Does anyone know the source of the slang the Skipper and Gilligan use? They're the only two characters on the show that use it. (Fred and Barney Rubble use similar slang: probably because the two shows shared a number of writers!) It seems to be a working class idiom. Is it associated with any particular place or time period? Here are some examples:

sore = angry
cut it out = stop that
heel = unscrupulous person
you're all heart = you're very kind
goner = someone who's going to die
curtains = the end
go to pieces = become very emotional
swell = very good
hit the sack = go to bed (this may be a Navy expression)

That slang was used on a lot of TV shows back then.

Does anyone know the source of the slang the Skipper and Gilligan use? They're the only two characters on the show that use it. (Fred and Barney Rubble use similar slang: probably because the two shows shared a number of writers!) It seems to be a working class idiom. Is it associated with any particular place or time period? Here are some examples:

sore = angry
cut it out = stop that
heel = unscrupulous person
you're all heart = you're very kind
goner = someone who's going to die
curtains = the end
go to pieces = become very emotional
swell = very good
hit the sack = go to bed (this may be a Navy expression)

Most of these are American slang terms that were used in the 40s, 50s and early 60s and are not very common now. Most younger Americans wouldn't understand what you meant if you said you were "sore" at someone, called someone a "heel" or said "it's curtains for you." Most are more "working class" or urban slang, and some are often used in gambler and gangster stories and movies of the 40s and 50s, particularly those set in NYC.

Many of the terms are still common today, though, especially "cut that/it out," "go/fall to pieces," and "hit the sack/hay." Terms like "you're all heart," "goner," and "swell" are still known but are old-fashioned and not used often. (Though I personally use "swell" pretty often! Then again, I also use "shant.")

Wow! That's fascinating. I thought some of those words smacked of New York, and when I looked them up, a few even dated back to the 1920's. I particularly liked the origin of "buddy," which has a strong military connection and is a combination of brother and comrade. So apt for the Skipper and Gilligan, and the way they use the term implies a very close friendship indeed. I love Gilligan's miffed line in Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up: "That's a fine thing for one buddy to say to another buddy!"

Say, I use "shan't" too.

It's a generational thing. Many of those are still in use among some of us in our forties and up, especially "cut it out," "hit the sack," "you're all heart," "goner," and "curtains."

I would say that over the past year or so I've used nearly all of the ones I cited. I thought that "hit the sack" or "hit the hay" were both still fairly common. I guess I'm really getting old...! (Also in use: "Hit the head." That has to do with another room in your house, LOL!!)

Also, maybe some of those are just not as common in Canada...

One time I told my then 7 year old son that he sounded like a broken record. He just looked up and said "A broken what?" I changed it to "A stuck CD," then he understood. Boy, did I feel old.

One time I told my then 7 year old son that he sounded like a broken record. He just looked up and said "A broken what?" I changed it to "A stuck CD," then he understood. Boy, did I feel old.


Thats a tragedy that kids dont know what a record is.

That's fascinating. I thought some of those words smacked of New York
My parents and grandparents were New York City natives, and they regularly used all of those words and phrases. So I would guess that a lot of those expressions indeed had their origins in New York and the Northeast.

If you researched the backgrounds of most TV sitcom writers -- especially those who worked during the 1950s and 1960s -- I would bet that an overwhelming majority of them were born and raised in the NYC metropolitan area.

Does anyone know the source of the slang the Skipper and Gilligan use? They're the only two characters on the show that use it. (Fred and Barney Rubble use similar slang: probably because the two shows shared a number of writers!) It seems to be a working class idiom. Is it associated with any particular place or time period? Here are some examples:

sore = angry
cut it out = stop that
heel = unscrupulous person
you're all heart = you're very kind
goner = someone who's going to die
curtains = the end
go to pieces = become very emotional
swell = very good
hit the sack = go to bed (this may be a Navy expression)


Hi all. I just joined here and this is my first post. I couldn't help noticing this thread. It sorta made me feel old. With only a couple of exceptions, all the words and expressions listed above seem "normal" to me. "Swell" was a bit before my time and "sore" was used a lot on Leave it to Beaver, but all the others seem like everyday English to me.

Welcome, Gadabout! And don't feel old at all, because so many of us grew up with this wonderful series that the idioms sound like everyday English to us as well. It was only when I started writing fanfic that I started paying close attention to the way the individual characters spoke, and noticed that Gilligan and the Skipper used particular slang that none of the other characters used.

I would love to catch some episodes of "Leave It to Beaver." Roland Maclane, one of Gilligan's Island's most talented writers and a master of Gilligan-Skipper comic scenes, was one of the principal writers of "Leave It to Beaver" just before the series ended. That's probably why the slang, and I imagine the situations, are very similar.

Anyhow, don't be sore! It's swell to have you aboard!:wave: