“Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers?” Now there’s a phrase you probably haven’t heard for a while. Perhaps you’ve never heard it. The line is from a song recorded by Louis Armstrong in the late 1930s.

At the time of the recording, the word jeepers was quite common but I haven’t heard it used for years. I recall hearing jeepers as an exclamation back when I was a kid. For example, “Jeepers, that’s a swell bicycle!”

Peepers, of course, referred to the eyes. And swell was an adjective; nowadays it is a verb.

There are many other 20th century words that have fallen into obsolescence.

About 30 years ago my wife, daughter and I had stopped for supper at a fast-food place in West Des Moines. I ordered a baked potato with toppings. When the meal came to the counter I asked the young man if I could have some “oleo” for the potato.

The young man at the counter looked at me, obviously puzzled. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I need some oleo,” I answered.

“You need what?”

My daughter was standing nearby and she interpreted for me. “My dad wants some butter or margarine.”

The young man understood margarine and promptly provided me with same.

“Don’t people use oleo anymore?” I asked my daughter. She told me the preferred term for oleo margarine was, in fact, just margarine.

I felt old.

When was the last time you had the heebie-jeebies? When I was young something that caused anxiety or fear was said to “give me the heebie-jeebies.” It’s been a long time since I’ve had the heebie-jeebies. Maybe old people don’t get the heebie-jeebies.

Another term I haven’t heard for some time: dapper. We might have said of someone wearing a new sport coat and tie, “Aren’t you dapper today?” With today’s relaxed dress codes the term dapper just isn’t relevant.

Do women still have gams? Years ago, a pair of attractive feminine legs was often referred to as “great gams!” I’m guessing the best thing to call a pair of attractive feminine legs these days is legs … or just say nothing at all.

Have you been offered a knuckle sandwich lately? Used to be that a knuckle sandwich was a punch in the face. With so many people packing heat these days there may be fewer offers of a knuckle sandwich. Oops … I suppose “packing heat” is an obsolete phrase too.

In my youth I was sometimes told I was full of baloney, meaning that what I was saying was silly or not true. You don’t often hear baloney used in that manner anymore. Full disclosure: I have been known to be full of baloney.

Here’s another one: Hootenanny. Years ago a hootenanny was where folks played folk music, sang and may have even danced. There was a network television show called “Hootenanny” in the ’60s.

When did you last hear someone say fiddlesticks? If I disagreed with you I might just say fiddlesticks. It’s a much nicer way of saying, “You’re stupid.”

Did you ever go steady? After dating for a while and a relationship grew more serious a couple may claim to be going steady. This was a common high school term when I was young but it’s been a long time since I have heard the term. It’s also been a long time since I went steady.

In a casual group conversation some years ago I used the word hooch referring to an inferior alcoholic beverage. Several people asked what I meant and then wanted to know what I knew about it. Just forget I said it.

It wasn’t so long ago the word frock was a synonym for a woman’s dress. Having not heard or read the word for some time I’m guessing that it, too, has fallen out of use.

It has also been a long time since I have heard rubber boots or overshoes referred to as galoshes.

I’m feeling older as I write.

Not so many years ago I had a Rolodex™ on my office desk. This was a rotating card file that stored contact information such as phone numbers. I haven’t seen a Rolodex™ for many years nor have I heard the term in conversation.

I imagine that 70 years from now a good number of today’s common words will be obsolete. Shucks, I will be obsolete in 70 years!

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. 2025 by Huisman Communications.