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Words, Phrases and Sayings you heard when you were younger, but don't hear much nowadays

I used to say Hurrah! a lot, I think it was a comedy characters catchphrase but also in Jeeves. Actually I still say it...

Quite often, phrases from TV comedies would catch on for a while. Like, Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! From a Monty Python sketch. And, To boldly go where no man has gone before! As said in the original series of Star trek. They modified it to 'no-one' to take out the gender bias, for New Generation.
 
I went to University in SW Missouri and my parents and grandparents lived there.
There were words and phrases that were different to anywhere else I've been.
Here are a few.

Dang nap-pit!

Quiet as a Church mouse.

Silly as a Cat's ass.

Low as a snake's belly.

Spoonin'. Sparkin' leads to Spoonin'.

A little bird told me.

S up the creek without a paddle.

Dressed up and nowhere to go.

Stiff as a board.

Pushing up daisies.

Tight as the bark on a piss-elim sapplin'.
 
Tighter than two coats of paint.

So tight that when they fart only dogs can hear it.

A face like a smashed crab.

As feminine as a burst sausage.
 
Ones I no longer hear are:
As thick as a two-bob watch - meaning someone who is stupid or useless.
Living off a pig's back - to be rich.
Stone the crows - exclamation of annoyance
Rad - excellent (only heard this in the early 90's)
Couldn't lie straight in bed - hopeless at lying
 
For reference, I'm a Millenial and a 90s/early 2000s kid.

Do people still say "lit" or "fire?" (Pertaining to music usually, saying a track is "very good" or "hot", essentially. At least that's the only way I ever personally used it.)
"Lit" can also mean "drunk/wasted" but I have never heard anyone use it this way except for younger Gen Z and this was after my time.
I have definitely caught myself saying "This song is fire" but I haven't actually heard anyone else say that since about 2018.

I know people don't say "dope" anymore (see definition of "lit" or "very good.") That was short-lived and mostly when I was in college.
I only said that once and a friend told me it sounded "really wrong and stupid" coming out of my mouth so I never used it again.

Curse words/vulgarities are different now than they were when I was growing up but I know I can't really elaborate. They've just gotten a bit more creative and a bit more... shocking.

Slang terms, text abbreviations, and emojis have evolved way faster than I can keep up with and I'm happy to stay behind the times at this point. We didn't even have emojis when I was a kid. Smartphones were invented when I was in high school and they weren't that mainstream (or affordable to the general public) until I was in college. I would imagine that anyone who is older than me (30+) has an even harder time with it than I do.
I don't even understand how teenagers and young adults keep up with the ever-evolving slang lexicon.

Things people said when I was much younger that people don't say anymore:
"Sick" (meant in a positive way)
"Damn" (also meant in a positive or complimentary way)
"Don't slip or you'll crack your head open"
"Sprung" (can I say that on here?)
"Rad"
"Go ham"
Calling Target (US department store chain) "Targhetto" or "Tarzhay"
 
Mine usually comes out at times like when I discover I've got a flat tyre, or if I discover the bottle shop's closed.
 
An old retired tradesperson said this to me all the time. It makes perfect sense and I still use it today.

“Better to be looking at it instead of looking for it”

Another when referring to craftsmanship that isn’t straight and level.
“That looks like a dogs breakfast”
 
My mom use to say "to hell and a handbasket"

Well, l'll be a monkey's uncle.

Said with sarcasm, feel free to quote me.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

That's dope. Like @Luca - that's sick.

Oh fiddlesticks

Movie line- Too bad, sooo sad.

Your mama

I'll flip you, (heads or tails)

What a Freakazoid

The shxxt is going to hit the fan

Mauka mauka , (royalty, like boss) ex. Be nice to him, he's mauka mauka

Five finger discount (shoplifting)

He's a happy meal minus the burger (McDonald's child meal, crazy)

It's crunch time, (get to work)

Lights on, nobody's home, (craycray)

She's getting a one way ticket, (fired)

They were higher than a kite, (drug use)

Snake in the grass, (corrupt, dishonest)

It's a piece of cake, (easy to do) easy peasy

So two-faced, (tells lies)

She's just talking out of her axx, (lies, bragging)

So sue me, (said in exasperation)

Hey ding dong, (reference to hostess snack cake)

All that and a bag of potato chips, (not sure :))

I am in the home office, (bathroom)

That's just a ticket to nowhere, (futile attempt)
 
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"Rad" short for "radical", meaning cool or amazing. "This music is like totally rad!"

"...Not!" taken from Saturday Night Live characters Wayne and Garth, saying something that sounds like a compliment and then pausing briefly before adding "Not!", which turns it into an insult. "I really like your new shoes...Not!"

"No way!", "Way!" Also from Wayne and Garth of SNL fame. Someone expresses disbelief by exclaiming "No way!" and someone else says "Way!" to tell them that it's the truth. When I was a little kid I'd also hear "Yes way!"

"Hip", cool, fun, excellent.:sunglasses:

"Square" an uncool or old-fashioned person.

"Dweeb" a nerd, a geek, someone with poor social skills. I sometimes still like to use the word though, because it just sounds funny.:laughing:

"Phat" hip-hop slang for something cool.

"Word" hip-hop slang for agreeing with something someone just said. "This music is real phat!" "Word!"
 
"...Not!" taken from Saturday Night Live characters Wayne and Garth, saying something that sounds like a compliment and then pausing briefly before adding "Not!", which turns it into an insult. "I really like your new shoes...Not!"

I remember the "Not!" era, everyone was sarcastic and said "Not!".
And "Schwing!".
 
I used to hear "Well duh!" when after somebody says something that was really obvious. Such as when it's cold outside and someone says "It's cold outside" and then you reply "Well duh!" in a sarcastic tone.

And then there was "Put a sock in it!" which is a rude way to tell someone to be quiet. I read that the origin of the phrase actually came from a long time ago when people used to listen to phonographs with those big funnels to amplify the sound, and if someone found the sound too loud or annoying they'd tell the listener to put a rolled-up sock in the funnel to muffle it.
 

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