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Thread: Lost Lingo....

  1. #1
    Jbb
    Fender skirts!" What a great blast from the past! I hadn'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.
    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 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."
    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 their 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 cackled.
    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.
    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." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.

  2. #2
    mirvin
    My granny was a good ol southern lady. She served us black eyed peas and fried ocra and corn bread.
    She used words like briches (pants) and every week she "went to town" even though she had moved to LA 45 years ago
    mirvin

  3. #3
    Tom Brown
    We had a 70s Chevrolet Impala that had the 'Comfortron' system. Oh yeah!

  4. #4
    CAHotRodBoy
    The whole "Rat Fink" thing has gained renewed popularity. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth passed away a couple years ago but there is still a Rat Fink Reunion hot rod run in Chatsworth every year (coming up next month). A bunch of cool "rat rods" and other 60's style stuff.
    I still like to do "E-Brake" turns when I'm off-roading.
    Those steering knobs were called "Brodie Knobs" or sometimes "Suicide Knobs".
    I remember all the other terms too. Damn, JBB, your making me feel old. A 1956 Chevy was a brand new car when I was born!

  5. #5
    Dave C
    I thought percolator meant something else......:yuk:
    never mind.

  6. #6
    bilgewiper
    I thought those were "Necker Knobs" ....Duh, so you could drive and neck at the same time. Oh well, it's probably not called necking anymore anyway.

  7. #7
    MagicMtnDan
    How about the term, "third base?" Does anyone use that anymore? I always liked getting to third base but had to wash up before I got home

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