The Super Bore, and whatever happend to "Swell"

It came to my attention last evening that this is Super Bore Weekend. That was disturbing because until now I had not written my annual Super Bore blog. I have no idea what teams are playing because the blurb I saw on TV was about a commercial being banned. I believe that originally a football game was the feature but in recent years it has been TV commercials and halftime shows. So be bored if you so desire. I'll settle back with a good book.
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No one ever says swell anymore and I think that's a shame. Back in the day just about everything was swell. A swell guy, a swell girl, a swell dinner, a swell movie, a swell car. "That's swell" was a popular comment. If you heard bad news or didn't like something you'd say, "Isn't that swell" or "That's just swell," meaning it wasn't swell. It was all in the emphasis, the tone, the inflection.

In talking to your buddies about the previous night's date you'd say, "It was swell." That could be taken to mean a variety of things. I'm not certain if girls said their dates were swell, but they probably did.
I once heard a TV host say his son had been watching movies from the 1930s and the World War II years and was amazed by how often people said swell. Of course we did. Those were swell times, although money was a little tight. People wonder if the situation today is as bad as it was back then. Not even close, at least not yet. By comparison, everything today is swell.

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Jackie was a little peeved with me when we got back from having stitches taken out of my hand today. All I did was stop by the hamster cage and say, "Are you in there, Sophie, or did the hawk get you?"
Jackie bristled at that. "You'll frighten her. She's just a baby."
As up 'til now Sophie has ignored everything I've said to her except when I ask if she'd like a treat, it seems doubtful that she was too upset. To be on the safe side, both with Sophie and Jackie, from here on I'll just say, "Is everything swell in there?"

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