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Topic: IdioMactic Expressions

Posts 1 - 14 / 14
Last Reply: Aug 06, 2014 5:40 PM
frankalexander
Joined: Nov, 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Occupation: Website Manager
Feb 18, 2008, 8:52 AM 4021
Assume for a moment that Betty M was say, an American writer from a literary family. One might assume words were a big thing. Herewith a challenge in three parts:

1. Can you cite original idiomatic expressions from a Bettybook that made their way into American speech?

2. Can you cite a unique twist on the meaning of a word, or perhaps a pun, used by Betty in one of her books?

3. Can you cite a phrase that uniquely defines (part of) her era? (Careful, Betty's work is a mix of the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s.)

If you can, add a comment quoting the words or phrase, and be sure to cite the source (book and chapter will do; page numbers vary by edition). Be picky; everything clever is not unique.

Finally, add your take on why your selection stands out.

Look! Over there! I believe the gauntlet is flung down!
debbies
Joined: Jul, 2005
Location: Northern California
Occupation: Online Sales & More!
Apr 23, 2008, 11:43 PM 4103
Say, Frank, let's keep it a bit simpler (who would ever guess that Frank was once a college instructor?) ... How about some Bard family phrases to bat about? I use one quite a bit myself ... we have quite a few "get in good with the company" types at my office. Next! - Gubbie
johnftwa48in
Joined: Feb, 2005
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Apr 24, 2008, 8:07 AM 4107
Guess it is time to pull out all of Betty's books and start reredaing and taking notes again lol
frankalexander
Joined: Nov, 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Occupation: Website Manager
Apr 25, 2008, 10:08 AM 4109
Excellent additions, Debbie.
(Note my restraint in not re-spelling excellent.)
debbies
Joined: Jul, 2005
Location: Northern California
Occupation: Online Sales & More!
Apr 26, 2008, 9:04 PM 4115
Frank, you are a paragon of restraint! How about some input out there, folks? What is your favorite "Betty-ism" ... or maybe I should say "Bard-ism," as it appears to be a family trait. Next!
Jean Louise
Joined: May, 2008
Location: rural lovely green Indiana
Occupation: owner of 3 borzois and book lover
May 17, 2008, 6:05 AM 4134
I am posting here because I want to get started, and don't know where to just type! But I have an expressionof Betty's that I can apply now to my life and want to share this with fellow Betty fans.

Toe Covers. Remember when Betty was in The Sanitorium and she described all the useless things they had to make to pass the time, and toe covers was one of the "useless" items?

To show you how deeply implanted all of Betty's works are always waiting to sprout in my mind...and enter my vocabulary...I was at the podiatrist, and she reached in a drawer and pulled out a long elastic tube of fabric and proceeded to put it over a toe to keep it from rubbing the bone of the other toe. Boring stuff! But as I was sitting there watching her, you guessed it, I smiled like one of bettys contented hens, and thought to myself...alas, what I wouldn't give for a whole drawer full of Toe Covers made by Betty and her friend Kimmie.
johnftwa48in
Joined: Feb, 2005
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
May 18, 2008, 5:20 PM 4135
Welcome to the forum Jean Louise.
Jean Louise
Joined: May, 2008
Location: rural lovely green Indiana
Occupation: owner of 3 borzois and book lover
May 27, 2008, 6:19 AM 4145
I always have to look up the meaning of idiom in the dictionary. (a group of words whose meaning must be known as a whole because it cannot be learned from the same words used separately). It can also be a "regional" saying. Ok, I found one...I think. "Egg and I" (1945) Page 125, the chapter titled "People"...

Birdie Hicks has just eaten a meal for 10 loggers. And proceeds to comment: "Nothing sets good with me. Nothing. Everything I've et tonight will talk back to me tomorrow."
and,
this is also used by a zealous religious lady when Betty is on the bus going home, when they stop to eat. That book "Anybody Can Do Anything", is down 2 flights of stairs. IN my airconditioned dehumidified basement which houses hundreds of books which probably have no value but to me. Alas, as I get older and have to wear toe covers (!) and have bad knees, I contemplate the installation of an elevator. But would rather spend the money on more books!

I know there is a word for words that personalize descriptions, but I cannot remember that word. John, could I post favorite descriptions of Betty's here...or does this need a new forum?
Jean Louise
Joined: May, 2008
Location: rural lovely green Indiana
Occupation: owner of 3 borzois and book lover
May 27, 2008, 6:23 AM 4146
A favorite description from "The Egg and I" 1945, page 128, chapter titled People, describes Birdie Hicks mother...
"a small sharp-cornered woman with a puff of short gray hair like a gone-to-seed dandelion"....I smile as I look out my window and see dozens of gone to seed dandelions, and imagine the hair do of this woman who, according to Mrs Kettle "jumps about like a flea"!
frankalexander
Joined: Nov, 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Occupation: Website Manager
May 27, 2008, 7:38 AM 4147
Jean Louise, it's OK to post any brief comment related to the theme of a topic. You can also create a new topic if you think (a) the new topic is a significant departure and (b) you think others will be interested. The proof of the latter comes, of course, when someone comments on your new topic. If not it will simply fall to the bottom of the topic list and eventually drop into the archive.
Suz
Joined: Dec, 2007
Location: Pacific Northwest
Dec 21, 2011, 1:11 PM 5232
I'd like to revive this thread. It was a great idea of Frank's to begin with, and then Jean Louise took off with it. It would be a little memorial to her if we added a few more.

I can't think of one of Betty's turns of phrase which made it into commonly used American speech, but I can't think of one of Mark Twain's, either. One Betty-ism (or maybe it's a Bard-ism) which we use around our house is BIg Saddo. I'm being a Big Saddo when I volunteer to do something and then don't like the job and whine about it.

This is an interesting challenge for me because I find Betty's work to be current no matter when I read it. "Onions in the Stew" was written in 1954 and is set in the 40's, and except for the references to WWII, it seems modern. In "Anybody Can Do Anything," Betty refers to Sydney's "at the doors", as Gammy called them: they were door-to-door salespeople from whom Sydney bought everything from matches to flower bulbs. That's a way of life long-gone.

The one example of dated language I found in a conversation from "Anybody Can Do Anything", which is absolutely not politically correct and which would rarely be heard now, at least where I'm from, and which Betty relates as absolutely normal, goes as follows: "Old Pal's name was Stan and his first glaring fault was no chin. None at all. I realize that this didn't keep him from being true blue or from making home runs on the baseball diamond but I had my standards and one of them was all my dates have chins. I said as much to Jock and he exploded.
'Oh, you women make me sick. Stan's one of the whitest guys that ever lived.'
'I said, "I don't care if he's so white he shines in the dark, he hasn't any chin and he can't dance."'
Suz
Joined: Dec, 2007
Location: Pacific Northwest
Dec 21, 2011, 1:15 PM 5233
Looking it over, I can see I punctuated that incorrectly, but to hell with it.

I should have cited where it was from, too. It was Chapter 5, titled, "Nobody's Too Dull or Too Short For My Sister," Page 79.
debbies
Joined: Jul, 2005
Location: Northern California
Occupation: Online Sales & More!
Jan 03, 2012, 11:59 PM 5237
Sorry, Suz - For some reason I am not getting notifications when people post to the Forum. I used to get them, and as Editor, I need to know, so we will be fixing that function and others very soon.

I agree with you about the Betty or Bard-isms. Even Blanche noted in her book that her children adopted them. Don't be a Saddo is one of my favorites, too!

We need this function fixed, so let me see what can be done to reinstate it. Otherwise, no one knows when someone's posted! NOT a good thing. :-(
frankalexander
Joined: Nov, 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Occupation: Website Manager
Aug 03, 2014, 1:29 PM 5382
This struck a chord. The devolution of "white" as a compliment continues to this day. When I was young "he's really white" or "that's white of you" or similar was indeed a compliment. Now it's never heard without an intonation of reproach for either the speaker or the person being so described. All post-Betty; in her time it would have gone unnoticed and/or fully acceptable. Would that all such language might disappear, but it's good that we have it in print to track our growth.
johnftwa48in
Joined: Feb, 2005
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Aug 06, 2014, 5:40 PM 5385
I feel the expression "mighty white of you" just as racist as "homest injun" and calling someone "colored". Yes it was the norm in those days but in todays society it is no longer acceptable unless, one is a redneck or a kkk'er.
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