Archaic Expressions in Films

[Sepiatone]

I always wondered about "Lying like a rug!"    My rugs have always been fairly honest with me.  Never told me a lie as far as I know.  But I've also heard, "He lies like a rug!"    Which also was supposed to mean someone is dishonest, but actually would refer to someone's position.  Like.....

That little girl who was "out-like-a-light" might "lie like a rug" on the floor if not in that stroller.    But too, that's the wrong use of the word "lie" ( which, like "irregardless" is often used in place of the more correct word), "lay"  or "laying". 

Sepiatone

[TikiSoo]

On 5/2/2019 at 8:15 AM, Sepiatone said:

"Square" :  In the '50's "beatnick" jargon, the word was a kind of insult, referring to someone who wasn't "hip" or "with it".  But in the '30's and '40's movies, someone who was "square" was one who was reliable, honest and trustworthy. Like.... ,  "He's a square Joe!"  

Heh, Binghamton has archways in town erected by George Johnson (of Endicott-Johnson Shoes) that stand today:

I just love them & what they stand for.

[Sepiatone]

Just wish that image you attempted to post came out.

Sepiatone

[LawrenceA]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

Just wish that image you attempted to post came out.

Sepiatone

It did. Your computer/browser is out of date and/or out of whack. 

[Sepiatone]

Now, that just doesn't make any sense considering many OTHER pics posted DO show up. 

Sepiatone

[LawrenceA]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

Now, that just doesn't make any sense considering many OTHER pics posted DO show up. 

Sepiatone

All pics are not the same. I can't get too technical as I'm not a techie, but some browsers don't seem able to "see" some picture types. All of the pictures that you've complained about for the past several months (years?) as not being visible have shown up fine on my screen. Meaning that the fault lies on your end. It could be a number of factors, from browser type, to browser version, to other graphics card issues or things that I'm not familiar with.

The short of it is, the pics not showing up for you is an issue on your computer, and not what others are doing, or else more or all of us would not be able to see them. Maybe one of the more tech knowledgeable posters can suggest things to help, but I have neither the ability nor the inclination.

[jamesjazzguitar]

6 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

Now, that just doesn't make any sense considering many OTHER pics posted DO show up. 

Sepiatone

Some pictures showing up and other NOT,  makes a lot of sense;   as Larry says they can have different formats \ properties.

Anyhow,  can you still not 'see' that picture?  (it is of an archway)

What do you see in it's place?

 

[EricJ]

12 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

All pics are not the same. I can't get too technical as I'm not a techie, but some browsers don't seem able to "see" some picture types. All of the pictures that you've complained about for the past several months (years?) as not being visible have shown up fine on my screen. Meaning that the fault lies on your end. It could be a number of factors, from browser type, to browser version, to other graphics card issues or things that I'm not familiar with.

The short of it is, the pics not showing up for you is an issue on your computer, and not what others are doing, or else more or all of us would not be able to see them. Maybe one of the more tech knowledgeable posters can suggest things to help, but I have neither the ability nor the inclination.

And besides, most of us already DID, the last time complaints about not being able to see embedded YouTube clips came up (same poster, right?).

I don't recall what the specific problem preventing a new computer or browser was, but speaking as one who saw photo, video and browser formats change bewilderingly with computer systems in the late 90's to '00 days before MacOSX and Windows 10, I have often learned that updating is worth the headache, even when you have to pay for it.

---

As for other outdated expressions, I've heard "Elly-bay" show up in a few 40's comedies and radio shows:  Apparently, the proper B-word for the abdomen was briefly one of the Words You Couldn't Use in mass media during the 40's and early 50's, as it could potentially be used to hint the ways one gets a big one.

[Sepiatone]

17 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Some pictures showing up and other NOT,  makes a lot of sense;   as Larry says they can have different formats \ properties.

Anyhow,  can you still not 'see' that picture?  (it is of an archway)

What do you see in it's place?

 

Just this....

""  Yep.  "dog-eared" thumbnail followed by "card00322_fr.jpg" 

And I'm still wondering how it connects with "square"  and "square Joe" as archaic movie jargon.

????    

Sepiatone

[cigarjoe]

Do you see the image in your post just above?

[LawrenceA]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

Just this....

""  Yep.  "dog-eared" thumbnail followed by "card00322_fr.jpg" 

And I'm still wondering how it connects with "square"  and "square Joe" as archaic movie jargon.

????    

Sepiatone

You've managed to post the picture that you can't see, and everyone else can see it in your post, too. For me, it isn't showing the broken link/pic icon, but rather the full pic that Tiki posted.

BTW, the pic shows an arch over a road, and the phrase "Home of the Square Deal" is on the arch. Tiki was connecting the notion of a "square deal" to the archaic phrase "square Joe".

[kingrat]

Another archaic term, used in Nightmare Alley: "rumdum." I gather that a rumdum is an alcoholic who's pretty far down the social scale and pretty far gone with the booze.

[Sepiatone]

19 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

You've managed to post the picture that you can't see, and everyone else can see it in your post, too. For me, it isn't showing the broken link/pic icon, but rather the full pic that Tiki posted.

BTW, the pic shows an arch over a road, and the phrase "Home of the Square Deal" is on the arch. Tiki was connecting the notion of a "square deal" to the archaic phrase "square Joe".

That I see most other pics posted by other members tells me there should be some kind of standard somewhere.  But thanks for the info.  However, "square deal" isn't really all that archaic, as I've seen it(in print) and heard it fairly recently in home improvement company and car dealership ads both in newspapers and on TV.  And just the other day in fact!  

Sepiatone

[LawrenceA]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

That I see most other pics posted by other members tells me there should be some kind of standard somewhere.  But thanks for the info.  However, "square deal" isn't really all that archaic, as I've seen it(in print) and heard it fairly recently in home improvement company and car dealership ads both in newspapers and on TV.  And just the other day in fact!  

Sepiatone

Yeah I don't think anyone called "square deal" an archaic expression. I know I didn't. I explained that Tiki was tying it into the meaning behind "square Joe", which someone else (you?) listed as an archaic expression.

I agree about the pics becoming standardized. That would help out everyone, but I suppose there are some reasons, be they technical or proprietary, for why there are different types.

[jamesjazzguitar]

As anyone mentioned;  Take the Cake?

As I have mentioned before,  since my wife is from Italy she wasn't familiar with most of the slang used here in the USA.   I would often have to explain what I meant.   She would also ask WHY that was used,  and most of the time I didn't know!    

Now sometimes I do know (I remember when there was a conflict with some of her cousins I said they were circling the wagons,  and the next day we were watching Wagon Train and I said, "see Bond,  just said it, and that is were it comes from. 

But others are hard to figure out;  I just use them,,,, being clueless of their origins.

Found this: take the cake. ... Originally, to take the cake meant to win a prize or a competition — people as far back as the ancient Greeks used the word cake to mean "a symbolic prize." Over time, it grew to have a more negative, sarcastic meaning in English: "I can't believe this mess. It just takes the cake."

[cigarjoe]

riff-raff - not used a whole lot these days

geezer - an old man is the most common.... but

an old geezer - also means a heroin addict

geezing - is shooting up 

geezed - is loaded - high

 

Oh, and I finally remembered that odd expression you hear in films and at least two Film Noir, and one of those by Gloria Grahame, it's.....  Tell tales out of school.

[LawrenceA]

26 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:

riff-raff - not used a whole lot these days

geezer - an old man is the most common.... 

Geezer is common in the UK. As well as meaning "old man", it can mean anyone, and be a pejorative and a term of affection.

[cigarjoe]

So in some Classic Film Noir now when you hear that expression "that old geezer" they may be talking junkie, rather than crusty old curmudgeon. 😎

[Sepiatone]

Probably already mentioned, but...

When was the last time you, or anyone else called someone a "sap", or a "heel"? 

and BTW-----

I still hear "take(s) the cake"  quite often.  Same with "Piece of cake" and "Easy as pie!"  As for the latter....

trying my hand at baking from time to time, "easy as pie" would depend on which kind of pie you're talking about.  PUMPKIN PIE is easy.  But for me, APPLE PIE is a bit more difficult.   

And of all the caps I own, none of them have a FEATHER in it.  And how "a feather in my cap" means an advantage of some kind escapes me.  Plus too, haven't heard anyone say this for a long time( except in old movies). 

Sepiatone

[cigarjoe]

snake oil salesman heard a lot in films, origin is interesting when oil was first commercialized in the US it happened in the Southwestern NY, Northwest Pennsylvania oil fields. That country was in the homeland of the Seneca tribe. The oil was also used in patent medicines. It was called Seneca oil but pronounced Se-nake-a Oil which evolved into snake oil.

[Sepiatone]

I STILL don't know just what "what for" is.  As in, "I'll give him WHAT FOR!"  

Or how being "in Dutch" came to mean being in big trouble.  Or how splitting expenses on a date came to be known as "going Dutch".  What did folks have against the Dutch anyway?  

Sepiatone

[TikiSoo]

On 5/7/2019 at 11:48 AM, LawrenceA said:

I agree about the pics becoming standardized. That would help out everyone, but I suppose there are some reasons, be they technical or proprietary, for why there are different types.

It's an evil plan by the industries to constantly update hardware/software to force you to change/buy more/upgrade 'services'. I hate upgrading, especially when it wipes something out. But I was eventually so far behind I had to purchase an entire new computer dedicated just for the internet. 

Phones are worse. Our new wonderful 5G upgrade 'standard' will be "so much better" for us. No, better for THEM.

I think it's accurate to say Sepiatone & I are the most grumpy curmudgeons on this board. We know how things should be, and are dragged into submission kicking & screaming. Sorry you can't see my photos, but it's time to update. What I like is my YouTubeTV upgrade which prompts me every time, I agree then it tells me it's malfunctioning, then logs on.

38 minutes ago, Sepiatone said:

I STILL don't know just what "what for" is.  As in, "I'll give him WHAT FOR!"  

Haha-me too! You may as well say it plainly if the expression doesn't translate. Just like the parental favorite, "Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about!" A 7 year old wonders, I AM already crying.....but now I understand the meaning of the phrase.

[Dargo]

"Adam's off ox"

The only time I've ever heard this expression, it was said by this guy in this one particular Christmas perennial...

[Sepiatone]

Here's a bit of a change of direction here, but involving a phrase I haven't heard used in quite sometime too....

Just which teeth are the "eye teeth", and what makes them SO valuable that you'd trade them for most ANYTHING?    Why, I'd give my EYETEETH to know!   

Sepiatone

[LawrenceA]

4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:

Here's a bit of a change of direction here, but involving a phrase I haven't heard used in quite sometime too....

Just which teeth are the "eye teeth", and what makes them SO valuable that you'd trade them for most ANYTHING?    Why, I'd give my EYETEETH to know!   

Sepiatone

"Eye teeth" referred to your upper canine teeth. They were (are?) thought of as the most "important" teeth, as it's hard to tear into food without them. The upper canines vertically line up roughly with the eyes. They also have very long nerves, and when pulled or infected, their "pull" could be felt in the lower eyelids and eyes, and in more primitive times it was believed that those teeth were actually connected to the eyes. So saying that you'd trade your eye teeth for something meant that you thought that something was very valuable.