While every era has its own slang, people in the early 1900s really had a way of saying things. So let’s bring back the charm of a simpler time with the following still-viable phrases that we think deserve a comeback!
Cop a mouse
Another way of saying “give someone a black eye”, the fact that there was a specific phrase for this shows just how often people of the past beat the crap out of each other.
Time to jimmy riddle
This phrase means “time to pee”. It confused everyone, until they got their shoes wet.
Slacken your gib!
What sounds like a jazz-era mandate for erectile dysfunction is actually just a way to tell someone to shut the hell up.
Care for a little hogmagundy?
If you ever wanted to sound like you were asking someone to do it behind a Hogsmeade shop during holiday break from wizarding school, this would be your sexual come-on.
You razz my berries
This phrase means “you wow me”. Other alternatives were “you scoop my raisins”, “you swiss my cheese”, and “you squeezed the oranges in my pants”.
Man, is he zozzled
“Man, is he zozzled”, another way to say “man, is he st*tfaced”, is just one of the many phrases for heavy drinking in the 1920s. Remember, back then heavy drinking was the third-most popular activity behind smoking and eating steak and eggs.
Let’s agitate the gravel
Drivers of the past would “agitate the gravel” when they went fast, often at speeds nearing 15 mph.
He’s a real four-flusher
Being called a “four-flusher” meant you were a moocher, a deadbeat, or a guy being insulted by extraterrestrials who learned English two minutes before landing on Earth.
Well, someone’s in the ketchup
When you’re in the ketchup, you’re in the red (as in flat broke). To be “in the mustard” meant you were jaundiced. To be “in the relish” meant you fell into an industrial pickle chopper.
Have a roaring jack
Long story short, to have a “roaring jack” meant you had a boner. Other terms like “whimpering bob”, “mumbling steve”, and “goes dead silent and slinks away lou” meant the evening ahead would be far less exciting.
What old phases are you going to start using again? Let us know on Twitter @Smosh!
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