Get a grip.

The other day Eliot and I were goofing around, and I promptly told him to "get a grip." Do you remember saying that as a child of the 90's? I sure do. I couldn't stop laughing at the thought for about an hour, at least. And then I began to think about all of the other funny sayings of my childhood.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Get a grip- used when in need of telling someone that they need to take life more seriously.

• Look it! (Not "look," not "look at that over there," but LOOK IT.)

• Whatever. Alicia Silverstone should have patented this word.

• All that (undoubtedly spawned from the hit Nickelodeon TV show "All That"- the SNL for 8-15 year olds, and a forgotten treasure in my opinion.)
• Doy! (The even more irritating version of the word, "duh")
• WHASSSSSUUUUUP- I do not think that anybody at the time could fathom as to what a cultural phenomenon this simple 1999 Budweiser commercial could turn into.
• Dawg- "Who let the dogs out? Woof Woof." I personally love 90's music, but I guess they can't all be gems.
• Not!- Thank goodness I never pulled a "not" moment to anyone as a kid...NOT!
• Tyte- In my preteen years I had a friend whose mom overheard her saying that her new jacket was "tyte." The mother's response was, "Well, why didn't you buy a bigger size, sweetie?"
• Your Mom- In the 90's "Your mom" was used as a come back, but not in a funny Napoleon-Dynamite-"your mom goes to college" kind of way. It was simply, "your mom." Nothing more.

"You have ugly shoes."

"Psh, your mom."

• Like- Like, thanks so much, like, 80's valley girls for like, passing this trend on to like, your children...like.
• Duuuuuude-

"A dude is an individual, typically male, particularly somebody well dressed or who has never lived outside of a big city. The female equivalent, which is used less often, is 'dudette.' However, "dude" has evolved to become more unisex to encompass both genders."

Though I'm not completely sure on the accuracy of this definition according to today's standards, I AM sure that the "dude" prospered in the 90's. Not only was it a noun, but an adjective as well- an exclamation used at the beginning of a sentence. For example, "DUDE! Did you see that?" or "Dude! Look at that guy!"

From Nickelodeon's Hey Dude and Good Burger (a must see) to Blink 182's Dude Ranch album to stoner favorites like Southpark and Beavis and Butthead...the "dude" remains still, in my opinion, as the top, overused word of the 90's.