In Praise Of All Things Old Timey
Paul the Spud has inspired me to write a thoroughly meaningless yet inexplicably enjoyable paean to -- of all things -- an adjective.
"Old Timey" is totally coming back. George Clooney and John Turturro spearheaded the Old Timey initiative way back at the turn of the century (the Twenty First Century, that is! Ho ho!) with their cinematic performances as the Soggy Bottom Boys, and Jack Davenport followed up by leading his soldiers in a rousing chorus of "Huzzah's" in Pirates of the Caribbean (after Jack Sparrow helped him by breaking the Curse of the Aztec Gold, of course) in 2003. The "Guinness Guys" have made a smattering of charming appearances on the Telly, proclaiming the various technological advances achieved by the folks at St. James's Gate Brewery to be "Brilliant!" And I quite agree. The widget truly is a thing of beauty. Old Timey is everywhere, and I, for one, am quite happy welcoming back an age of the following wonderful things:
- Strong men with handlebar moustaches and monochrome-striped unitards lifting heavy, oblong slabs of iron
- Handlebar moustaches in general
- Bicycles with one enormous wheel and one tiny wheel
- Stovepipe hats
- Outhouses, particularly outhouses with the crescent-moon cutout on the door
- Rocking chairs
- The Monacle
- Hobos
- Bare knuckle boxing
Please feel free to add in Old Timey essentials I've missed in the comments section...
I think the next step is re-introducing some truly fantastic language back into everyday parlance. I've already mentioned my love for the word "Huzzah", and here I shall list a few others I deem worthy of inclusion into our new vernacular:
- Bully (the adjective, not the noun)
- Milquetoast (Thanks, Paul)
- Rapscallion
- Great Caesar's Ghost! (in honor of the inimitable Shakespeare's Sister)
- Varmint
- Tarnation
- Vittles
- Fisticuffs
Really, that's all I can think of right now. What wonderful Old Timey words am I missing? Let me know, and use them liberally!
I shall leave you with a picture of my new hero, and patron saint of all things Old Timey, John L. Sullivan, bareknuckle boxing king of the universe.
posted by Devo @ 9:32 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I've recently decided that I need to add "mad as pants" to my vernacular. I'm not really sure why, but it feels like something that has to be done. I'm also kind of fond of "swell" and "gee". They always seem to give people pause.
Mad As Pants... I don't know why, but it made me laugh out loud. Especially if imagined in an 1840's Gold Prospector's voice. I approve!
Don't forget shenanigans. I use it all the time. Even my mom thinks it's retarded and she's like a hundred.
I like "Lookie-Lou," and "Gee Whilikers."
Oh, and the last the last professional bare-knuckle boxing match in America occurred about 5 miles from where I sit now in Hattiesburg, MS. It was between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain Here's a link:
http://www.geocities.com/
hattiesburg_history/sullivan-kilrain_fight.html
A hitch in your getalone (from Walk the Line)
This has nothing to do with the post, but I have to put it here since Devo has hidden his email address.
Hey monkey lover. I've got a nerd question for you.
The true fresco referrer feed quit working on my site when I switched templates. Since you're a true nerd I figured you'd know what to do.
Any ideas?
...and sorry for the hijacking!
Hows "rinky dink" and "jimeney crickets". Is that old timey?? How old is old timey anyway??
I think I have to grow me a handlebar moustache now.
Don't leave out "fix your wagon" when you mean you're going to pound the ever-loving tar out of someone.
I'd never say it to his face, but that pic of john l. sullivan makes him look like he's got a mangina.
the old timey theme took a little while to grab me, but I found myself referencing and even speaking old timey (as recently learned from this post) over the turkey day weekend (or Thanksgiving, as it's officially known in the U.S.). golly, speaking old timey is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, but i'm plum out a' new words for participatin'! but i did fix a few wagon's these past few days...
i like
Land Sakes
Pshaw
and my fav
Guffaw
As I slept, some RASCAL donned me with FALSE WHISKERS!
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