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Words We Used |
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I came across this phrase in a book the other day: "FENDER
SKIRTS". It's 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. You 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 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." Do you remember waiting 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 polite use in mixed 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 used. 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 the word "movie" an affectation. Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure 1960s word I came across the other day: "rat fink." Ooh, what a nasty put-down that word was! 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 "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 their kids with castor oil any more. Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most is "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word and invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts. Someone forwarded this email to me. I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these. Just for fun, share this with others who are of a more appreciative "certain age"
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