shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
|
Post by shaxper on Jan 12, 2023 7:36:48 GMT -5
Remember the old joke whenever someone got hurt, and the comical default response was, "but will he ever play the piano again?" This gag seemed to be ubiquitous when I was younger up to the point that it made its way into a Simpsons episode: It was only this morning, on the way to work, that I randomly realized this was likely a reference to The Hands of Orlac, a horror novel that had been adapted into a number of popular films and television shows between 1924 and 1976. No one has adapted this story in years and, coincidentally, I haven't heard the reference in decades. That story must have been extremely popular to have been so quotable decades later, and now it seems all but forgotten. I imagine our grandchildren will feel the same about references such as, "That's not true! That's impossible!" "Hello, Clarice," and "You come to me, on the day of my daughter's wedding...". One day those references will go away, just as the Orlac gag seems to have done. This is a very longwinded way of setting up a thread where we list/discuss once-popular cultural references that everyone knew - alluding to classics that had stayed popular for decades and gave the illusion that they'd be remembered forever - that have fallen entirely by the wayside in the modern day. For example, folks still know Who's on First, but try explaining to a Millennial what "Say Goodnight, Gracie" means. So what else? The Charlie Chaplin hobo walk, The Fonz's "Heeeeeey," Kramden's "One of these days, Alice...", Sandford's "I'm comin', Elizabeth!". What have you got? |
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 12, 2023 7:51:08 GMT -5
(...) Kramden's "One of these days, Alice..." (...) I think that one, together with the related "To the moon!" deserve to be forgotten... |
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
|
Post by shaxper on Jan 12, 2023 7:55:55 GMT -5
(...) Kramden's "One of these days, Alice..." (...) I think that one, together with the related "To the moon!" deserve to be forgotten... No argument there. |
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 12, 2023 8:37:09 GMT -5
"What'chu talkin' about?"
It seemed like everybody - in the US - was familiar with this one, and I've occasionally seen it mockingly referenced in pop culture (e.g., in other later sitcoms, by stand-up comics, etc.) up until the early '00s, but now I doubt anyone under the age of 45 - and I'm probably being generous here - would even recognize it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Jan 12, 2023 8:54:22 GMT -5
I actually heard "Will I ever play the piano again?" (used ironically) on a contemporary sitcom not long ago (or maybe a crime drama, since I watch more of those), so while its original source may be forgotten, the line itself is alive and well. a lot of catchphrases and pop culture references have lived on long after their birthplaces have faded from our collective memory, often evolving into aphorisms and the like.
Cei-U!
Just sayin'!
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jan 12, 2023 10:18:29 GMT -5
"Where's the beef?"
Pretty much any advertising slogan that enters the lexicon lasts for about a generation, then becomes meaningless, unless it is maintained across the decades.
I picked up a lot of phrases and gags from years of watching Looney Tunes cartoons, which were actually radio bits, like "You do and I'll give you such a pinch!" or "So round, so firm, so fully packed!" It was years before I found out that "Of course you realize, this means war!" was actually from the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup. These days, you are unlikely to hear those as even Looney Tunes references, as kids haven't grown up with perpetual broadcasts of the cartoons, as they have migrated to narrower and narrower platforms.
Sometimes it comes back around, thanks to a modern reference to it. All it takes is a Tarrantino or someone to put it in a film and the next thing you know, a vintage phrase of scene is back in the lexicon.
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 12, 2023 10:26:47 GMT -5
Remember the old joke whenever someone got hurt, and the comical default response was, "but will he ever play the piano again?" This gag seemed to be ubiquitous when I was younger up to the point that it made its way into a Simpsons episode: Let me just say that I hate musicals. But I'd absolutely pay to see Planet of the Apes: The Musical. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2023 10:51:38 GMT -5
"What'chu talkin' about?" It seemed like everybody - in the US - was familiar with this one, and I've occasionally seen it mockingly referenced in pop culture (e.g., in other later sitcoms, by stand-up comics, etc.) up until the early '00s, but now I doubt anyone under the age of 45 - and I'm probably being generous here - would even recognize it. Just last week, my kid in group text with me and my wife, used an acronym "wym", which I'm pretty sure means "what do you mean?" My family knows that I despise stupid texting acronyms, so in a round-about way of mocking this, I replied "wytbw?" It took her a few seconds, but my wife got it. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jan 12, 2023 11:06:25 GMT -5
How old do you have to be to understand a reference to Fibber McGee's closet?
|
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Jan 12, 2023 11:14:28 GMT -5
How old do you have to be to understand a reference to Fibber McGee's closet? People do look at me funny when I use "Tain't funny, McGee."
Cei-U! I summon the prehistoric callback!
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 12, 2023 11:21:17 GMT -5
How old do you have to be to understand a reference to Fibber McGee's closet? Well...at least 55 because I get it. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jan 12, 2023 12:25:38 GMT -5
My father used to say, "Holy mackerel, Andy!" in an exaggerated Southern-ish accent. I was in my 20s when I found out that he was imitating the character Kingfish from Amos & Andy.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jan 12, 2023 12:37:17 GMT -5
Here's Betty Hutton in 1943 complaining about her hepcat boyfriend's incessant use of slang.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jan 12, 2023 20:59:28 GMT -5
How old do you have to be to understand a reference to Fibber McGee's closet? Old enough to own a zoot suit and know what a Packard is. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jan 13, 2023 3:05:30 GMT -5
How old do you have to be to understand a reference to Fibber McGee's closet? Old enough to own a zoot suit and know what a Packard is. Zoot is the Muppet who plays saxophone, and Packard was Hewlett's partner. |
|
