{"product_id":"9781429952477","title":"I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime, and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn entertaining and informative book about the fashion and fads of language \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eToday's 18-year-olds may not know who Mrs. Robinson is, where the term \"stuck in a groove\" comes from, why 1984 was a year unlike any other, how big a bread box is, how to get to Peyton Place, or what the term Watergate refers to. \u003ci\u003eI Love It When You Talk Retro \u003c\/i\u003ediscusses these verbal fossils that remain embedded in our national conversation long after the topic they refer to has galloped off into the sunset. That could be a person (Mrs. Robinson), product (Edsel), past bestseller (\u003ci\u003eCatch-22\u003c\/i\u003e), radio or TV show (Gangbusters), comic strip (\u003ci\u003eAlphonse and Gaston\u003c\/i\u003e), or advertisement (Where's the beef?) long forgotten. Such \u003ci\u003eretroterms \u003c\/i\u003eare words or phrases in current use whose origins lie in our past. Ralph Keyes takes us on an illuminating and engaging tour through the phenomenon that is Retrotalk—a journey, oftentimes along the timelines of American history and the faultlines of culture, that will add to the word-lover's store of trivia and obscure references. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The phrase \"drinking the Kool-Aid\" is a mystery to young people today, as is \"45rpm.\" Even older folks don't know the origins of \"raked over the coals\" and \"cut to the chase.\" Keyes (\u003ci\u003eThe Quote\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eVerifier\u003c\/i\u003e) uses his skill as a sleuth of sources to track what he calls \"retrotalk\": \"a slippery slope of puzzling allusions to past phenomena.\" He surveys the origins of \"verbal fossils\" from commercials (Kodak moment), jurisprudence (Twinkie defense), movies (pod people), cartoons (Caspar Milquetoast) and literature (brave new world). Some pop permutations percolated over decades: Radio's \u003ci\u003eTake It or Leave It\u003c\/i\u003e spawned a catch phrase so popular the program was retitled \u003ci\u003eThe $64 Question\u003c\/i\u003e and later returned as TV's \u003ci\u003eThe $64,000 Question\u003c\/i\u003e. Keyes's own book \u003ci\u003eIs There Life After High School?\u003c\/i\u003e became both a Broadway musical and a catch phrase. Some entries are self-evident or have speculative origins, but Keyes's nonacademic style and probing research make this both an entertaining read and a valuable reference work.\" --Publishers Weekly\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47153850220784,"sku":"9781429952477","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781429952477_p0.jpg?v=1769902617","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781429952477","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}