No, You're a 'Carpet Knight'!

One of my dearest friends, Lynsay, is a constant stream of old-timey sayings that have been adopted by my household. A favorite: “Now we’re cooking with gas!” (Use to denote success, as in, “Now we’re really moving along!”) Made famous by Bob Hope, it originated from a mid-century advertisement for newfangled gas stoves and was picked up by Lynsay’s language-loving mom, a peripatetic Army brat and constant source of wordy wildness.

The enthusiastic expression is just one of the “forgotten-yet-delightful” literary flourishes in Lesley M. M. Blume’s new book, Let's Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition. The fun of this pocket-sized volume is in its unearthing of a fine selection of the past’s best tongue-ticklers, many of which communicate more than any modern phrasing.