Colloquial Phrases Through the Decades
Famous People Through the Decades—Colloquial/Common Phrases Through the Decades
Directions: In your “Famous People Through the Decades—Interview Script,” incorporate some of the common sayings (listed below by decade) from your person’s lifetime into your script—Need at LEAST 1 common phrase/saying per famous person’s answer (minimum of 3 total).
1900s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |have/has bats in the belfry |to be a little crazy or strange |
|2. |muckraker |someone who exposes unpleasant things (journalists were commonly called this) |
|3. |pardon my French |excuse my language |
|4. |long time, no see |I haven't seen you in a long time |
|5. |bigshot |someone that is a big deal; an important person |
|6. |let the good times roll |let's have some fun; let the fun begin |
|7. |face the music |accept unpleasant consequences |
|8. |that's the ticket |you got it; you're on the right track |
|9. |go over it with a fine-toothed comb |to do something very carefully; to be sure not to miss something |
|10. |get off my back |leave me alone |
1910s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |when it rains it pours |one bad thing can trigger many other bad things to happen |
|2. |aw shucks |a phrase similar to dang it, shoot |
|3. |be my guest |go ahead; you do it |
|4. |to miss the boat |to be the last one to know or to do something |
|5. |to bank on something |to guarantee something will happen |
|6. |a bundle of nerves |nervous or anxious about something |
|7. |get it straight from the horse's mouth |to find out information from the source |
|8. |have two left feet |to be awkward, clumsy, or to be unable to dance |
|9. |never say die |don't give up |
|10. |no fooling |no kidding |
1920s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |baloney |nonsense |
|2. |the cat's pajamas |the best; the height of excellence |
|3. |gams |legs |
|4. |the real McCoy |sincere; genuine; the real thing |
|5. |hotsy-totsy |perfect |
|6. |beeswax |business, as in “None of your beeswax!” |
|7. |all wet |someone who doesn’t know what s/he’s talking about (“He’s all wet!”) |
|8. |the bee's knees |excellent; outstanding |
|9. |applesauce or horsefeathers |swear words (After Jed stubbed his toe, he proclaimed, “Oh, applesauce!”) |
|10. |dolled-up |dressed up |
|11. |beat it |scram, get out of here |
1930s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |I'll be a monkey's uncle |sign of disbelief; I don't believe it! |
|2. |gig |a job |
|3. |Joe College |a typical college student (“Back when I was Joe College…”) |
|4. |juke joint |a casual and inexpensive establishment with dancing and blues music |
|5. |Okies |people from Oklahoma who left to find land and jobs during the Dust Bowl |
|6. |Apple Annie |a housewife who is trying to make ends meet and save money |
|7. |aces/snazzy/keen/swell |very good (like cool or awesome) |
|8. |brodie |a mistake |
|9. |You dig? |Do you understand? |
|10. |cute as a bug’s ear |very cute |
1940s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |blockbuster |a huge success |
|2. |keeping up with the Joneses |competing to have a lifestyle or socioeconomic status comparable to one's neighbors |
|3. |hep cat |a cool person |
|4. |fuddy-duddy |old-fashioned person |
|5. |GI |a soldier or member of the army |
|6. |gobbledeegook |speaking in a complicated way |
|7. |pennies from heaven |easy money |
|8. |What’s buzzin’, cousin? |How’s it going? |
|9. |cookin’ with gas |doing it the right way |
|10. |hi-dee-ho |hello |
1950s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |ankle-biter |a child |
|2. |boo-boo |a mistake; a wound |
|3. |hi-fi |a record player or turntable |
|4. |hipster |an innovative and trendy person |
|5. |boss |really cool (“That song is boss!”) |
|6. |on Cloud 9 |really happy |
|7. |flip |get very excited |
|8. |frosted |angry |
|9. |goof |someone who makes a lot of mistakes |
|10. |jets |smarts, brains |
|11. |made in the shade |success guaranteed |
|12. |radioactive |extremely popular |
1960s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |“a gas” or “a blast” |a really fun time |
|2. |groovy |cool; hip; excellent |
|3. |hippie |derived from hipster; a young adult who rebelled against established institutions, criticized |
| | |middle-class values, and opposed the Vietnam War |
|4. |the Man |a person of authority; a group in power |
|5. |far out |really cool |
|6. |copacetic (cope-a-se-tic) |cool, OK, no problems (“Everything was copacetic.”) |
|7. |You dig? |Do you understand? |
|8. |flip your wig/have a cow/go ape |go crazy or become very angry and irate |
|9. |gnarly |anything big or difficult (“That chemistry test was gnarly.”) |
|10. |kibosh |to put a stop to something |
1970s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |catch you on the flip side |see you later |
|2. |Can you dig it?/Catch my drift? |Do you understand? |
|3. |keep on truckin’ |keep trying, keep working hard |
|4. |workaholic |a person who works too much or is addicted to his or her job |
|5. |far out |cool |
|6. |to the max |take it to the maximum, the best it can be |
|7. |awesome possum |awesome, cool |
|8. |decent |cool |
|9. |Gee wiz! |Oh wow! |
|10. |heavy |intense or important |
|11. |jive talkin’ |talking nonsense |
1980s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |word to your mother |to agree with someone |
|2. |bad/bad to the bone |awesome, cool, excellent |
|3. |barf me out |something gross or something you don't agree with |
|4. |bomb |something awesome |
|5. |gnarly |very good |
|6. |veg/veg out |to chill or hang out |
|7. |yuppie |a young urban professional; a successful young person that's very career minded and is driven by money|
|8. |wannabe |a person that wants to be like someone else |
|9. |wicked |another word for good ("She is wicked nice.") |
|10. |Psych! |a term meaning "Gotcha!" |
1990s-2000s
| |Common Word/Saying |Meaning |
|1. |peace-out |see you later |
|2. |As if! |Yeah right! |
|3. |all that and a bag of chips |I'm the best and then some |
|4. |beans/bones/cheddar |other words for money |
|5. |crunk |excited |
|6. |down |to agree with something, "that sounds good to me" |
|7. |OMG/LOL |using textspeak in normal conversations |
|8. |my bad |"my fault" or "sorry" |
|9. |duh |Didn't you know that? |
|10. |fresh |original, cool, new |
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