hootin' zoots

[davemerrill]

it's time for forgotten teen slang of the 1950s as a crowd of ACG teeners take us on a trip through a lost syllabary of buried terminology! Let Stupid Comics soothe the sting of our impending socio-economic collapse, why don't you.

Comments

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

I am totally nonplussed by the use of 'Frampton'. It's obvious in context but yeesh.

OTOH, I do have to admit it's much less confusing than 'cool' or 'chill' or 'chillax' (let alone the myriad of 'shorthand' terms from Twitter et al) in terms of grammar usage.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

I've read a lot of 50s teen books and associated media, and as God as my witness, I have never heard or seen the term "frampton" used as it is here.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Given the phrase 'Frampton Balls', and I assume they're using 'ball' as in party and not our current common usage, a 'real Frampton Ball' sounds like a serious upscale shindig, so I am led to assume that Frampton was a place, a big city where the elite meet to greet and beat their feet.

It's still an unusual usage. It's the syntax that makes it feel wonky. Try replacing 'Frampton' with, say, 'New York City'(common usage would likely either be New York or NYC) and it still doesn't quite scan. Altho in other context saying "New York Balls' has currency. :)

We rarely hold up a Big City as a shining example nowadays. Usually using a city name tends to be shorthand for negative things, see also Kentucky Fried Movie and "and him...send him to...DETROIT!" "No! NOOO! ANYTHING but that! NOOOO!"