Let It Ride is Sick!

[Minstrel Man]

Every once in a while, I tell you about how I play Lightfoot songs for my class. I always play WOTEF for my class when we talk about story telling and ballads. Inevitably, students ask me to play more throughout the semester. Last week I decided to play "Let It Ride" for my grade 12 class, just for fun. When I finished, a student said, "That was sick man." I replied "ya, I suppose it is. I guess you were listening to the lyrics." (I thought he was referring to the last verse which seems to suggest the songwriter made the rounds with a number of women). I thought that the student had listened to this and was making a social commentary. He immediately corrected me and said, "No man, I mean that was really good." "Oh," I said, "you mean good as in 'that was bad.'" He says "Ya, I liked it."

I was greatly relieved to find out he really enjoyed the song. It was also a lesson about how I'm losing touch with the vernacular (word usage) of the younger generation. Yikes! I think I'm getting old.

[Auburn Annie]

I hear you - every once in a while my 17 year old will say something that we would have considered rude back in the day, to say the least, and it's not, to them. One can get whiplash listening and translating back and forth. Their IM speech is even more hair-raising.

[BILLW]

Don't judge a book by it's cover. I read your topic title and jumped in ready to defend a wonderful song. Yikes ! Great story. My daughter is 14 in her first year of High School and I agree with you both. But I went through the same thing with my parents who really didn't understand the Summer Of Love in 1967 when I was 14 ! "Saints preserve us !" was a phrase I heard more than once, LOL

Thanks for a good laugh,

Bill

[charlene]

My son was saying that 'sick' thing several years ago...and others that I quickly learned about!!.
Hey MM - you are so much younger than me - imagine how old I feel!
lol
My sister listened to the heavy rock etc. and I heard a lot of "that's not music!" from my parents...
But my mother also said 'are you listening to HIM again?" whenever I played Lightfoot stuff....
She still says it 36 years later when she now comes to my house!

[Auburn Annie]

Oh, golly, we heard "Saints preserve us" many times; also, "as I live and breathe!" as in "well, Margy Smith, as I live and breathe, how are you?" Don't know if it's regional, generational, or ethnic (Irish American.)

[Yuri]

I guess I better stop using "cool" and "groovy"!

...and what the h*ll did "it's the cat's meow" ever mean??? Our parents must have really been "square"!

Gordiciously,

Yuri

[Cathy]

I used to give guitar lessons to a bunch of teenagers when I lived in Limestone, and after they learned a few chords, I always introduced them to one of the simpler Lightfoot tunes. Now, there are a bunch of '20 somethings' in that town that love GL's music.

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Around here, the word "sick" may be used as 'weird', or 'strange', but not 'cool'. I know the word "tight" means 'cool' (as in 'that song sounded too tight').

[Borderstone]

Hey,MM...I only hav a God-daugther whose 12 but some of the things she says are over my head too. The acts she listens too certainly are!

Imagine a band called My Chemical Romance and in their picture they are dressed like those abusive guys in bowler hats from "A Clockwork Orange"!

I don't put down her age group or her musical choices,we all get to be that young once,so who are we to talk? I was sort of shocked when I first heard "that's gay",used as a way of saying that something was lame or stupid in one's opinion. LOL! :D

In the 80s,I and my brothers were still saying "dude"! LOL! As well as:
Awesome!/gnarly!/radical!/lame!/as if!
(valley talk)--->totally tubular!/bogus! & so many more!

Every generation wants it's own lingo & "secret' phrases that we adults are not supposed to "really get". I'm actually glad I don't use that way of talking anymore,although now & then I do use it in a humorus way.

Well,later "dudes" & "babes",I gotta "Jet",so like....uh,"later gators"!! :D

[louisemnnpls]

Originally posted by Yuri:
I guess I better stop using "cool" and "groovy"!

...and what the h*ll did "it's the cat's meow" ever mean??? Our parents must have really been "square"!

Gordiciously,

Yuri

My mother-in-law always said "It's the cat's meow", and my husband and his sister say it to this day. Guess that it means that it's "just the
best...the greatest", or some such thing.

Louise M.

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

I've heard "gay" used as something stupid or silly before.

Another one is "fly" (which means on top, perfect, good) as in 'I gotta stay fly'.

[Borderstone]

Fly?! Good gosh,even rappers don't say that anymore! LOL! :D

Louise,yeah..."the cat's meow" is an old expression of the 1930's maybe 40s & yes,it means someone or something is the greatest.

Similar to that is the 20's/30's expression,"You're the bee's knees"!! LOL! x 2! I'll never understand that one! :D

Still,better than saying,"Gettin' Jiggy With It"! :D

[Jennifer]

When I was a teenager and something was cool I'd call it "off the hook" :D

[Auburn Annie]

Think of South Park as this generation's Three Stooges - some find it hilarious and others ... not so much.

[brink-]

I happen to be a big fan of South Park. I also am far from being a teenager.
It is just down the road, I think of Sydney Steve as Kenny.

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Originally posted by Jennifer:
When I was a teenager and something was cool I'd call it "off the hook" :D

Nowadays they say "off da chain".

I also like The 3 Stooges and South Park. Best comedy there is.