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 20th 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)
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)
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
