Judas priest", and this cornball I knew in college always said "cheese and rice." I also feel that "Jesus, Mary, K-Ci, and Jojo" (peace to Keith Murray) has something for eveyone. (Kinda like "since I seen Aunt Mabel": pretty much everyone will get what you're saying, even if they don't, you know, get it.)

    Otherwise, I say "tight as Dick's hatband," "reefer," and refer to a messy situation as "a jackpot." I say "kettle of fish" a lot. Back in high school I heard a guy who had gotten a good deal on some fancy lumber say that it was "like getting gold for the price of onions," and I've been saying it ever since. I had a long-standing beef with my friend Rose, who heard the (intentionally butchered, I'm sure) phrase "go to the mattress" in some bullshit flick (Godfather or something) and kept crying foul when I would say "go to the mat," like a normal person.

  • I usually avoid hanging out where welding is done.


    "You know what? I believe you."

    Otherwise, I say "tight as Dick's hatband," "reefer," and refer to a messy situation as "a jackpot." I say "kettle of fish" a lot. Back in high school I heard a guy who had gotten a good deal on some fancy lumber say that it was "like getting gold for the price of onions," and I've been saying it ever since. I had a long-standing beef with my friend Rose, who heard the (intentionally butchered, I'm sure) phrase "go to the mattress" in some bullshit flick (Godfather or something) and kept crying foul when I would say "go to the mat," like a normal person.

    hey dudes its the smug awards. gross dude im oughta here

  • HAZHAZ 3,376 Posts
    Is "Broad" old people slang? I use that a lot.
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