Delores E. Topliff
This
blog highlights popular expressions made obsolete as technology marches
forward. For example, I used to joke that I had a photographic memory that
wasn’t developed (which worked fine in the camera film era but not in digital
days). Some joke that it’s hard for any Clark Kent to change into
Superman in this cell phone age when he can’t find a phone booth.
When
a grandmother told her grandson she used to drive a Jalopy, he looked at her
and asked, "What is a Jalopy?"
She
said, “Heavens to Mergatroyd, you don’t know what a Jalopy is?”
He
drew a blank again. Mergatroyd isn’t in Spellcheck. Google says the phrase is popularized by the cartoon character
Snagglepuss on the Yogi Bear Show in the ‘60s but was used on the radio in 1944
by Bert Lahr, who played the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz. Mergatroyd was the family name of aristocrats living
in Yorkshire, England in 1371, but no one knows how their name jumped to an
American cartoon. Before
Mergatroyd, it was “Heavens to Betsy!” or “Gee whillikers!” but I won’t go
there.
Sometimes
few years go by before such changes occur, but those unaware of earlier
technologies look at us like we’re from a different planet. Other words or phrases
becoming obsolete include, “Don’t touch that dial”, “You sound like a broken
record”, or “You should be hung out to dry.” What?
It’s
sad when familiar words enter archival museums to be replaced by
space-age-and-beyond terms. To communicate with current and coming generations,
we must bridge vocabulary gaps, or risk obsoletism like Gregg’s Shorthand
(which I still enjoy), Cursive Writing, or Stick Shift cars which are endangered
species. Thankfully our kids and grandkids can help us.
Language
is alive and grows with the times. Perhaps we can part with outdated technology
terms if we’re careful to embrace the new ones taking their place but still pay
respectful homage to the past.
What little-known word or term do you most wish to hang onto?
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