Does any of this sounds familiar?

January 17, 2005

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.

January 17, 2005

Shut the icebox door so the cold won't get out!

All your favorites on one personal page – Try My

January 19, 2005

ah, yes

I think " dinner " and " supper " are different parts of the country...shere they

serve supper at night, they serve dinner at noon.

Thanks for this Frank!

califpacific <califpacific wrote: