Later Gator

 

Quite a common expression when I was growing up.  I haven’t heard it much over the last few decades.  Some slang is long lasting and some is not.  “Played out” was a common expression of Civil War soldiers. and I think I have heard it a handful of times in my life.   Slang is usually most used by the young, and the young often distinguish themselves from their elders by coming up with a raft of  new slang.  Language purists often have decried slang, and I sometimes  find it annoying, but living languages send off slang like sparks from beaten hot metal.

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Frank
Frank
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 5:42am

After a while, crocodile. 😁

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 6:24am

“see you later alligator”….”In a while, crocodile.”

Or as kids often say “don’t forget your toilet paper”…

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 7:17am

“See ya on the flip side.”

Lost to the digital age I’m afraid.

David WS
David WS
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 7:22am

Worst part for the alligator is the welcoming..
“see you later alligator.. been a while crocodile… ”

A couple of strange recent slang terms:
“He’s the GOAT”… not evil but greatest of all time. Although I am familiar now, still don’t like the saying thinking it really might have a demonic twist.
“That’s Sick” …. doesn’t mean bad it means good or what used to be called “cool”

The Bruised Optimist
The Bruised Optimist
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 9:36am

One of the Protestant churches near me had on their signs outside
is the GOAT
Our Lord’s name was in the brackets. I can’t bring myself to even type it, it seems so wrong. It brings to mind the separation of the sheep and the goats. There are probably several deeper layers that explain the wrongness that I am ignorant of.

Robert "Tito" Edwards
Admin
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 10:59am

Hey Sport!

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 12:05pm

David WS mentioned the *Sick* slang. Agreed. That’s a strange one. Another one that is being used, to denote genitalia, is *junk.*

Let’s see.
Sick is cool.
Reproductive organs are junk.
(smdh.)

In or around 1980 men started wearing a pierced ear ring. I recall a saying that may have had more of an impact than the original intent;

“Right is wrong and Left is right.”

If a man had an earring in his left ear he was not a homosexual. He was if he had it in his right ear lobe.

Today the idea of Right being wrong and the Left being right is a political construct. See Whoopie to get my point.

The idea that Sick is good and sexual organs Junk leads me to wonder about the dead end that the “Old Trickster” is paving and making wide?

“Who told you to eat from the tree.”
-Within todays 1st reading from Genesis.

Don Beckett
Don Beckett
Monday, December 9, AD 2024 4:33pm

“Wicked’ means great. When I was young (late ’50’s to late ’60’s) ‘Cool’ was the word, & has persisted through time.
A teenage greeting used to be “How’s your face?” or a few other not so genteel questions. 🙂

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