John's post title for today, "YooHoo" started me thinking about older words and phrases which have largely gone out of use.
YooHoo is close to the old style farewell "Hooroo" which I haven't heard in quite a while.
Shemozzle is a favourite of my mum's and I use it a little bit but I don't hear it often.
Belly-aching was a term for complaining, used by my great-uncle but I'm not sure who else (it sounds Shakespearean, I must look it up)
I got to the end of this very short list and couldn't think of more, just couldn't bring them to front of mind, so I googled and found a lot of old words I'm not at all familiar with but I don't want those, I want to reflect on the ones that are still in use......more googling.
I found another list of "uncommon words" which was getting closer to what I wanted (though not quite) and found that there are quite a few words I'm familiar with because they appear in hymns:
abide
billow
bulwark
drear
raiment
What are some older and less used words or phrases you know and love?
All of the words you mentioned in the first part of your post were in regular use when I was growing up. Kerfuffle was another one. I also remember the phrase 'mutton dressed as lamb', which I haven't heard (and don't miss) in years...
ReplyDeleteKerfuffle is a good one! Mutton dressed as lamb, less good
DeleteAgreed. I don't recall seeing mutton for sale in years either.
DeleteOh yes, my dad was for ever telling us to ‘quite bellyaching’ - you’re getting on my wick
ReplyDeleteThat should be - quit - as in stop
Deletehaha quit bellyaching! no pussyfooting about :)
DeleteI personally liked one my parents said "Holy Mackerel" which one of my son's heard and repeated as "Holy Maxwell" most likely because his best friend at that time (first grade)was Max(well).
ReplyDeleteOf course, now the term used by everyone in my family for longer has a fish reference but does refer to Max.
Holy max is family language now! I like it ☺️
DeleteOh and, we did use holy mackerel
DeleteIf you want to go further down the rabbit hole, try looking at different countries. Some of your expressions I've never heard of. I use belly aching . We use yoo hoo as "look , I'm over here, notice me.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, yoohoo is "I'm here" . I didn't construct my sentence well
DeleteA couple I remember growing up is mum saying "I don't know if I'm Arthur or Martha" when she was totally flummoxed or dad declaring that some incompetent person "couldn’t run a chook raffle". "Strewth" was also used a lot and I can remember mum telling us to "stop carrying on like a pork chop" when we were whining about something.
ReplyDeleteIn my house it was "couldn't run a Sunday school picnic" for incompetence. Strewth didn't make an appearance at all
DeleteI use abide and billow in conversation and writing. When I was a child and sure a moth was going to sting me and argued with my grandmother, she told me "don't dispute my word." I was intrigued with the word and quit whining. She used "dispute" lots. So, did my mother. I use "brook" as in "he won't brook dissension." I also use "fractious" and "pontificate." Daddy would say, "to Hell and back" when talking about extremes.
ReplyDeleteI know all of those but I don't think anyone ever said brook in that context. I may have known it from reading.
DeleteI still call a tired child fractious
A lot of words signifying surprise have disappeared over the years. As well as strewth, there's golly, blimey, flipping heck, love a duck. my sainted aunt.
ReplyDeleteFlipping heck is another favourite of my mum's, it's a swear word substitute
DeleteI love the word "nincompoop" to describe a dumb person or maybe just someone who has made a silly mistake. I also like "ragamuffin" to describe a scruffy child - usually a boy. I like the Yorkshire expression, "There's nowt as queer as folk" which has nothing to do with homosexuality!
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, I used nincompoop frequently :)
DeleteThere's a lot of truth in that Yorkshire expression.
I've just remembered "when the cows come home"
Aye lass, if tha wants any sense out o' me, tha'll be waitin' till t' coos come 'oam.
DeleteI can translate that due to childhood evenings watching "all creatures great and Small"
DeleteWoe betide you. Albeit. Anon. Cheerio. Pip pip. Balderdash. Fax. Cable/Wire/Telegram.
ReplyDeleteRemember the days of faxes and telegrams?
ReplyDeleteHow different the world is.
Balderdash seems to be extinct
Blimey, I'm stuck in the past as I still use a lot of words and phrases mentioned in this comment thread. However, I haven't used 'buggerations' for a long time [a favourite of my mum's] or, 'what-ho' [one of my dad's]. I remember a short period in time when 'well' was used for emphasis, such as 'well-cushty' instead of simply 'cushty' - which I don't use anymore either!
ReplyDeleteSx
I think I have heard the emphasis "well" on tv but I dont know any of the others
DeleteSomeone in my family used to always say "Oh my giddy aunt". I can't think of anymore at the moment!
ReplyDeleteSomeone I know says that but i have no idea who it is!
DeleteI always used to say All Around The Wreckin and I thought everyone used that for "going the long way around something (either physically or verbally). I only came to realize a couple of years ago that it was an expression used only very local to where I grew up because it referred to a hill in Shropshire called The Wreckin. You live and learn I guess!
ReplyDelete