Vodey-oh-doh-doh - Laverne & Shirley (1976) Discussion

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jefgg 13 years ago

Where did the term "vo-dee-o-doe-doe" come from? Was it Italian or just some '50s gibberish slang?

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[–] Daria_McCloud 13 years ago

I think it actually dates back to the 1920s, like 23 skidoo or the cat's pajamas. They probably thought it would make a good catch phrase for Laverne because she was always obsessed with men, especially in the earlier episodes.

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[–] jefgg 13 years ago

I have heard older relatives say things like 23 skidoo and cat's pajamas. But I never heard anyone say vo-dee-o-doe-doe besides Laverne and Shirley. A lot of people who speak English as a second language say Americans use a lot of slang. Vo-dee-o-doe-doe sounds like gibberish, not slang. Is there a definitive spelling of that? I use the one I saw on wikipedia.

A friend who went to grad school for linguistics said people tend to use slang for things that are illegal or perceived to be immoral. That would explain why there were so many slang terms for sex and drugs when I was growing up.

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[–] IcingOnTheCake 13 years ago

Yes, I think it's an old term for dancing, at least a type of dancing such as square dancing. Sex is the horizontal form of dancing.

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[–] corinnacarpenter 12 years ago

I've heard of "the cat's pajamas" and "the Cat's meow" but not "23 skidoo".

I'm stuck in the Seventies and that ain't no jive.

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[–] jefgg 12 years ago

I frequently use slang when I speak. Most Americans do. But I loath gibberish. People tend to use slang or gibberish in reference to things that are illegal or perceived to be immoral. When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s we referred to sex as "gettin' down" or "hookin' up". There are many metaphors for sex. Every clique seems to have their own slang for marijuana. My friends called it "Bob". If that term was used correctly outsiders did not know what we were talking about. I loath TV censorship. It is frequently hypocritical and inconsistent. Only imdb censorship is worse.

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[–] trollomatic 12 years ago

<<<I've heard of "the cat's pajamas" and "the Cat's meow" but not "23 skidoo".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-JM1WIT7zk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd_OzcJbxNE

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[–] trollomatic 12 years ago

<<<Where did the term "vo-dee-o-doe-doe" come from?

I'm not sure, but I think it came from "Laverne & Shirley". I don't think it was ever actually slang. Just something Laverne (&/or Shirley) made up and would say because they didn't wwant to say the other word.

In order to be more polite.

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[–] IcingOnTheCake 13 years ago

Lucille Ball once said that she "couldn't even say pregnant on I Love Lucy yet today's soap operas show you how it's done".

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[–] trollomatic 12 years ago

actually, they mentioned sex on both "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction".

And those shows were aired in the 1960's.

However, in those two shows, they used the double meanings of the words.

Jethro filled out a job application to work at the bank, and Mr. Drysdale tells him"

Jethro, where it says "sex", you're supposed to write "male" not "oh boy!!!"

And just watch "Uncle Joe's" reaction on the first season episode of "Petticoat Junction" when Homer Bedloe at the Shady Rest Hotel mentions "sex" meaning male or female.

"Uncle Joe"gets REALLY angry and really tells him off for saying it because of the girls.

You probably never saw THAT episode of "Petticoat Junction".

However, I have seen it. And after it's original network run, it did air in syndication reruns alao along with the rest of the first two seasons in the early 1970s' no matter what Paramount says.

The first two seasons were dropped from the syndication package later in the late 1970's.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] jefgg 12 years ago

I think they could say "sex" on tv in the '70s. But the show was supposed to take place in the '50s.

TV censorship is funny like imdb censorship.

I think sometimes they said vo-dee-o instead of vo-dee-o-doe-doe. Maybe vo-dee-o-doe-doe was intercourse and vo-dee-o was lesser sex acts.

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[–] jlgreenlee 12 years ago

It went like this:

Laverne: "You vo-dee-o-dodo!"
Shirley: "I do NOT vo-dee-o-dodo!"
Laverne: "You vo-dee-O!"
Shirley: (after a pause) "ONCE!"

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[–] PenelopeQ 12 years ago

I think part of the censorship issue was the fact that the show had an 8:30 PM time slot, which was still considered the "Family Hour". Things loosened up considerably by the end of the show's run, 1983.

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[–] caribeno 10 years ago

Vo-dee-oh-do was a slang term from the 1920's, meaning "dancing", at first, to jazz music. Later in that decade, it meant *beep* By the late 1950's (the time period for the first 5 seasons of "Laverne and Shirley", no one, short of really straitlaced and slightly out of touch girls would have used it. Maybe, that was the point of Laverne and Shirley using that term: they were both basically straitlaced and slightly out of touch with what was hip, slick, and cool in the late '50's.

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[–] happipuppi13 10 years ago

She proabably giot the term from her mother.

Who'd have been born in the early 1900s and might have been a teen
or inher 20 "in" the 1920s. I don't see Laverne's dad saying that ,ever.

Back in the 20s ,it idd become a way for guys (and maybe secretly girls) to tell their freinds they'd "done the deed" ,in case a parent or adult was listening.

Just like in the 70s when kids called it "boffing". 

Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13 🐕 *arf,man!*

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] CVO-Road-Glide 9 years ago

by jlgreenlee
» Thu Jun 20 2013 22:19:24 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since May 2005
Post Edited: Thu Jun 20 2013 22:22:30
It went like this:

Laverne: "You vo-dee-o-dodo!"
Shirley: "I do NOT vo-dee-o-dodo!"
Laverne: "You vo-dee-O!"
Shirley: (after a pause) "ONCE!"

Good Catch ! I agree

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[–] daverindone 9 years ago

That was just on the other day, too! I remember an Odd Couple when Felix thought Edna may be pressured into something at an upcoming dance, so he gets Oscar to try to explain it in a way that sounded like a baseball game. The pair fumble around a bit, before finally asking her if she understood. She cheerily proclaims "Yeah! It's a lot like sex!" God love Pamela Ferdyn, she so we just awesome. I'm pretty sure that was before, or very close to when L and S aired, but it was set in the "modern" early 70's.

As I recall, Gary Marshall was more about keeping it pretty close to the vest when it came to intimate relations. I watched the show when I was 9 - 10 and it would have sounded weird to Laverne to just blurt that she just had sex with someone (even though it was implied she was more likely to, uh, cat around.

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] crypticanomaly73 9 years ago

I think you have to keep the audience and original time slot in mind as well, if she says Voe do voe or whatever it was than that sounds vague enough for the parents not to have to worry about the kids hearing it. They can even explain it away with a different meaning if the kids ask.

Other shows had sex references and Happy Days even had one where Mr C goes to a strip club and Joanie is going to pose nude. I guess context back then meant everything.

Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it.

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[–] 9 years ago

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