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Archiver > OLD-WORDS > 1999-04 > 0922998322


From: <>
Subject: OLD words
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 12:25:22 -0800


What s old? Before I retired, I frequently instructed apprentice printers
and, in later years, I could see that certain expressions I used in class
brought on glazed eyes. "He did a Brody" was just one example of an
expression that has already become meaningless. "Quisling" meant nothing
to those born so many many years after World War II. In the cavalry we
used to say "He looks like he was rode hard and put away wet" to compare
someone who was disreputable looking to a horse which had been improperly
stabled without being cooled off and washed down after a strenuous ride.
Old Southern sayings were so familiar that it is hard to look back and
pick them out. "Cold as a well digger's behind" and similar sayings were
simply part of our life. Those who cannot even conceive of a man digging
a well by hand will have missed the impact. Interesting!
Aye, Bob McArtor

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