Speak like Gatsby: Words and Expressions of The Jazz Age (1920s/30s) | History of English

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This is the story of the Jazz age and the words, expressions and idioms that entered the English language at that time. The vocabulary reflects the era. There was immense technological change, increased, cars, telephones, fridges, vacuum cleaners all become widespread in the 20s. There were movies, radio and, of course Jazz. On the hand, there was a great depression starting in 1929, mob violence and racial tension. We'll look at how all this changed the language.
Thanks to Jack for taking part in this video.
00:00 What and when was the Jazz age?
01:51 The history of the jazz age
09:15 Ground News
10:49 Jazz age expressions with Jack
26:37 She's My Gal Now
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  • @LetThemTalkTV
    @LetThemTalkTV Жыл бұрын

    Check out ground.news/letthemtalk to stay fully informed on breaking news as it's happening around the world and compare coverage.

  • @ground_news

    @ground_news

    Жыл бұрын

    Another great cultural & lingual video. Thanks for sharing our mission, for anyone interested in seeing how language shapes our understanding of breaking news check out the link above.

  • @michaelhuber6895

    @michaelhuber6895

    Жыл бұрын

    I just been listening to your jazz age slang. I really enjoyed it. I ain't got no dame damn it. I would love to crochet a dame. I am 70 years old and I have known as a slang all my life, I was raised in New York and the Harlem Renaissance was very real to me. I'd scoot round the corner to the joint man. Den, I could create a mind that is blown! Do you get my drift?

  • @michaelhuber6895

    @michaelhuber6895

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ground_news I am an old man, and I'm really not quite clear on how to use all this technology, however, what do I need to do to subscribe to ground news?

  • @ground_news

    @ground_news

    Жыл бұрын

    @@michaelhuber6895 Hi Michael when you click the link above all you have to do is select Subscribe and then choose a plan. If you don't need anything too in depth, I recommend Premium which will give you the ability to read as many news articles as you want and to see the bias and factuality ratings of the news outlets. Let me know if you have any more questions.

  • @Guitcad1

    @Guitcad1

    Жыл бұрын

    I have a question: At what point did English scholars take note of the fact that the English they spoke was very different from that which we now call "Old English"? Would, say, Chaucer have recognized the language of Beowulf as "English"? (I realize he would have almost certainly not understood it to any great degree.) At what point did anyone begin to take an interest in the history of the English Language? When did they begin to distinguish Old and Middle English from modern English?

  • @charlesstuart7290
    @charlesstuart7290 Жыл бұрын

    I was born in 1948 and knew most of these, with the exception of "noodle juice" and cake eater. Few places in the US had Chinese restaurants in the 20's outside the big cities. Most people who heard "baby grand" in the 20's would answer "piano". A type of sarcasm ran through American popular English like if there was a movie that you definitely didn't want to see because of the genre or star you might say "I'm running". When you said "listen Brother or listen Sister, it didn't signify closeness but annoyance.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    very interesting insight thanks

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    Certainly in the 1930s Chinamen (Chinese restaurants) were so common on the Canadian Prairie that when someone came to a small town instead of asking where the nearest restaurant was, he'd ask, "Where is the Chinaman?" My grandmother who ran a small restaurant and boarding house in Huxley, Alberta during the Depression often told the story of how a salesman came to town and asked a man, "Where's the Chinaman?" and was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find my Grandmother's restaurant featurning North American cuisine.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    I was surprised to find out that "cheaters" was American slang. The only person I've heard use "cheaters" for glasses was a Dutch immigrant to Canada and I assumed he was translating a Dutch term. I guess not.

  • @meedwards5

    @meedwards5

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dinkster1729 the term cheaters is still widely used in CA for drugstore magnification eyeglasses but not prescription lenses.

  • @truthtriumphant

    @truthtriumphant

    8 ай бұрын

    @@meedwards5Here in New York as well.

  • @philiphrees1
    @philiphrees1 Жыл бұрын

    With reference to the use of Gat - when referring to a gun in jazz speak - I served in the British army during the 1980s and we affectionately called our personal weapon of the time (7.62 Self Loading Rifle) a gat - which, in this sense, was short for gatling gun - an early form of multi-bareled machine gun.

  • @christinahogan5145
    @christinahogan5145 Жыл бұрын

    Jack is rudiculously adorable 😍

  • @jefffarris1288
    @jefffarris1288 Жыл бұрын

    I have heard “cheaters” used quite a bit here in the US, but they only seem to refer to the non-prescription reading glasses you get in a store for like $10.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, that's how my Dutch friend used them--he was referring to his reading glasses, not glasses like mine which I wear from the time to get up in the morning till I go to bed at night. I thought the term, "cheaters" was a translation from a Dutch term for glasses, but, apparently, not. My friend, the Dutch immigrant to Canada is the only one I"ve heard call reading glasses "cheaters". He learned his English in Corwall, Ontario, close to the American border, so maybe, it's common term down there for reading glasses.

  • @matthewbartsh9167
    @matthewbartsh9167 Жыл бұрын

    What a swell moving picture. I was giggling even though I hadn't had a drop of giggle water.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Cut out the giggle water and stick with the noodle juice. You get my drifter fella?

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    In the 1920s if it was said that someone was tight, it could mean he had too much alcohol to drink. I am not sure whether it still had its current meaning of being stingy,

  • @fozziebean

    @fozziebean

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jameshitselberger5845 In current African-American English, "tight" means good (or "swell"), but it refers to a situation, not a person. Ex: "My new job pays a lot more than my old one." "That's tight."

  • @christinahogan5145
    @christinahogan5145 Жыл бұрын

    The acting in the end is too much!!! I'm cracking up 🤣🤣🤣 Jack is such a good sport about participating in these videos I'm even though he seems shy. You guys make a great duo! 😜

  • @shinyshinythings
    @shinyshinythings Жыл бұрын

    I still use “snazzy” along with a lot of these 1920s terms! They’re way more fun to say. (I don’t think I’ll be picking up “noodle juice” any time soon though!)

  • @isabelatence7035
    @isabelatence7035 Жыл бұрын

    Great Gideon!! You don't lose the mojo, your videos are always unique, you made my afternoon, I traveled back in time, your text is sensational, lactose intolerance was brilliant kkkkk, Jack's participation was superb, I feel light, thanks for showing this video. 👏👏👏

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I really appreciate your comment. Anyone who laughs at my jokes must be swell. Best wishes.

  • @jacmaclar
    @jacmaclar Жыл бұрын

    McCoy was a rumrunner in the early 20s. He operated a sailboat where he brought liquor in from the Bahamas. He quit around 1923 as rumrunning became a big business and larger motorized ships took over.McCoy was noted for always having quality whiskey. But there is an argument to be made that the real McCoy was an African-American engineer, who invented an oil valve for steam engines, which changed the way trains ran in that they no longer had to stop every few miles to oil the engine, because now it could be automatically done.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    Wouldn't you bring in "rum" from the West Indies?

  • @jacmaclar

    @jacmaclar

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dinkster1729 The Bahamas mostly as it was where the British importers were anchored.

  • @Sauvageonne
    @Sauvageonne Жыл бұрын

    My 3-month-old laughs hard when I sing Minnie the Moocher along. I had never looked the word up, but could sense it had to do with Harlem's hoodlums. Now I know. Thank you Gideon. I shall be a bad mum and keep on singing Haaa-de-haaa-de-haaaa-de-haaaa to my baby.

  • @florkgagga
    @florkgagga10 ай бұрын

    That cabaret at the finish line was swell!

  • @philpaine3068
    @philpaine306810 ай бұрын

    If you want a sample of dialogue in 1920's America ---- specifically in New York --- just read anything by Damon Runyon. He specialized in putting the real vernacular on paper. There was so much popular slang in his stories that now they can be difficult for a modern reader to understand. He is now thought of as a satirist/humorist, but in fact the stories were often very realistic and emotionally sensitive. However, popular speech outside of New York did not much resemble what he documented, though there was some slang that was more widespread and came to be popularized in movies during the 1930s.

  • @feralbluee
    @feralbluee Жыл бұрын

    this vid was the cat’s meow, the bee’s knees. you’re really Puttin’ on the Ritz - lots of razzamatazz :) 😋

  • @OlliePete
    @OlliePete Жыл бұрын

    I really appreciate your content. Being a Londoner living in Edinburgh, it's good to have some YT videos (you're channel) to show the many Scots in Edinburgh who hear my accent and automatically call me a cockney. I was born in West London, Hammersmith. Started working on many building sites around the city and East London (Olympic park in Stratford, and the Westfield shopping centre when they were under construction). And yes, there were plenty of East London and Essex contractors who would remind me that we were "posh" from West London, and that they were the true cockneys. Tbh I had no problem with that at all, especially being called posh, because if anyone heard me speak that will be the last thing they would label me as. But you're right, the true cockneys are a proud bunch - and rightfully so. They have been that influential on the people they've been around that their accent and mannerisms have spread across the majority of South East England. To anyone outside of London, I sound exactly like a cockney, and some people will mimic my way of talking when I'm in a conversation with them. Now, I'm not stupid, I know when someone is doing it with venom - when they are intending to belittle me. But there have been plenty of times when I've been speaking to someone for more than a few minutes and you gradually see their own way of talking change to start matching mine, and they don't realise at first. It's quite funny. I actually tried searching, "why do accents sound the way they are," a few months ago, and you're content didn't pop up. And I never got an answer to my question until I found your videos last week. Again, thank you for the interesting history of language, I look forward to more of your content.

  • @novaricos

    @novaricos

    Жыл бұрын

    changing speech patterns and accent slowly to match another person you are speaking to face-to-face, is called 'accommodation', and is an unconscious thing done to help someone else blend in and to not feel like they are odd, unusual or 'stick-out' in some way. Usually indicates a very kind and sensitive person.

  • @OlliePete

    @OlliePete

    Жыл бұрын

    @@novaricos thanks for that. It's quite an interesting quirk in human behaviour, but also very easy to misinterpret and take the wrong way.

  • @GizmoFromPizmo
    @GizmoFromPizmo Жыл бұрын

    In the 1920s, it was common to hear the word "flat" used for "apartment". My mom used to use that word and she was born in the '20s. I think "cigarette" had a slang word too.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    We still use flat.

  • @Xisbrezatsgzormd

    @Xisbrezatsgzormd

    Жыл бұрын

    What’s wrong with flat? 😅

  • @GizmoFromPizmo

    @GizmoFromPizmo

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Xisbrezatsgzormd - Nothing. It seemed that Gideon went out of his way to use the word "apartment" in his sketch. Flat would have been appropriate for the time. Today, Americans say "apartment" but not back then.

  • @williampatten9165

    @williampatten9165

    Жыл бұрын

    The only slang I remember for cigarettes was "smoke". And you would say "Gimme a light, would ya (pronounced "Wooja)". The other terms I know for cigarettes I think came much later after the dangers of smoking became known, and weren't used by the smokers. As a side note, cowboys call chewing tobacco a pinch.

  • @GizmoFromPizmo

    @GizmoFromPizmo

    Жыл бұрын

    @@williampatten9165 - Back in the 70s, in my neighborhood, I would often hear, "Lemme get one o' dem squares off ya." It seems that "square" was a reference to the rectangular package in which the cigarettes came. Either that or the 2 dimensional view of the cylinder, which is a cigarette. There is another old timey slang word for a cigarette that I haven't seen here yet.

  • @fozziebean
    @fozziebean Жыл бұрын

    Boy, that skit at the end sure was swell! 🤣

  • @BlueSkies.73
    @BlueSkies.73 Жыл бұрын

    Simply the best English teacher, EVER. On and off line. Thank you! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    You're too kind.

  • @sluggo206
    @sluggo20610 ай бұрын

    "Swell" also means a rich person, who may live "where the swells live". My dad used to say that. A "baby grand" is a smaller version of a concert piano ("a grand piano"), still current. Both are larger than an upright piano. I've never heard "noodle juice".

  • @bobmccarty2022
    @bobmccarty2022 Жыл бұрын

    "Cake eater" is current US military slang for "officer", as opposed to enlisted personnel (lower ranks) who don't get to eat fancy stuff while downrange (deployed in a battle zone).

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Interesting to know.

  • @constantingioev6223
    @constantingioev6223 Жыл бұрын

    The word "to lick" with a meaning of "to beat" or "to blow" I first came across in M.Twain's "Adventures of T. Sawyer" and "Huck Finn". From "The Great Gatsby" I remember the usage of "toward" instead of "towards"

  • @Rastafirez
    @Rastafirez Жыл бұрын

    I've just discovered your channel and am an immediate subscriber. I always love working on improving my English and you and Jack managed to somehow make that even more fun. You're a couple of swell fellas and I had the grandest of times absorbing this talkie of yours!

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    You're kind of neat yourself. thanks fella.

  • @fozziebean

    @fozziebean

    Жыл бұрын

    Hi, fellow Contrapoints fan! 😁

  • @carlosatashian6569
    @carlosatashian6569 Жыл бұрын

    Noodle Juice reminded me of Umbrella Juice. In Spanish we have the equivalent to “umbrella juice” (jugo de paraguas) for a bad quality coffee.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    unfortunately there is a lot of umbrella juice around

  • @ashleyng323

    @ashleyng323

    Жыл бұрын

    @@LetThemTalkTV even in Paris? Great video- I learned and laughed a lot 😂

  • @mariejeannemathurin423
    @mariejeannemathurin423 Жыл бұрын

    Swell, guys ! I really digged it . That Trac(e)y must be some broad ! Kudos, but don't smoke each other, for her, we don't want a stiff with the cops crawling around. I'm saving the video, I want to watch it again.

  • @EllaOstrova
    @EllaOstrova Жыл бұрын

    Gideon, what a clever man you are. Absolutely amazing video! Your guest is handsome and pleasant in communication. Have a lovely December for both of you.

  • @alanlawrence2954
    @alanlawrence2954 Жыл бұрын

    I got ALL the transatlantic expressions easily... Now where's my prize? The roaring 20s giggle juice screen play should get you an Academy Award.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I agree. I'm awaiting the call from the Academy.

  • @scottstrain8388
    @scottstrain8388 Жыл бұрын

    Entertaining and informative. I particularly enjoyed the preliminary historical background for the jazz era. There are a couple of items that you might add, though: - "gat" is from "Gatling gun", which was an alternate reference for a "tommy gun", based on the old weapon with multiple barrels. Some used it as a reference to a double action revolver, though. - "swell" is also used to refer to a rich (or posh) individual "That guy's a real swell." - "the real McCoy". What you said was pretty close, but this is the full information, which is pretty interesting and you might enjoy: "The real McCoy" was the inventor Elijah McCoy (black),born in Canada in 1844. He had many different inventions including an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Other companies copied his devices, but these never worked as well as Elijah's so people would say, "I want a , and make sure it's a real McCoy."

  • @OceanChild75
    @OceanChild75 Жыл бұрын

    This is such an amazing video - once again you excelled yourself. Many thanks for your dedication and I’m looking forward to hearing you again on Zeitgeist Banana! All these chilled chats you are having with Matt Damon are such a goldmine of trivia facts, slang words and idioms

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Many thanks. Zeitgeist banana is on pause but we'll be back.

  • @OceanChild75

    @OceanChild75

    Жыл бұрын

    Awesome I’m looking forwards to anything you release 🌟

  • @abdullahsaif9196
    @abdullahsaif9196 Жыл бұрын

    You are truly a big shot. A got the drift of jazz age through your video. And the Great Gatsby is a big shot.

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    Big shot can be used in a derogatory way..still is I think...as in "He thinks he is such a big shot." i.e. he has a little glory, but not as much as he apparently think and acts as though he has. I never heard it used with a positive association as the writer here places it.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Well ain't that something. Your comment is swell.

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    Now that I think about it more...it might be a neutral description of some perrsons...e.g. "They're big shots on the football team"...though in this case someone is more likely to say..at least since the 1970s..."They're jocks on the football team." a jock from jock strap referring to a good male athlete in general. But if someone seriously said he was a big shot it would be emblematic of a big ego. By the way, I was intrigued when a British tourist in Thailand told me that Jock was another Scottish name for someone named James. What do you say Jack? I was not sure of the correctness of this statement, but none of the nicknames in the U.S. for James are satisfactory, Jim being misheard for Tim, Jimmy being just too stupid, and Jay..well, Jay is a proper name by itself. Tell me please if Jock can be used..that would be interesting to use in the U.S. ! But lastly, I thought the Scottish name for James was Haymish (spelling no doubt wrong, but this is phonetic). Am I or that British tourist mistaken? I have been using James now for a while despite the fact that people who do not or should not know me by my first name want to go straight to Jimsince they think anyone who goes by James is affecting airs. For those people I think it would be great to say Jock..see what their faces look like then.

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    Swell had its last gasp in 1960s American English when it was used in a sarcastic way or as an expression of resignation / anger, e.g. "Swell!" She forgot to bring the picnic supplies? Swell! or He did not show up?! He was supposed to clean off all the tables for us! Swell! I only recall its usage as a noun describing someone from 1930s writing...They're swells from the football team (perhaps being an accurate usage.)

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jameshitselberger5845 I think I"ve heard, "He's a big shot at . . ." Meaning he's in a position of authority. You can also say, "He's a wheel." I remember my husband once describing a friend 's father as being "a wheel." Another friend to whom he was speaking answered, "If you can call a foreman "a wheel". Maybe, "a big shot" is higher up the employment hierarchy than "a wheel" though.

  • @philippel.5013
    @philippel.5013 Жыл бұрын

    You have definitely got your mojo working. Outdone yourself on this one, Gideon! Thanks for this great video. And now for some tomato cake ...

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you liked it.

  • @msadurski
    @msadurski Жыл бұрын

    Fairly awsome episode, Gideon!

  • @ritaroad
    @ritaroad Жыл бұрын

    😂I loved this. I’m 67 and to young for the jazz age jargon but I grew up watching old movies. I also grew up in Chicago. I figure that as late as 1970 when I was 15 my friends and I used at least half of these terms. I certainly know the guys used the term broad. A gat became a piece. Liquor was booze. I read recently that Chicagoans no longer want a Chicago accent. I suppose it has to do with being pegged as the working class, blue collar. For example, dat was that and I was a nort sider, meaning I lived on the north side of the city, north of Madison.

  • @colinedmunds2238
    @colinedmunds22388 ай бұрын

    “Cake eater” is now used disparagingly amongst carnies to mean a “dupe” or a “sucker” or an easy target

  • @user-qq5hd9wo9t
    @user-qq5hd9wo9t Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the idioms. I may start using a couple of them)

  • @simong8527
    @simong8527 Жыл бұрын

    What a great history lesson included, all in one 🎉

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    The description of the Great Depression is very inaccurate frankly. Try George Orwell's earlier works or John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath for a better description of the Dirty Thirties. Woody Guthrie's , Lead Belly's and Pete Seegar's music is not even mentioned.

  • @lisaesposito7317
    @lisaesposito7317 Жыл бұрын

    Truly enjoyed this video

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I enjoyed your comment. Thanks

  • @dean828
    @dean828 Жыл бұрын

    snazzy (adj.) "stylish, flashy," 1932, U.S. colloquial, perhaps a blend of snappy and jazzy... one of my fave words from this era... "A Gat" came from the Gatling gun invented in 1861 by Richard Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon... you have seen it used in tons of Cowboy movies...

  • @jimmycantu7651
    @jimmycantu7651 Жыл бұрын

    You are a very good teacher, I am really sorry for my previous comments ...God bless you

  • @scrappingfla9016
    @scrappingfla90162 ай бұрын

    Love this video...😊

  • @lotus1695
    @lotus1695 Жыл бұрын

    Loved it. I'm hooked you MOJO!

  • @hollacebeard-hunting2689
    @hollacebeard-hunting2689 Жыл бұрын

    So much fun to watch. Swell!

  • @elainebelzDetroit
    @elainebelzDetroit3 ай бұрын

    I hadn't heard about that McCoy! Fascinating! I'd only heard of the earlier one, Elijah McCoy, a Black Detroiter (born in nearby Essex Co., Ontario) who invented a self-lubricating device for train motors. (Trains were once one of Detroit's big industries but it wall went to Chicago pretty quickly for obvious geographic reasons.)

  • @donnawalters7060
    @donnawalters7060 Жыл бұрын

    That was the cat's pajamas! The bee's knees!

  • @freddiemercury8700
    @freddiemercury8700 Жыл бұрын

    Come to thinks of it: Merry chrimbo to you Gideon! Greetings from Casablanca Morocco. I have been with you through thick and thin since the lockdown started. Have a good one gaffer! Thanks ever so much for your time, as well as dog's bollocks lessons. Off I go ! Bye for now and stay mellow as you would say.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Best wishes. Happy holidays to all in Casablanca.

  • @colinedmunds2238
    @colinedmunds22388 ай бұрын

    “Dead soldiers” was used on the show “The Wire” to describe discarded drug vials by Bubbles, one of the main drug addict characters

  • @yensid4294
    @yensid4294 Жыл бұрын

    Most of these I knew mainly from watching old B&W classic movies altho some are still in usage today. Baby Grand I wasn't familar with but considering a Grand Piano or Baby Grand Piano is a large/heavy object (I'm assuming this is the reference) it makes sense as slang for a larger person.

  • @lisaesposito7317
    @lisaesposito7317 Жыл бұрын

    That was swell!! 👏👏

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Ah jeez. You're too kind.

  • @mityakirillov89
    @mityakirillov89 Жыл бұрын

    What a grand flick!

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    ah shucks. You're too kind.

  • @michaelduffy6874
    @michaelduffy6874 Жыл бұрын

    "Broad", meaning a woman, is a strange word. I remember Frank Sinatra referring to his then wife Mia Farrow as a broad, which sounded quite insulting, and didn't seem to fit her.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I always thought it was strange too. Doesn't look like it's making a comeback

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    never a polite way to refer to a lady

  • @CristinaAcosta

    @CristinaAcosta

    Жыл бұрын

    Always made me cringe

  • @tmp3477

    @tmp3477

    Жыл бұрын

    Comes from the Norse (brud) meaning bride, I think, which is not that bad.

  • @jameshitselberger5845

    @jameshitselberger5845

    Жыл бұрын

    @@tmp3477 That is great that you found that connection...it seems that many slang words which we consider taboo (and never enter the literary language) have old and even ancient indo european origins or connections. I was astonished to learn that a word in Persian never taught in class جاق زدن 'jag' is the equivalent to 'jack off.'

  • @FuerteEnglish
    @FuerteEnglish Жыл бұрын

    Great videos

  • @pooroldnostradamus
    @pooroldnostradamus Жыл бұрын

    0:38 “Jazz era was still in full *swing*”

  • @colomba8722
    @colomba8722 Жыл бұрын

    That was swell! 😍👏🏼

  • @GoodNewsEveryone2999
    @GoodNewsEveryone2999 Жыл бұрын

    Big Shot is still everyday talk for me in the US (late gen x - early millennial) . Mojo, everyday speech since before Austin Powers, Real MacCoy is maybe not daily but common speech, Fat Chance - daily speech, Carry a torch - daily speech, noodle juice - for broth, occasionally; for tea - never, it's racist, Baby Grand, rarely but it could be considered body-shaming, Dead Soldiers - rarely, possibly also for cigarette butts, Cheaters - Never, it's shaming the visually impaired, live wire - common but not daily speech, joint = place makes me realize that I'm not sure if I've ever used the word "place" in common speech - the normal word for place unless you say "spot"... I've said "Ready to blow this joint?" a million times, swell - still used if you are intentionally trying to sound ironically pure, giggle water- occasionally used if you want to be cute, manacle/handcuff - not really used anymore (most people have no idea what a manacle is, we don't use that word here in any context, but they would still understand handcuff), tomato - not really used unless you want to sound old-timey but people still know what it means, cake-eater - lol not daily but we still use it (cuz cake is also slang for sex or...um the "kitty"), goofy for - not really used often but we get it, dipped the bill - not common, flapper - everyone knows but it's not really a style/designation now, gun slang has changed but we get/use most gun slang at least occasionally, mooch - daily speech and the most common term for that meaning out of all terms equaled possibly only be free-loader.... crazy that so much of our modern American speech has it's origins in the Jazz age. The vast majority of these both myself, my older, and my younger friends use daily!!!! It only sounds old-fashioned is you use them all in one conversation. Even the extra stuff from the skit: on the level, broad, razz, dolled up, yes, siree, licked, cheese ($), jitters - all daily usage, many others common or at least understandable....also I WAS a cigarette girl at one point, (early 2000s) lol. I never thought about how American these phrases are. Thanks for the video.

  • @tracyfrazier7440

    @tracyfrazier7440

    Жыл бұрын

    Cheaters is shaming the visually impaired? You have got to be kidding. I never hear it, nor Baby Grand-which you say is also shaming, but wouldn’t any reference to a person’s weight be shaming? Sounds better than fat. You forgot to say, “Tomato, rarely, it’s not PC.” I have never heard cake eater either, disgusting. I say place all the time. “What kind of place is this?” Used much more than “spot.” Maybe some of these words have been dug up and given new meaning by younger generations than mine.

  • @kavimontanaro7976
    @kavimontanaro7976 Жыл бұрын

    I grew up in rural Maine, in northern New England, and dead soldiers is a very common expression there.

  • @ihavenoname6724
    @ihavenoname6724 Жыл бұрын

    Haha, I believe it's the kind of language whose equivalent in French is that spoken in the movies staring Jean Gabin. Thank you---take care 👍👍

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I'll have to check that out.

  • @feralbluee
    @feralbluee Жыл бұрын

    25:41 very famous song - “Minnie the Moocher” sung by Cab Calloway. (26:03 you played it! :) it was made into an incredible cartoon in a Betty Boop by Fleischer Studios. the movement in their cartoons was so fluid. nothing like their work has ever been done. the Hallowe’en ones were fantastic - dancing skeletons, ghosts and witches. even trees danced. it’s as if the cartoonists were high. rotfl 😋🤣

  • @meedwards5
    @meedwards5 Жыл бұрын

    That was really swell!

  • @susanstoltz5749
    @susanstoltz574911 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the informative and enjoyable video. As 60-year-old American, I never heard the idiom "noodle juice." - Sincerely, Mark

  • @TerryMcKennaFineArt
    @TerryMcKennaFineArt3 ай бұрын

    There is a style of speech in Gatsby that reflects the spirit of the age - and if you want to hear more speech like this, you should watch American films from the 1930s. Movies like King Kong etc.

  • @MisterPhat
    @MisterPhat Жыл бұрын

    Nifty video. Now I'm on the trolley.

  • @MaryBrown-pj4wl
    @MaryBrown-pj4wl Жыл бұрын

    We still use dead soldier in the st. louis area. When you finish your can of bud you throw the can and yell "dead soldier".

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Interesting to know that.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    @@LetThemTalkTV There's the context. LOLOL! I would have thought you say, "We better gather up the dead soldiers. The wife is coming home soon." I thought of a mess of ciagarette butts as well, but ciggies are so expensive now that not that many people smoke.

  • @user-fu2be8zn8l
    @user-fu2be8zn8l10 ай бұрын

    I assimilated so much about your video, that I use some of phrases...but my friends are not English-people speaking...so I have to explain, and come back to my school Emglish. So, I keep all your funny and cultural phrases for myself...as long as I can use them to UK-US and other "natives".

  • @flaviangsm2
    @flaviangsm2 Жыл бұрын

    Hello , seeying many videos of yours i was getting curious about Irish accent , found some usefull tech but i wonder if you can find anything close to Alastair Duncan AK - " Mimir " from GOW Ragnarok , i just love that accent and i wanna learn that in some way as my accent goes more to russian accent and i have to rectify that , if this could be consider advertisement , i'm sorry and i will delete my comm . Many thanks !

  • @FifthCat5
    @FifthCat5 Жыл бұрын

    Do you know the music hall duo Mr. Flotsam and Mr. Jetsam? They poked fun at American slang from the British perspective in the 1930s and 40s. “Oh yeah? And how! Says you? Says me.”

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    I don't know them. I'll check it out.

  • @FifthCat5

    @FifthCat5

    Жыл бұрын

    @@LetThemTalkTV Try “New Songs for Old” to start. While many of their songs play off the novelty of American slang, this one is almost a glossary of Jazz Age expressions. “Once upon a time we said ‘Gor Blimey!” Now we say “‘And how!’” (They have a bit of a fixation on “And how”) Other songs explore such subjects as Belisha Beacons, bootleggers, and Mrs. Peer Gynt. I only know about them because my grandfather had a whole collection of their 78s. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qoaez7yRmrvZkag.html

  • @shinyshinythings

    @shinyshinythings

    Жыл бұрын

    @FifthCat What a delightful find!

  • @davidkantor7978
    @davidkantor7978 Жыл бұрын

    Gat: from Gatling Gun, one of the earliest rapid-fire weapons. Named for inventor Richard Jordan Gatling.

  • @davidkantor7978

    @davidkantor7978

    Жыл бұрын

    Though, gangsters in the 1920’s would not use an actual Gatling gun; it’s rather large and heavy.

  • @davidkantor7978

    @davidkantor7978

    Жыл бұрын

    And it took 4 men to transport and operate it. Was obsolete by the 1920’s.

  • @Andrew-iv5dq

    @Andrew-iv5dq

    Жыл бұрын

    @@davidkantor7978Until the idea came back in use for anti-tank guns, eg the think that go BRRRRR! In an A-10 Warthog attack aircraft. Also anti-missile systems on ships, eg Phalanx.

  • @violetvonpumpernickel1796
    @violetvonpumpernickel1796 Жыл бұрын

    Holy Toledo! That’s a gangster era exclamation one still hears in the states. Not sure if it made its way across the pond.

  • @anyabrooy
    @anyabrooy11 ай бұрын

    23:00 Well might be used by someone old-fashioned, but I learned it from the Hey Arnold cartoon where Helga Pataki said "I'm never feeling goofy inside about any guy!" :)))))

  • @ernestosardain4307
    @ernestosardain430711 ай бұрын

    Dead soldiers is also still used in Canada. I heard it in French and learned its meaning back in 2011.

  • @kirstenriehl700
    @kirstenriehl700 Жыл бұрын

    Amazing! How long did it take to find all those movie scenes?🎥

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    It took a long time but I enjoyed it.

  • @ground_news
    @ground_news Жыл бұрын

    Another great cultural & lingual video. Thanks for sharing our mission, for anyone interested in seeing how language shapes our understanding of breaking news check out the link in the description.

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for your comment. I'm always happy to support free and independent journalism.

  • @alec_baldman
    @alec_baldman Жыл бұрын

    American here- "gat" is definitely not obsolete. It is less common today- but it features prominently in the chorus of Notorious BIG song "Spit Yo Game" and a lot of other 90s and 2000s rap. Heater and stick are also still common, sadly. All 3 of these words people will know exactly what you mean.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    I've never heard "gat" or "stick" used for a revolver (hand gun). I'm Canadian. Heater, yes. 6-shooter, yes. Rod, yes.

  • @alec_baldman

    @alec_baldman

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dinkster1729 Like I said the Biggie Smalls song I mentioned in my original comment is a good example of a relatively recent and popular use of "gat". The rapper future has a song called "Stick Talk" if you'd like an example of stick for a gun.

  • @aaani79
    @aaani79 Жыл бұрын

    Hey there, Can you make a video on helping speakers somehow to mimic the rhythm of English? Im Hungarian and we speak in such a low monoton tone that i find very hard to beat obviously because it comes from within.. Most of the time it's not my pronunciation that's wrong but the tone the flatness of my voice. Any suggestions pls? I hate when ppl don't understand me it destroys the little confidence i have when i need to speak :(

  • @rycallter3372

    @rycallter3372

    Жыл бұрын

    Valassz ki egy par perces reszt egy filmbol/sorozatbol es ird le. Halgasd meg a szoveget megint es jelold meg piros ceruzaval a leirt valtozatban azokat a szavakat amik nyomatekot kapnak. Hangosan olvasd es probald meg odatenni a nyomatekot. Ha ugy erzed hogy tulzasba vitted a nyomtekot, akkor jo a kiejtesed (ritmus). Ugyanazon a szovegen gyakorolj amig ra nem erzel a nyomateki ritmusra. Azt is csinalhatod hogy mondatonkent halgatod a szoveget es ismeteled ugyazzal a ritmussal. (shadowing). A redszeres hangos olvasas nagyon fontos, meg ha napi 5 perc akkor is. Addig ismeteld a mondatot amig jo a nyomatek. Bonusz: Vedd fel az olvasasod a telefonoddal es halgasd vissza. Igy tudod ellenorizni a fejlodesed.

  • @dinkster1729

    @dinkster1729

    Жыл бұрын

    A Hungarian immigrant I know said he learned his English from comic books. He speaks excellent Canadian English but he's been here for 61 years and came here after the Hungarian uprising. At 12 or so?

  • @aaani79

    @aaani79

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dinkster1729 im thinking it's something that comes from within..some ppl can some ppl can't I left my country in 2001 but still struggle with speaking i don't have the best confidence In my mind i know how to pronounce words but doesn't come out in the right way

  • @shinyshinythings

    @shinyshinythings

    Жыл бұрын

    Perhaps watching more movies and television in English would help. The rhythms and intonations will start to sound more natural to you and you can imitate the lines in the shows to get a feel for how to vary your tone.

  • @VNExperience

    @VNExperience

    10 ай бұрын

    As a Finn, I can relate to you. We're cousins, linguistically speaking, after all. What I do to mask my monotone accent is imitate the rollercoaster inflection rides that are the various native accents. You need to exaggerate them because it doesn't come naturally, at least to me. I thought my standard American accent was on point until I recorded myself and played it back (a horrible experience, hearing your own voice, isn't it?). After repeating the process many, many times, I was more satisfied with the intonation. I highly recommend doing the same, as painful as it may be. I can't fathom how Gideon (or any non-narcissistic youtuber) is able to edit their videos, having to listen to themselves speak, over and over and over again.

  • @dinkster1729
    @dinkster1729 Жыл бұрын

    I can't agree with you that the Jazz Age continued into the 1930s. Life was wonderful until the Crash of 1929, I gather. My Grandfather born in 1888 went bankrupt in 1929 because his crop failed and he lost his Alberta grain farm. He never recovered from that. My father's father died in 1933 and born in 1864, but he married late and had a family with very young children that threw his family in northern New Brunswick deeper into the poverty in which they were already mired. My mother and father (mother born in late 1923 and father born in 1918) were both raised in the Jazz Age & Great Depression Era. They experienced the good times of the Jazz Age and, then, the poverty-stricken years of the Great Depression. My mother when she was forced to come back to rural Alberta with her mother and younger brother: "Nobody had a car." My Grandmother actually in the 1920s drove her neighbours into town to shop! Now, in the 1930s, "nobody had a car." Maybe, in the big American cities, there were speak easies, but in the Calvinistic smaller towns, I can't see that happening. Cigarette smoking for women? My Grandmother liked to tell the story about how she caught my mother at 16 smoking behind the barn! She didn't approve. Not one bit. My mother liked to rat on her father, "He didn't approve of dancing, but he liked playing cards so that wasn't a sin." LOLOL! My mother liked dancing and playing cards. She also had a beer every day. She dropped cigarettes in the 1950s long before it was fashionable not to smoke when cigarette went up a cent or 2 a pack and one of us dumped an ash tray at 2 over the other one's head. You're showing a 1920's and 1930's lifestyle maybe enjoyed by the college set, not most of the people. I was shocked that such a high percentage of Americans owned a car. I doubt that was true in Canada though although I think my parents came from backgrounds that were poorer than most.

  • @Frostvul
    @Frostvul Жыл бұрын

    "If you must know mate, I gaught, ma self a girl now, that's right!" "Oh innit mate? Guvna?"

  • @mikemcnamara3777
    @mikemcnamara377710 ай бұрын

    That was swell fellas!

  • @Bayerwaldler
    @Bayerwaldler Жыл бұрын

    Swell video - it got my mojo rising! 😁

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    You've got to have mojo. Yer.

  • @brucesorensen
    @brucesorensen Жыл бұрын

    That was the cats meow.

  • @Got-lander
    @Got-lander Жыл бұрын

    Say, that was really swell!

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    you ain't too bad yourself.

  • @marekpoudnikiewicz9846
    @marekpoudnikiewicz9846 Жыл бұрын

    Best English classes there are...! I got my mojo back!

  • @esra2146
    @esra2146 Жыл бұрын

    That gun gave me jitters..

  • @ColaSpandex
    @ColaSpandex Жыл бұрын

    "Spit your game, talk your sh*t, grab your gat, call your click, squeeze that clip, hit the right one, pass that w**d, got to light one." - Notorious B.I.G. One of many examples in modern rap music. Now all you've got to do is decipher the rest. 😂

  • @charliebender8794
    @charliebender8794 Жыл бұрын

    It is a misconception that consumption of alcohol was outlawed during prohibition. Actually, only the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcohol was outlawed. The thinking was the current supply would eventually run out and people would then be forced to stop drinking.

  • @Andrew-iv5dq

    @Andrew-iv5dq

    Жыл бұрын

    In some places the possession was illegal. I lived in a dry county in the American South in the late sixties and my dad always said that they kept the law like that so that most everyone was a criminal and thus the local powers that be could put the heat on you whenever they wanted. Say you went public about the “wink-wink” bible study meeting that was really a KKK event.

  • @voliabrandaolaveneremachad7849
    @voliabrandaolaveneremachad7849 Жыл бұрын

    That was swell!

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Ah heck. ain't that something.

  • @dr.chrisketo7193
    @dr.chrisketo719311 ай бұрын

    Absolutely great & funny 👍💐🍾🍺

  • @mgh1628
    @mgh1628 Жыл бұрын

    Subtitle is very usefull🙏❤

  • @beatrizlenguacastellanamej8351
    @beatrizlenguacastellanamej8351 Жыл бұрын

    I love Jazz

  • @lewismercy4133
    @lewismercy4133 Жыл бұрын

    Hi Gideon!It's World Cup season now. What about talking about the sports English in the next video?Thank you and Happy winter!

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks but I'm not sure that's my skill. I'll leave it to others on the platform.

  • @ShannonStellato-zj4ei
    @ShannonStellato-zj4ei Жыл бұрын

    Swell performance fellas!

  • @linctendler9606
    @linctendler9606 Жыл бұрын

    Solid, Jack! And I got me a couple of Tommy guns! Swell, yeah!

  • @ereviscale3966
    @ereviscale3966 Жыл бұрын

    I just wanted to say where I am in the US we still use dead soldiers to refer to empty beer bottles and cans

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering if it was still used anywhere. I'll start using it myself. As soon as I've finished my beer.

  • @bobmccarty2022

    @bobmccarty2022

    Жыл бұрын

    +1. Dead Soldiers is in current use (possibly regional?). Also used for an accumulation of used cigarette butts.

  • @matthewbartsh9167
    @matthewbartsh9167 Жыл бұрын

    I always thought a live wire is an electric cable or wire that is at a voltage high enough to give you a shock, for example a wire connected to the mains electrical supply, as opposed to a neutral or earth wire. Is a trip wire also known as a live wire?

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    your electrical knowledge is impeccable

  • @tracyfrazier7440

    @tracyfrazier7440

    Жыл бұрын

    A trip wire is not the same as a live wire. You defined the actual meaning of live wire. In slang, it is as Gideon defined it. I don’t think anyone uses the slang anymore, which is a shame.

  • @matthewbartsh9167

    @matthewbartsh9167

    Жыл бұрын

    @@tracyfrazier7440 Do you have any evidence to support your claim?

  • @matthewbartsh9167

    @matthewbartsh9167

    Жыл бұрын

    @@tracyfrazier7440 I mean your claim that in slang it is as he defined it.

  • @tracyfrazier7440

    @tracyfrazier7440

    Жыл бұрын

    @@matthewbartsh9167 Cambridge dictionary live wire noun [ C ] UK US someone who is very active and has a lot of energy

  • @georgeatef2213
    @georgeatef2213 Жыл бұрын

    Hi all, how can I follow Jake! any account/channel?

  • @hridoygovindadas914
    @hridoygovindadas914 Жыл бұрын

    Gat is still used today. Especially in East coast (usa) slang.

  • @milk_is_a_lie9331
    @milk_is_a_lie93319 ай бұрын

    Some of these were already used in the Old West not the 1920's, but became more common do to the 1920's and 30's. Ok I watched more of the video... he is saying the same thing.

  • @atifgawad3302
    @atifgawad3302 Жыл бұрын

    Hi I am from Egypt. Please what is your advice for me to be a good English teacher for 10 years kids

  • @ariadne3288
    @ariadne3288 Жыл бұрын

    Swell ❤

  • @jormamaattanen3048
    @jormamaattanen3048 Жыл бұрын

    That was a swell video! You haven't lost your acting chops ..

  • @LetThemTalkTV

    @LetThemTalkTV

    Жыл бұрын

    thanks fella.

  • @hurbit123
    @hurbit1233 ай бұрын

    in German we use the term 'dead soldiers' = tote Soldaten for the speed breaker bumps on the roads, which are supposed to slow down motorists. Ironically here we have British black humor made in Germany.

  • @charleyBrownBear
    @charleyBrownBear Жыл бұрын

    Super duper.

  • @user-qq5hd9wo9t
    @user-qq5hd9wo9t Жыл бұрын

    Also, the sketch is funny)