words your grandparents used (meaning, quote)

[BijouBaby]

"Hoosegow and pokey" for jail.
"Hooch" for liquor.

"He did 5 years in the pokey for runnin' hooch."

[westender]

Originally Posted by Cunucu Beach

"hold your horses" - means "not so fast".

I used this expression today, by chance. Is this not current American diction?

[LilyMae521]

Originally Posted by westender

I used this expression today, by chance. Is this not current American diction?

I would say "Hold your horses" still is kind of current American diction, but you probably won't hear it as much as you might have in the "olden days"


When I was a young'un, we used to say "Whoa Nellie!!" also, to get someone to slow down.


Perhaps "Hold your horses" has fallen out of favor somewhat, since the one word command to "Chill" has arrived on the scene. And goodness knows, many prefer expediency uber alles...


But here's another old one - hodge podge. All mixed up.


And the post above with "pokey" made me think of slow poke. That's kind of an old one also.

[Retriever]

While I haven't heard this one for a very long time, I can recall hearing a lot of older folks using the term "lollygagging" to describe someone who is a time-waster.

[nobodysbusiness]

Ought (number-wise to represent zeros)
Half-past (to tell time)
Supper

[Chint]

Originally Posted by westender

I used this expression today, by chance. Is this not current American diction?

Its still reasonably common around here in the northeast

[Chint]

Originally Posted by nobodysbusiness

Ought (number-wise to represent zeros)
Half-past (to tell time)
Supper

Half-past is also pretty common around here.
I've heard of naught, but never heard of ought as a zero. That's interesting.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Chint

Half-past is also pretty common around here.
I've heard of naught, but never heard of ought as a zero. That's interesting.

What? You never heard of this guy?

[skippercollector]

What term do/did you use for a convenience store? In Cincinnati up until the 1970s it was "pony keg." A pony keg is a quarter barrel of beer. There are still a few stores around with pony keg in their names, but not nearly as many.

[LilyMae521]

Originally Posted by skippercollector

What term do/did you use for a convenience store? In Cincinnati up until the 1970s it was "pony keg." A pony keg is a quarter barrel of beer. There are still a few stores around with pony keg in their names, but not nearly as many.

That's a new one for me..


The closest I can think of to a convenience store back in the day would be "The Corner Market". Or the "Mom and Pop store", usually properly called by the last name of the proprietors.


And remember the 5 and dime? Or the 5 and 10 cent store? I think Woolworths had 5 and 10 cent store as the second part of their name.