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I know some of you will not understand
this message, but I bet you know someone
who might. I came across this phrase yesterday. 'FENDER
SKIRTS.'
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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.'
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And “steering knobs”, AKA, “suicide knobs”?,
“necker’s knobs” ?? |
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Since I'd been
thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first.
Any kids will probably have to find some older
person over 55 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. |
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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.' |
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I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks
are gone who would call the accelerator
the foot feed.' Many today do not even
know what a clutch is or that the dimmer
switch used to be on the floor. |
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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? |
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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. |
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'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. |
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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. |
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When was 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. |
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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! |
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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. |
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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 'Spectra
Vision!' |
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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. |
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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.
Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts. |
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Someone forwarded this to me. I thought some of us of a
'certain age' would remember most of these. |
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Just for fun, pass it along to others of
'a certain age.' |