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Old-Time Expressions

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Instructions: Do you remember what these vintage expressions mean? Test your knowledge of old-fashioned slang, idioms, and phrases that were once part of everyday speech!

  1. 1.

    What does the old expression "the bee's knees" mean?

    A
    Something that buzzes with activity
    B
    Something very small and insignificant
    C
    An outstanding or excellent person or thing
    D
    A painful experience
  2. 2.

    If someone told you "don't take any wooden nickels," what were they saying?

    A
    Don't gamble your money away
    B
    Don't be foolish or get cheated
    C
    Don't accept charity
    D
    Don't collect coins
  3. 3.

    What did it mean to call someone a "wet blanket"?

    A
    A person who dampens others' enthusiasm or fun
    B
    Someone who cried easily
    C
    A heavy sleeper
    D
    Someone who was always cold
  4. 4.

    What does "23 skidoo" mean?

    A
    A lucky number in gambling
    B
    A type of early automobile
    C
    A card game popular in saloons
    D
    To leave quickly or get out
  5. 5.

    If something was described as "the cat's pajamas," what did that mean?

    A
    It was ridiculous or silly
    B
    It was old-fashioned
    C
    It was wonderful or first-rate
    D
    It was soft and comfortable
  6. 6.

    What did it mean when someone said "he really knows his onions"?

    A
    He makes people cry
    B
    He is very knowledgeable about a subject
    C
    He is a farmer
    D
    He is a good cook
  7. 7.

    What was meant by the expression "burning the midnight oil"?

    A
    Wasting money on unnecessary things
    B
    Cooking a late-night meal
    C
    Driving a car at night
    D
    Working or studying late into the night
  8. 8.

    If someone was called a "drugstore cowboy," what did that mean?

    A
    A traveling medicine salesman
    B
    A man who loitered in public places to flirt with women
    C
    A pharmacist in a western town
    D
    A rodeo performer who got injured often
  9. 9.

    What did it mean to "get the sack"?

    A
    To go grocery shopping
    B
    To be fired from a job
    C
    To go to sleep
    D
    To win a prize
  10. 10.

    What was a "fuddy-duddy"?

    A
    An old-fashioned, fussy, or stuffy person
    B
    A children's game
    C
    A clumsy dancer
    D
    A type of candy
  11. 11.

    What did the expression "sold down the river" originally mean?

    A
    To buy cheap goods from a riverboat merchant
    B
    To be betrayed, originating from the sale of enslaved people to harsher plantations in the Deep South
    C
    To move to a town downstream
    D
    To be tricked in a business deal
  12. 12.

    If someone was described as being "on the lam," what were they doing?

    A
    Riding a horse
    B
    Fleeing from the law
    C
    Working on a farm
    D
    Telling lies
  13. 13.

    What did it mean to call someone a "gadabout"?

    A
    An inventor or tinkerer
    B
    A pest or nuisance
    C
    A nosy gossip
    D
    A person who travels from place to place for pleasure
  14. 14.

    What did the expression "fly off the handle" mean?

    A
    To make a careless mistake
    B
    To faint or pass out
    C
    To lose one's temper suddenly
    D
    To leave a room quickly
  15. 15.

    What did it mean to be "in cahoots" with someone?

    A
    To be related by marriage
    B
    To be secretly plotting or conspiring together
    C
    To be living in the same house
    D
    To be competing against each other

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