Colloquial expressions, idioms, and slang once common, now archaic…

It’s kinda interesting to use an expression from the past before a young person. At first, they may be baffled, then amused, and actually go on to incorporate the expression into their own usage, even if only briefly. It reminds me of when I first heard the more modern expression of, “do me a solid.” Language is fascinating, for it evolves and lives, never really dying, but just going through different incarnations and twists, some of which wind up in kind of a linguistic file folder… 🤔
 

From being in Vietnam.
“It will be good to get back in my street rags.”
From Philadelphia, the word “tough.” e.g. “Did you see Tim’s new sweater? It’s really tough (cool).”

We also have the Amish expressions. “Throw the horse over the fence some hay.” ‘Make out the lights.” “Make mine dippy eggs.” “Gott in Himmel.” (God in Heaven.)

I know a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch, which is completely different than Amish, but more like German. For example: “Ach du Lieber.” The meaning in English is “Dear Heaven” or “Good Heaven.” A lot of Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch.
 

a case of the reds
Defined by Audrey Hepburn's character, Holly Golightly, in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" as the opposite of "A case of the blues". Instead of becoming sad, "a case of the reds" infers that one is feeling overwhelmed or angry for no apparent reason.
Click to expand...

Actually used by the mother in this hilariously riffed short from MST3K:


Many of the sour pickles on this forum get a case of the reds here on a regular basis. This short is guaranteed to trigger them!
 
Not sure how wide spread, but my peers used "Gag me with a spoon". Not quite sure what they meant,

I also have one mom-ism.....when she wanted to make an exclamation, she would say "Mind you". When I was a kid, I fell in our front yard and broke my arm. When sharing the story, she would end it with "On the GRASS, mind you!!"
 
I This is I think local-geographical ? But we in this area used to use the word [please] in place of pardon, or huh ?
Someone would say something we might not hear, or understand, and we might say 'please' , to signify our lack of hearing or understanding.

But, now days , I literally never hear it ???
 
Recently noted, locally...
“Now he's as useful as a box full of left-handed gloves”
(He or she...) "He's got the mental range of a windshield wiper”

My guess is the first one is probably old, maybe used by the speaker's granddad or grandma. The second one is probably of fairly recent vintage, though could easily be 20 years old.
 
JBR said:
Recently noted, locally...
“Now he's as useful as a box full of left-handed gloves”
(He or she...) "He's got the mental range of a windshield wiper”

My guess is the first one is probably old, maybe used by the speaker's granddad or grandma. The second one is probably of fairly recent vintage, though could easily be 20 years old.
Click to expand...
Just realized that when I posted these, I was off target for the thread with the first one. The OP's idea was outdated slang from our own lifetime. The second one, may be in that time frame, but it was new to me when I heard it. So I'm posting them in Odd expressions you've heard now & then
 
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