Old Words

"Old Words"

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" 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 "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 or 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.

**Someone forwarded this to me. I thought some
of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these.
Received on Wed Sep 19 06:33:29 2007