A century or so ago, college slang included balloon juice, meaning empty or noisy talk, lots of air, and little content. To fall down under the table meant to fail a course completely. To fall on the ball meant to begin studying, perhaps with an echo of football’s sense of taking possession. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““Balloon Juice” Was College Slang for Empty Talk”
I’ve been diving into old books again.
Yes?
Yes.
And I looked up all the old college slang from more than 100 years ago.
Oh, you had fun.
You know, I’ve done this before, but every time I look into it, I come up with new stuff.
And I found some stuff here I wanted to share with you.
I love this one.
Do you know what balloon juice is?
Balloon juice.
Yeah.
Air?
Yes, it’s empty talk or noisy talk.
There’s a lot of noise, but no content.
That’s balloon juice.
Oh, okay.
Somebody has a blather control problem.
Yes.
Also, if you fall down under the table, it means you fail a course completely.
Oh, okay.
I love that.
Fall down under the table.
I don’t know.
I always think of you fall down under the table if you’re drunk, but maybe they were.
Maybe that’s why they failed.
But to fall on the ball, on the other hand, is to begin to study.
Oh, really?
To fall on the ball?
Yes.
So in football, if you fall on the ball, it means you’re taking possession of the task, right?
Falling on the ball.
