In case you’re not on the trolley, this idiom can be exclaimed after someone else gets it. For example:
“Well, Jimmy, last week you were having trouble with long division. Did you study?”
“Yes.”
“What’s 120 divided by 6?”
“20.”
“Good job. How about 8534 divided by 7?”
“1219 point 142857 repeating.”
“Hey! Now you’re on the trolley!”
“You’re damn right I am.”
“Watch your mouth.”
See how fun and useful this turn of phrase is? It’s a wonder it fell out of fashion. Perhaps it’s because the term trolley is no longer prevalent in the modern American word stock. It might be that I like the ring of it precisely because the term is old-fashioned and brings to mind a romantic, bygone scene of some burgeoning, early-20th century burg. My special gal and I are headed to the dance, I hear hep new sounds jumpin’ and jivin’ from down the street, and then the jing-a-ling of a trolley coming our way. We both hop on, excited to be in love and on board such a marvelously modern mode of transport. We know what’s going on, and we’re going on with it—we’re on the trolley.
I also can’t think of a colorful phrase in use today meaning the same thing. "Now you get it" is really all we’ve got. I see a strong need for a friendly, upbeat, affirmative way to acknowledge and praise a peer for understanding something or for being headed in the right direction. In short, I think it’s high time we hop on the trolley and bring this expression back.
