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Hello everyone, welcome back to EnglishPod. My name is Marco

and I’m Erica

and today we are going back in time

That’s right we’re visiting the 1950s

Alright, so we are going to the year 1950. And well we are going to look at some of the typical common words and phrases that were used back in that year.

Yes. All of these words and phrases you might still here today but they are really a little bit old-fashioned.

Alright so we have some words that we need to look at for we listen to our dialogue. So let’s look at these words in vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview

We have two words we’re going to hear in the dialogue. The first one: sock hop

sock hop

a sock hop

Okay now this is very old-fashioned and probably not used anymore

no not used anymore. But a sock hop is a school dance.

Okay so all the kids after school would get together and dance rock ‘n’ roll

Exactly

Well, it’s very popular and very common among American culture in those days

yes in 1950

so you would still maybe see this in a movie or something

yeah

and our second word is still used today: Sadie Hawkins dance

a Sadie Hawkins dance

all right a Sadie Hawkins dance

so a Sadie Hawkins dance is a dance when the girls asked the guys to be there date

okay so it’s a party and the guys don’t invite the girls

no, the girls invite the guys

okay. So it’s a little bit of a revers of roles there.

yes

that’s interesting so in this case the girls have to come up to the guys and say, “hey, do you want to go to the dance with me?”

very good. So this still happens today in North America so you will probably hear it sometime. And I guess now we could listen to our dialogue for the first time and it takes place at a high school.

A: Heya, Tracy. How are you doin’?

B: I’m swell, Sandy!

A: Hey listen, you wanna go to the sock hop with me this Friday? It’ll be a blast!

B: First of all it’s the Sadie Hawkins dance. The girls gotta ask the guys. Also.

A: Oh, right. So when are you gonna ask me? I’ve had my eye on you for a while.

C: Hey, buddy. Ease off my girl, man. Or do you want a knuckle-sandwich?

B: Cool it, guys.

A: Your girl? Says who?

C: Says me, pipsqueak!

All right, so a little bit of a discussion over girl very common as well

yeah

So we’re gonna be looking at some of these words that were maybe a little bit difficult in the dialogue in language take away.

Language take away

We’ve got five phrases and words from the dialogue. Now the first thing we heard was Sandy said, heya

heya

heya

all right. Now an interjection, a way of saying hi, but very old-fashioned, heya.

Yeah. But basically, hi you

Or, hey you

yeah

okay, so heya. I guess you would still use it today though, right?

Yeah, it’s still a normal way to to greet someone.

All right, very friendly. Okay, and what about our second word?

Well, Sandy asked Tracy, how are you? And Tracy replies, I’m swell

I’m swell

I’m swell

I’m just swell

When you are swell, you are great.

You’re great. And again swell is an old fashion way of saying I’m good or I’m great but you would still hear it

Yes. And it also is used to describe things. That was a swell party.

Okay, swell.

yeah

all right, now for our next word. They got into a fight and Tracy said: cool it guys

cool it

cool it

cool it

so why don’t we listen to some examples of cool it before we explain it.

example 1

Just cool it. Now is not the right time to get angry.

example 2

You need to cool it and stop yelling at me.

example 3

Don’t cry Pam. Just cool it. You will be okay.

All right so, cool it guys basically means

relax

take it easy

yeah

don’t get into a fight. Okay.

This is one my dad used to say to me and my sisters all the time. Cool it kids, stop fighting.

very good. So it is still very commonly used, I would say.

yeah

all right, now for our last two words. These are a little bit more old-fashioned.

Yeah, straight from 1952. They talk about a knuckle-sandwich.

All right, he says, do you want a knuckle-sandwich?

A knuckle-sandwich, what are we talking about here?

All right, well on your hand

yeah

above your fingers you have your knuckles.

Okay, so those are the bumpy parts on my hand

Yeah, bones on the top part of your hand. So he’s basically saying do you want me to punch you? Right? Do you want me to hit you with my hand, with my fist. So it’s an very informal way of saying a punch, knuckle-sandwich.

I’ll give you a knuckle-sandwich.

Right. And for our last word, he called, Tommy called Sandy a pipsqueak.

pipsqueak

pipsqueak

a pipsqueak

now, this is kind of an insult but again very old-fashioned.

yes

a pipsqueak is a very small person, right?

a small person who is not strong

okay

or not powerful

so a small and weak person, pipsqueak. I guess nowadays you can still call somebody pipsqueak but maybe in a lighter sentence.

It would be a little bit funny to call someone a pipsqueak.

Okay, so a pipsqueak. Why don’t we listen to a dialogue again? We’re going to slow it down a little bit so you can get all these words that we just looked at and then we come back and look at some phrases.

A: Heya, Tracy. How are you doin’?

B: I’m swell, Sandy!

A: Hey listen, you wanna go to the sock hop with me this Friday? It’ll be a blast!

B: First of all it’s the Sadie Hawkins dance. The girls gotta ask the guys. Also.

A: Oh, right. So when are you gonna ask me? I’ve had my eye on you for a while.

C: Hey, buddy. Ease off my girl, man. Or do you want a knuckle-sandwich?

B: Cool it, guys.

A: Your girl? Says who?

C: Says me, pipsqueak!

Okay so that was a little bit easier to understand but some great 50s style phrases and words. So why don’t we look at some of these phrases now in fluency builder.

Fluency builder

All right, in our fluency builder today, we’re gonna look at three phrases. Why don’t we start with the first one. Sandy said that the party will be a blast.

it’ll be a blast

it’ll be a blast

to be a blast

so if something is a blast, it’s very fun. It’s entertaining.

Yes, really really fun.

Okay, so the party was a blast.

I had a great time last night. It was a blast.

Okay, very good. So very fun times.

Yeah, and you hear this phrase used today and the next one. So Sandy said he said his eye on Tracy.

He said I’ve had my eye on you.

to have your eye on someone

so if I have my eye on the new iPhone that came out

you are watching it carefully because you want it.

Okay, so I’m keeping my attention on it because I want it.

I have my eye on that sweater because it’s on sale.

Okay, so you really want that sweater.

Yeah.

All right, so to have your eye on something or on someone, right? And for our last phrase: Tommy told Sandy, hey buddy, ease off my girl.

ease off

ease off

ease off

all right, so why don’t we listen to some examples of how we could use ease off because it might be a little bit tricky and then we’ll come back and talk about it.

example 1

You need to ease off the junk food.

example 2

Matt is putting so much pressure on me these days. I wish would ease off.

example 3

You’re pushing Susie too much. You need to ease off a bit.

Okay, so it looks like you say this phrase ease off when somebody is putting pressure on you or doing something to you that they shouldn’t.

Right, maybe they’re being too intense or maybe annoying you. So you tell them, hey, ease off.

Relax, stay back

Stay away, very good. So ease off, ease off my girlfriend.

ease off the fatty foods

alright, so take it easy, stay away from

yeah

okay so some great phrases there. I think it’s a good idea for us to listen to our dialogue one more time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more about the 1950s.

A: Heya, Tracy. How are you doin’?

B: I’m swell, Sandy!

A: Hey listen, you wanna go to the sock hop with me this Friday? It’ll be a blast!

B: First of all it’s the Sadie Hawkins dance. The girls gotta ask the guys. Also.

A: Oh, right. So when are you gonna ask me? I’ve had my eye on you for a while.

C: Hey, buddy. Ease off my girl, man. Or do you want a knuckle-sandwich?

B: Cool it, guys.

A: Your girl? Says who?

C: Says me, pipsqueak!

Okay, so the 1950’s a nice era and this is the first of a small series that we’re gonna have of different words and phrases that were used back in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, etc.

that’s right. So a little bit more time travel is coming up here in EnglishPod.

exactly because a lot of these phrases are still used and you might even see them in movies or if you’re talking to somebody that was maybe born in these eras, they might even still use them today.

That’s right. So, do you guys know any English phrases or slangs from the 1950s? Why don’t you visit our website at Englishpod.com to tell us about it.

All right. We’ll see you guys there and also if you have questions or comments please leave them on the comment section as well.

Well, thanks for listening and until next time, goodbye.