[Sharon Passmore]

I just got this in my email.

"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.

[Robert Meyer]

Sharon said:
....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.

Well, maybe a "Fender skirt" could be something that Bonnie Raitt (or perhaps Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles?) would wear to jam with her ax in a gig.

I always use "supper" (breakfast, lunch, & supper) because "dinner" is used for both the noon meal and the evening meal, therefore the word causes confusion.

Robert Meyer

[Don Kimball]

Wow! Thank you, Sharon! I've enjoyed reading this. It reminded me of the late fifties when I bought a 49 Ford Coupe for $25 (yes, you heard me right, twenty-five dollars - which kind of tells you what shape it was in when I reclaimed it from somebody's back yard, a jalopy really!). I spent the entire summer tuning up the flathead 8; installing a silver stick shift from a "floor conversion
kit" (because, in those days, a shift on the steering column just wasn't cool enough); and restoring rusted parts of the body with something called bondo, as I recall ... (even put a home-made air scoop in the hood, using a piece of screen from a screendoor! Hey, I grew up on a farm!) and then had the pleasure of showing off my first car that Fall in high school. Anyway, I learned to use a lot of these terms as part of my adolescent lingo for guy talk. Lord, I'm dating myself!

[Peter Chipman]

I rarely use "supper"--I was taught that the biggest meal of the day is "dinner," and "supper" is the meal after dinner, if there is one.

I think that historically dinner was the big meal and happened fairly early in the afternoon (as it still does at Thanksgiving-time for New Englanders); in the 19th century fashionable/genteel society pushed dinner times later and later until they happened in the early evening--which obviated the need for supper for most people, but required the institution of lunch.

(In Jane Austen, "supper" seems to mean light refreshments served after a ball, shortly before everyone goes home.)

-Peter

P.S. I still use the term "store-boughten" from time to time, though I recognize that it's somewhat obsolete.

[Tom Jardine]

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[This message has been edited by Tom Jardine (edited January 29, 2005).]

[Robert J. Clawson]

[quote]Originally posted by Don Kimball:

"...restoring rusted parts of the body with something called bondo..."

Bondo is alive and well. Wonderful stuff, better than Plastic Wood.

Bob

[Janet Kenny]

Peter,
There are regional differences for the word "supper" and "dinner". There are also class differences in England.

I come from New Zealand which was once famous for having seven meals a day--just like the Hobbits. Early morning tea; breakfast; morning tea; lunch; afternoon tea; dinner; supper. Yes I know! Farmers and a pioneering tradition.

When I first went to London with my husband, some friends invited us for "supper". We worked all day and knew we needed a "proper meal" so I made us a small meal which we ate before we went to our friends' house. They had prepared a huge three course dinner. It nearly choked us.
In England the upper classes have breakfast; lunch, tea (at about five PM); and then dinner at about eight o'clock.
The working classes often have breakfast; dinner; and supper is their evening meal--which also can be called "tea".
I edited back because I forgot to mention "high tea" (usually the "lower classes" which is a special festive early evening meal made up usually of sandwiches, pies of various kinds and a wide variety of cakes. My dictionary mentions a cooked dish but I never experienced that.

British-based English don't say "gotten". We say "got" although "gotten" is a very sensible word.

In Australia, where I now live, they often put an S on the end of YOU for a plural. In a country restaurant the waitress said" "Yous enjoy your meals."
Janet


[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited November 09, 2004).]

[Fred Longworth]

Sharon,

The person who thought "coast to coast" was obsolete must be out of touch. The number-one syndicated nighttime show on the radio for the last decade, with more than TWENTY MILLION listeners, is called "Coast to Coast".

As for "wall-to-wall", if you're a landlord, as I (and many millions of Americans are), you're not going to install hardwood flooring. Easy for tenants to scar. Easy to slip on and generate lawsuits. No, it's wall-to-wall carpeting, or wall-to-wall vinyl flooring.

"Percolator" was replaced by Starbucks.

"Career girl" was replaced by "hooker".

Didn't see The Last Movie -- did see The Last Picture Show.

"Running bored" caused millions to give up jogging and go back to being couch potatoes.

"In a family way" propelled George W. Bush into the White House.

A contest was held by Sky and Telescope magazine to come up with an alternative name for the "big bang". The winner was "the blast from the past".

* * * * *

Now, here are my questions . . .

Who, after the year 1900, "hit the sack" when they went to bed?

When is the last time you've heard "far fucking out!"?

Do they even sell cars without "power steering"?

[Sharon Passmore]

LOL, Fred, I still "hit the sack", I heard "far fucking out" last week and I hear "right on" and "right arm" quite often too, and my little GEO Metro hatchback had non-power steering but power steering on that car would have been a joke.

[Fred Longworth]

Sharon,

On the Geo Metro, I thought to turn right you leaned to the right and had the passenger open the door and drag her foot on the pavement.

* * * * *

As for the other lingo, that just goes to show that you must live in Ocean Beach -- and spend your time hanging around the People's Food Store.

Fred