OT Humor:Words of Yesterday

I came across this phrase in a book yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS".

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice.

Like "curb feelers" R¹SfÆÐSfó?Sfð?Sfand "steering knobs" (I knew these as ?brodie knobs?).

¸Sf×ÌSfSince 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 "world wide" 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.

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? "Coffee maker.? 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 "Electrolux." 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 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.

Mahalo, jo4hn

Reply to
jo4hn
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Reply to
Bill Hall

[snip] I'm always good for free food and drink. Where are you? greedy, jo4hn
Reply to
jo4hn

The jo4hn entity posted thusly:

This is just too weird. I hadn't thought of "curb feelers" for maybe

40 years. Then, last Sunday evening, I saw a classified ad in which someone was offering a set of them. Now you mention them too.

Ever get the feeling that words are alive, and when one wakes up, it starts showing up uninvited everywhere?

Reply to
Oleg Lego

George, how does a coffee maker differ so much from a percolator other than the water does not continue to percolate through the coffee grounds? IIRC every coffee maker that I have seen does boil the water before the water reaches the ground coffee.

Oops, I just answered my question. The percolator boils the water and coffee. The coffee maker only boils the water. That said, coffee is even better if you heat the water in a pan and not bring it to a boil then poor that water over the ground coffee. Not as convenient though.

Reply to
Leon

True. And you can get a Bunn that does just that. Our current model holds a reservoir of hot water, holding it at the perfect temp at all times. When ready to brew you just pour cold water in the top and it pushes hot water out of the tank and into the basket. It brews a pot in about 2 minutes and never boils the water.

It's not the best if you go weeks without making coffee, because it wastes power and some water seems to evaporate. But for folks like me for whom coffee is a religion, it's a nice unit.

Reply to
Pounds on Wood

20 years! Makes the BEST coffee - bar none!

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

How about "Carter's Little Liver Pills"?

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

Doan's Pills?

--Steve

Reply to
Steve

Slogans too - How about "You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent?"

and the ever popular

"BrylCreem - A little dab'll do ya!"

not to mention the old Burma Shave rhyme road signs.

Gee! I really *am* an old fart!

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

Only if you remember "Hadacol".

Reply to
Swingman

Remembered the name - seem to recall it was a yellowish liquid cold remedy or something like that.

Do they still make "Sen-Sen"? and the bitter tasting licorice lozenge in the orange and black box?

What amazes me is the fact that they *still* make those hard candy drops on a paper strip and the was "bottles" with colored sugar water in them. I used to eat them when *I* was a kid. Talk about brand survival.

Vic

Reply to
Vic Baron

How about tobacco ads on TV?

"Winston tastes good, like a (bumm bumm) cigarette should."

-- Mark

Reply to
Mark Jerde

Remember when " Lucky Green has gone to war"?

LS/MFT - Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco!

or the "Old Gold" mother and daughter dancing cigarette packs!

Reply to
Vic Baron

... or "More Doctors smoke Camels than any other brand!"

Reply to
Swingman

Or Carter's Little Farter Starters. j4

Reply to
jo4hn

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Reply to
Dave Balderstone

in the early 50's, I think it's still around. And still as ugly looking :-)

Reply to
Doug Payne

I haven't seen it for years, but lo!

I used to love that stuff as a kid...

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

Still at your local drug store.

Reply to
Leon

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