“No Malarkey!” and no fear, Dear Reader, that this week’s blog is political. Instead, Joe Biden’s new campaign slogan got me thinking about how much words matter. If a candidate is looking for young voters, “No Malarkey” is a slogan that isn’t going to grab anyone under, say, the age of 60.
Look at it this way: if you want to come off as the bees’ knees rather than a fuddy duddy, lose the fusty slogan. “Malarkey” is old hat and reinforces the notion that you’re a geezer. And by the way, Joe, only an eejit would suggest families sit around listening to a record player together in the evening–but at least you didn’t call it a Victrola.
I spend a lot of time figuring out “keywords” for my blogs—short words or phrases that will draw readers in. They are the search engine equivalent of campaign slogans. I can check my blog’s weekly statistics to see how many people have visited the site based on the blog’s title. (No surprise that anything containing the word “Cats” is a sure winner.) I wonder what keyword test “No Malarkey” passed.
I did have a lot of fun researching old-fashioned slang. Here are a few more doozies that I came up with that I couldn’t manage to work into the narrative but think you will enjoy:
Gobbledy gook (double-talk); nincompoop (dopey person); codger (another word for geezer); beauty parlor (hair salon); floozie (“cheap” woman); mortified (embarrassed to death). Most of these words are insulting, which might lead one to put on a puss face (pout). Coincidentally, this screed may lead some to think I am a Holy Joe (self-righteous person).
Have a good week!
Photo by Brett Jordan via Unsplash.
