Meryl's Notes Blog

Working on a press release, I stumbled in my journey to find a fun expression to use in a paragraph. Hubby came along and asked what I was doing. I explained and he suggested using “A cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

“Huh?”

I like to think I’m up on my slanguage, idioms, cliches, and I don’t know this one. But I like it and it makes sense. Even if it doesn’t, it makes you smile, doesn’t it? You may hear variations of this such “as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” It means edgy, jumpy, or nervous. But take off the first part, and it could mean the cat feels overwhelmed by all the choices. In either case, it sounds funny.

Sometimes I’ll use, “Dagnabbit!” Sounds better and funnier than “Damn!” or “Darn!” It almost always makes me smile and feel better.

My grandmother, who had diabetes, would say, “Oh, sugar” when most people say “Damn it” or worse. Mom told me a story about my grandfather. While driving, he faced a rude driver. His face turned red and he dug his thoughts for something to say as he never cussed… “You… you… you, worm!” Mom said that was about the angriest he ever got that she remembered.

Steve Blow’s column in The Dallas Morning News (might require free registration) greeted me with more dying words and expressions.

Land o’Goshen, cattywampus, sakes alive (snakes alive)

Yonder, gumption, much obliged, picture show (movie), poetic of a mornin’ (evenin’) rat cheer

Wait. “Rat cheer?” I haven’t heard that one, but a professor at a local college wants to save that one. It takes searching to find this one — it sounds like and means “Right here.” A baseball game vendor could yell, “Getcha peanuts rat cheer!”

“Well, I swanee!” You can’t help but grin at that one, right? For me, it evokes memories of Al Jolson and Swanee River. “How I love ya, my dear old Swanee…” No, I’m not 93 years old, but I love Vaudeville.

What old phrases do you miss, still say, or still hear?