Can you remember these? I can. (some of them!)--can anyone add more? What a great blast from the past! I haven't thought about "fender > skirts" in years. When I was a kid, I considered it such a funny term. Made me think of a car in a dress. Thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice. Like "curb feelers" and "steering knobs." Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these > terms to you. Remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental. When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that > went with "emergency brake." I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed." Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house? Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy. "Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "worldwide" for granted. This floors me. On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure. When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company. So we > had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply "expecting." Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now. "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all. It's hard to recall that this word was once said in a whisper "divorce." And no one is called a "divorcee" anymore. Certainly not a "gay divorcee." Come to think of it, "confirmed bachelors" and "career girls" are long gone, too. I always loved going to the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation. Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day -- "rat fink." Ooh, what a nasty put- down! Here's a word I miss -- "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffeemaker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this. I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "ElectraLuxe." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!" Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening their kids with castor oil > anymore. Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most -- "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.
It's kind of funny how language has evolved with the times, but there are some things that are better left for dead>castor oil!! Remember the universal cure for the common cold--A teaspoon of sugar with a few drops of kerosene?
These sure bring back memories -- and triggered a few comments of my own. Back when I was young (early 1950's) my dad still had his '38 Packard in not-bad running condition, and that had running boards -- we had to be the only car still on the road with those. If we picked up hitchhikers, that's where they rode (it was legal back in those days). Reminds me of the gag about the treasured household maid who announced to her employer-family that she was leaving because she was in the family way. They were stunned, since they didn't know she even had a boyfriend, and asked her to explain. "Well, when I want to sweep, you say I in your way. Cleaning to pick up things in little Jimmy's room, he want me to wait because I in his way. And always like that -- so I guess I in the family way, and gotta leave." Don't forget we're talking about two different things here, not just different names. A stovetop percolator -- and electric ones later -- boiled water up thru a tube and let it flow down thru the coffee and a filter and back into what was originally just water. And it recycled the process continuously, so the coffee got stronger and stronger until you (hopefully) decided it was done and remembered to turn it off.
Right on. Groovy. LP. The fuzz. Hood ornament. Bitch-en. Boss. These are a few. Hey how about our friends from other lands, what expressions do you use or remember that would have us yanks scratching out heads. Example: Fair Dink um (Aussies are disqualified to answer). Thanks wildman
Ok......I can remember as a kid on the farm......the "Thunderbox" http://members.optushome.com.au/wishdesigns/abritelite/ozslangG.html ....complete with the box of sawdust in the corner!.....no water. And to this day......being a bit of a woodworker....any time that I cut, plane or sand 'Cypress Pine' (it's quite aromatic), it reminds me of said thunderbox.
We have an expression in Quebec that says: "He has a name to sleep outside" when one has a name that is hard to pronounce.
