This seems to be the allergy season with much sneezing in the atmosphere. As a result I hear a lot of “Bless You” from people – especially The Blonde in the house who is solicitous of everybody. However, what you heard the majority of people say where I was growing up was “gesundheit”. Now it is hardly heard – unless I say it which I guess ages me even more among some folks like our grandkids. If I were of German background, I might be a little ticked off as “gesundheit” is a perfectly good word and I hate to see its use disappear in this fine country.
However, there are all sorts of expressions that disappear or are little used. Just the other day, we were in one of the recreation center’s exercise area. The gentleman who checked us in must have been a Villages employee since he looked mighty young to be a resident. In any case despite his youth, he came out with a “Holy Toledo” which I have not heard anyone say for many a year. When I commented on that, he came out with there is “Something Rotten in Denmark.” Another expression you rarely hear any more. I always thought that was unfair to Denmark. They haven’t done anything to anybody that I know of.
Well, perhaps a thousand or more years ago they may have. They were attacking what is now England pretty frequently. They used to make people like King Ethelred the Unready very nervous. He tried to buy them off, but that didn’t work for very long. Then, I found out that Shakespeare was to blame again. One of the characters in Hamlet makes that statement. He makes it after seeing the ghost of Hamlet’s father. You would think that someone who had just seen a ghost would have come up with a better expression than one blaming the situation on a small country especially since he lived there.
The term does have its uses. All members of Husbands United (a secret society) are trained as to when they should use the term. It is normally valuable when something goes wrong in a household and the distaff member feels that it is likely that a certain person is responsible. The victim (sometimes known as the husband) replies with great authority that there is “something rotten in Denmark”. This normally causes a little confusion as it is not a usual answer like “gee whiz, honey you got me.” A Husband United member then uses the confusion to slip away to a safe place until the turmoil dies down.
I recently found out that one of my favorite words is not widely used. I told my youngest grandson that he was a young whippersnapper. He thought that was pretty funny. So did his dad, my youngest son who started using it on his son, too. My oldest son heard the expression being used by son and grandson and commented that they must have been talking to me. Boy, it is easy to get branded today.
At least the grandson doesn’t tell me that my shirt is catawampus, although if pushed The Blonde might. However, I will admit that she is more likely to say that I am the “bee’s knees” (that’s good).
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
