words your grandparents used (money, quote)

[Cunucu Beach]

"Pumps" were a ladies' closed shoe with a heel of 1+ inches.

"Sandals" were open, flat shoes - no heels.

"Oxfords" were a flat, closed shoe with laces.

"Penny loafers" or just "loafers"were a flat, closed shoe with no laces.

"Permanents" or "permanent wave" (called "perms") today and you got either the "hot permanent" with the heated clamps that clamped to each section of hair rolled up on "curlers" or you got a "cold wave" that used chemicals and no heat. (The "hot permanents" were really painful. That's what I got as a child.)


"Vanity" - this was a dressing table with attached mirror and you sat in front of it to comb your hair and put on make-up.

"Jumper" - this was a skirt with straps and a bib that little girls wore with a blouse. The straps were there because little girls don't have hips and a waistline for a good fit for a skirt.

Hair that was dyed an all-over blond from a darker color was either "bleached" or "peroxided" - "peroxided" was the older term. Some kind of bleaching agent was used to remove the color and peroxide was used to neutralize the bleach.

"Stogie" for cigar.

And who can forget "reefer" for a joint?

[TracySam]

My grandparents said:

"Davenport" for couch
"Cellar" for basement (I still say cellar and the boyfriend makes fun of me)
"Ink pen" for pen (is there another kind of pen?)
"Slacks" for pants
"Dungarees" for jeans
"Ice box" for refrigerator/freezer
"Pizza pie" for pizza
"Druggist" for pharmacist
"Hospitalization" for health insurance (as in "do you get hospitalization with your job?")
"Spicket" for faucet

[Cunucu Beach]

TracySam, it was "spigot", not "spicket".....although the two words sound much alike.

[TracySam]

Really? I didn't know. I guess my grandmom just said it like "spicket."

I'm not that old (41) but all your shoe references are words I use today. And I also have a vanity in my bedroom; I think that's pretty common. Or are you like 19 years old?

[Honeycrisp]

I still say 'pocketbook' too - my grandfather used to say 'terlit' for toilet, 'woyk' for work, 'choich' for church, 'icebox' for refrigerator - there's many more but those are just the ones off the top of my head, my grandparents have been gone a while.

[Cunucu Beach]

"Bed stead" for "head board"

"Information" for "directory assistance". (Do we even have that anymore???)

"Negroes" or "nigras" for "African-Americans" (and the N-word was not the insult it is today.)

"Fairy" for a gay person.

[Cunucu Beach]

Originally Posted by TracySam

Really? I didn't know. I guess my grandmom just said it like "spicket."

I'm not that old (41) but all your shoe references are words I use today. And I also have a vanity in my bedroom; I think that's pretty common. Or are you like 19 years old?

No. I'm 75 and I haven't heard the words "Oxfords" or "vanity" used in years.

[TracySam]

"waste basket" or "garbage pail" instead of trash can

"bi-carbonate" instead of antacid

[TracySam]

Originally Posted by Cunucu Beach

No. I'm 75 and I haven't heard the words "Oxfords" or "vanity" used in years.

Wow, you must live in a super-hip place or hanging out with the MTV generation or something!

Oxfords are a pretty standard type of shoe--I was just at DSW and saw a bunch! So are sandals, pumps, loafers, mules, slides, wedges, etc.

Oh! I just thought of my grandparents telling me to wear "rubbers."
They were refering to rain galoshes or snow boots! When I was in like 8th grade I had some snarky comments to make about "rubbers."

[Tia 914]

some of the examples may be less about time/generations than about regional differences