I came across this phrase in a book yesterday: "fender skirts."
I haven't heard this term 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, such as "curb feelers" and "steering
knobs."
Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction
first. Kids, you will probably have to find some elderly person over 60
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."
Didn't you ever wait at the street for your dad 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 hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall
carpeting! Today, everyone replaces wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood
floors. Go figure.
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"!
Here's 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 is "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. So, just for fun, pass it along to others
of "a
certain age."
Received from Thomas Ellsworth.
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