Heavens to Murgatroyd! – Wordplay Wednesday™ 09/12/18

When #&*%$# Just Won’t Do 

And we’re back for another Wordplay Wednesday RETRO style! This week’s word rags on your memory sticks from the 1960s, as we explore fun and fascinating phrases from yesteryear.

Television shows and movies have inserted many fresh, fashionable, and fabulously zany new words and phrases into our collective vocabulary since the early 20^th century.

The 1960s were especially prolific with slang and silly terms, like “Don’t go ape” (Don’t have a hissy fit!”), “Sock it to me,” popularized by Judy Carne on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and "You've come a long way, baby!"*—a cigarette ad targeting women that endured to eschew cigarettes, and came to mean SO much more. (*Created by Leo Burnett Agency)

But whenever we found ourselves in a pickle, we often mimicked a certain crazy pink mountain lion from TV …

 

HEAVENS TO MURGATROYD! “… is American in origin and dates from the mid-20th century. The expression was popularized by the cartoon character Snagglepuss – a regular on the Yogi Bear Show in the 1960s …” [WW / RETRO #181]

Dictionary definition: Well, there isn’t one. But it was just too much fun to pass up. Snagglepuss also gave us “Exit, stage left,” and “Heavens to Betsy!”

There doesn’t seem to be a specific origin to the phrase, other than Snagglepuss’s uh-oh look at the camera, declaring Heavens to Murgatroyd! as he peddles his feet to escape imminent cartoon disaster.

When you’re feeling blue and need an attitude adjustment, think about your predicament and say out loud, “Well, Heavens to Murgatroyd! Now What?!” Bet you’ll come up with a smile and a plan.

Word Challenge: HEAVENS TO MURGATROYD! While those with the surname may not enjoy the silly phrase as much as the rest of us, hopefully they’ve learned to go with the flow. Laughing at ourselves is the best bad mood-buster of all, as you fit Heavens to Murgatroyd! into your week of goofy writings.  

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below. 

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle)   

'Til next time ... Cheers to a wonderful "wordful" week … 

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz

Exiguous – Wordplay Wednesday™ 05/09/18

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini … ♪* 

Ready or not, we’re well on our way to summer. What I have never understood is how a minuscule swath of cloth cut into two pieces and called a swimsuit, can cost more than a shoulder-to-ankle muumuu. Such elitism begs for a ten-dollar description …

EXIGUOUS (eg zigʹyōō ɘs) adj. – scanty, little, small, meager. [WW #163]  

 
There. Now don’t we feel better calling the high-dollar bikini exiguous, rather than just plain skimpy? "Two, three, four, tell the people what she wore ... ♪"

That iconic summer song probably wouldn’t have made it to the lowest rung on the top 100 chart, called “Itsy Bitsy Exiguous Yellow Polkadot Bikini.” But I dare say, the song’s innocent effect on our psyche to accept the risqué snippets of cloth into our ‘60s radically changing mores, would still have happened.  
 
And, you're welcome! If you're reading this article after May 18, 2018, you have a fun, vintage song running endlessly through your mind, like this struggling comic character writer. 😎

Ursula Andress in "Dr. No" bikini

Word Challenge: EXIGUOUS. In a world where it seems everything of worth is big and expansive, remember, many good things come in small packages. Think minimal and delightful, as you fit exiguous into your week of slight but significant writings.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost simple joy. Do you feel that way too? Share your comments below, about Wordplay Wednesday or learning in general. What’s your inspiration?

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... Cheers to a wonderful "wordful" week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

*Brian Hyland is still raking in the dough from this itsy bitsy teenie weenie record, first released in June of 1960. It hit #3 on WEEP/Pittsburgh Pennsylvania’s top 40 for week of July 30^th. Perfect record, perfect summer, perfect timing!

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-D

Wordplay Wednesday™ June 7, 2017 – Naif

Channel Your Inner Child to Stay Sane in a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  

Frustrated by the dire news that dominates our newsfeeds lately, I thought at one point, “our world has run amok.”

That led to a fond memory of a 1964 school trip to San Francisco for a showing of the zany It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, by film director/producer Stanley Kramer.

The title was considered facetious … back when violence and criminality could still be lampooned and viewed as predominantly absurd. My yes … it’s difficult to be innocent and unaware today. We’ve sure mucked up the world …

NAIF (nä ēfʹ) adj. / n. – a naïve person.  [WW #115] 

We used to think a certain air of naivety provided refreshing charm. Today, those who wish to harm us, make the naif features of our psyche dangerous to our health. How sad that we are vulnerable because we want to enjoy the simplicity in life.

In the mid-Sixties, Kramer—through shrewd business acumen, or with a naif bravado— gathered a huge ensemble cast of the early decade’s most popular actors: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Edie Adams, Phil Silvers, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, and Jonathan Winters. That doesn’t count the supporting cast and cameos that included Jimmy Durante and Peter Falk.

The movie reflected an innocence we thought had been recaptured in the staid Stepford-style lives of the 1950s—mop-up decade following the wake-up call of World War II. The ‘60s began, nurturing our inner naif through a plethora of funny, inane, soul-soothing films.

Mad debuted November 7, 1963—just weeks before a new madness took over the world—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. We sorely needed its comic relief.

Events of the 1960s would irrevocably change us, our carefree spirit somewhat dampened and wary. But we had no idea that the next century would see naifs become practically extinct.

To watch It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World today, is a breath of fresh air. Maybe a little naif in each of us isn’t so bad … in fact, those of us who retain our inner childlike nature (at least to a small, protective degree), may find these naif qualities are what keeps us sane.

Word Challenge: NAIF. Sanity in an insane world. Consider how you retain your inner child and inclusive sanity as you fit naif into your simple, abstract writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week …

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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