"cool beans" must die . . .

[AllHoppedUp]

I hate hate hate the expression "cool beans". What are they? Can this expression be traced back to one person who can be aptly punished for unleashing it on the English language? I thought it was stupid the first time I heard it way back in junior high. Then I didn't hear it all through high school and college and I thought it had died. But . . .

Three years ago I was working in Seattle and I heard this chick in the office say "Cool beans!". I almost threw up right on the spot. I tried to tactfully tell her that what a bad expression that was but she didn't get it. So I told her it was dumb when it died in junior high 15 years ago and to please not bring it back. She gleefully brushed me off and is probably still walking around saying "cool beans!" to this day.

So yesterday as I'm leaving my office (different job, different city) this other chick comes up to me with a last minute request. I oblige and she thanks me by saying "Cool beans!" AAHHHHHH! Are you kidding me? You're 37 frickin' years old! This thing is worse than Jason Voorhies - just when you think it's dead and society thanks it for being so it reincarnates itself in an even more pathetic form than before.

I'm not one for stereotypes but in my experience the typical propagators of this thing are the fat friendless chicks who have a constant beam of sunshine shooting out their butt. So they're annoying to start with - constant state of cheeriness - and to add insult to injury they walk around saying "Cool beans!" Anybody feeling me on this one? Or am I fighting this battle alone?

AHU

 

[anthrobe]

hmmmm, I could go either way on this one. Was either of them hot.....hahaha

 

[El Pistolero]

I'm not one for stereotypes but in my experience the typical propagators of this thing are the fat friendless chicks who have a constant beam of sunshine shooting out their butt. So they're annoying to start with - constant state of cheeriness - and to add insult to injury they walk around saying "Cool beans!" Anybody feeling me on this one? Or am I fighting this battle alone?

 

[user 574]

I hear you on this. And to really piss you off: http://www.coolbeans.com/

 

[anthrobe]

Up Next: More Huckleberry Hefe (mmm!)
AHU[/QUOTE]


Are you willing to share a recipe on this one. My wife would love this.

 

[woodstone]

Something about Boston (be nice I'm 40 minutes south) and Bush's baked beans....

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/1238.html
Cheers, mates!

 

[El Pistolero]

Are you willing to share a recipe on this one. My wife would love this.

Better yet, can you send me some huckleberries? Haven't had any of those since I was a kid.

 

[anthrobe]

Better yet, can you send me some huckleberries? Haven't had any of those since I was a kid.

N

Not to sure if I can find them yet.

 

[AllHoppedUp]

Hey anthrobe,

I'm relatively new to the art - been at it less than a year - so my recipe is very simple. I bought the Hank's Hefeweizen extract kit from Midwest and added 2 cups of mashed up huckleberries that my wife picked to the primary. I don't really like ultra fruity beers (Weizenberry, Pyramid Apricot, etc.) so I went real light on the fruit for my first batch. This beer is really good but for the sake of experimentation I'm going to double the huckleberry content to 4 cups for this next batch. I also think I'll wait and add them to secondary because I've read that the beer will retain more of the fruit essence that way.

I don't think you guys will find huckleberries growing naturally in your neck of the woods. You might try to find a supplier online somewhere. Not sure if they sell just the berries but you might try www.huckleberrypeople.com. When I was preparing to make the first batch I was on the Midwest forum and a guy warned me against using huckleberry extract - he said the result was cough syrup like beer.

AHU

 

[loopmd]

I hear you on this. And to really piss you off: http://www.coolbeans.com/

Ok i had to check it out. I must abmit, the Heaven's Gate posters about half way down the page made me laugh out loud.....


loop

 

[anthrobe]

Hey anthrobe,

I'm relatively new to the art - been at it less than a year - so my recipe is very simple. I bought the Hank's Hefeweizen extract kit from Midwest and added 2 cups of mashed up huckleberries that my wife picked to the primary. I don't really like ultra fruity beers (Weizenberry, Pyramid Apricot, etc.) so I went real light on the fruit for my first batch. This beer is really good but for the sake of experimentation I'm going to double the huckleberry content to 4 cups for this next batch. I also think I'll wait and add them to secondary because I've read that the beer will retain more of the fruit essence that way.

I don't think you guys will find huckleberries growing naturally in your neck of the woods. You might try to find a supplier online somewhere. Not sure if they sell just the berries but you might try www.huckleberrypeople.com. When I was preparing to make the first batch I was on the Midwest forum and a guy warned me against using huckleberry extract - he said the result was cough syrup like beer.

AHU

Thanks, I will definately have to try that

 

[rewster451]

Wow. Huckleberries. Cool Beans.



CJ

I know this thread is dormant, but I think that is hilarious. Cool beans Ceej. Personally, I've never had a problem with this phrase, but how about "gnarly?" My dad says that, and I have no idea why. It always bothered me. He was born in the late fifties. It makes no sense why he would use it. I think it was popular in the early nineties. I was probably 13 when he started saying it.

 

[AllHoppedUp]

"Gnarly" isn't so bad - at least he doesn't say "rad" or "bitchin". Or "hella". Wouldn't it be weird to hear your old man say, "My buddy Frank got this hella cool wheelchair down at X-Treme Home Medical the other day - it's so rad! He put these bitchin' rims on it so now it's all tricked out!" Ha ha!

My dad's a cowboy so he has words like "pertnear". If you don't speak cowboy, that's a contraction for "pretty near". Example: "That ol' boy pertnear got run over by a horse." I've heard him try to say "cool" a few times but it always comes out tentatively.

AHU

 

[El Pistolero]

"Gnarly" isn't so bad - at least he doesn't say "rad" or "bitchin". Or "hella". Wouldn't it be weird to hear your old man say, "My buddy Frank got this hella cool wheelchair down at X-Treme Home Medical the other day - it's so rad! He put these bitchin' rims on it so now it's all tricked out!" Ha ha!

You gonna still be laughing when one of us gnarly old dudes puts a one-armed a$$ whuppin on you, boy?

 

[AllHoppedUp]

You gonna still be laughing when one of us gnarly old dudes puts a one-armed a$$ whuppin on you, boy?

There's something to be said for "old man strength". Maybe you're already familiar, but that's a term my friends and I use to describe the sometimes unexplainable feats of strength we've seen our dads pull off in their old age. My dad, for example, can tighten a nut with his bare hands to the point that I have to get a wrench to loosen it. But his days of "one-armed a$$ whuppins" are long gone. Last time we scrapped was about 8 years ago and we had to quit when his back started popping loudly - he hit the deck pretty quick and called 'uncle'.

The problem with you gnarly old dudes is you don't realize when you've passed your prime.