Two days and counting!!!!
by
doyle
Posted on
Can't wait to see (almost) everyone again. Maybe
hearing about and looking at the class web site will encourage some of those who
weren't coming to show up. It's going to be one GREAT weekend!
Someone forwarded this to me but I thought it would be appropriate to share
it with all of you at this time.
Dear Class Mates and
Friends:
Some could be TOO old to
remember...as well as too young.... this brought back so many memories
to me ...thought you might enjoy too....
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"
(wouldn't mind having them back) 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.
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