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Someone forwarded this to me, and I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these!!
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" 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.
Location: Oklahoma(formerly SoCalif) Originally Mich,
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Instead of "Hub Caps" ,"Chrome Rims", "Mags" and "Glass Packs" use to be a special attraction on your car, now the glass packs are outlawed and the chrome rims and mag wheels were replaced with everyday "solid rims"
"Jack knife" was replaced with "pocket knife"
"Wall paper" was replaced with paint.
You don't see many young girls playing "Hoo-La-Hoop" or "Hop-Scotch" anymore either
Instead of "Hub Caps" ,"Chrome Rims", "Mags" and "Glass Packs" use to be a special attraction on your car, now the glass packs are outlawed and the chrome rims and mag wheels were replaced with everyday "solid rims"
"Jack knife" was replaced with "pocket knife"
"Wall paper" was replaced with paint.
You don't see many young girls playing "Hoo-La-Hoop" or "Hop-Scotch" anymore either
I miss those too and I haven't seen kids with marbles since my kids were young..Remember the "cats eye"
Hey, what about the 'brodie knob' aka 'suicide wheel'...
you mean the "necking knob"
Bags of marbles? Still around, my sons love to play marbles with the neighborhood kids; and around here everybody still calls it Supper. At the schools Hop-Scotch is still a very viable playground activity for kids. They even have permanent ones painted on an old driveway at the Elementary school.
I still will call it the Foot feed once in a while and miss the hand choke as well.
Anybody remember the old hand throttles you could put on your vehicles? Could be why there was also a "foot feed" now that I think of it.
And then there was the engine hand crank in front and you cranked the engine to start, then you had to run back around to the cab and adjust the spark control levers on the steering wheel. Oh the good ol days.
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