OT: Fender Skirts and Supper Time

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/25/2006 4:30:43 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

butchbsi writes:

 

A term I haven't heard 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.

 

 

 

Hey Butch! I may only be 30, but I know what all these words are!! I'm lucky

enough to still have my grandparents and great parents still alive, so I

hear all these terms very often!

))

Michelle

(who actually still uses the word " album " instead of CD! )

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/25/2006 1:53:39 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

paulacoon writes:

 

I turned 50 last Dec and I remember cars with starter buttons

Paula .......... in Michigan

 

 

 

my first car had a manual choke! All my friends asked what it was for!!!

))

Michelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I turned 50 last Dec and I remember cars with starter buttons

Paula .......... in Michigan

I used to have super powers but my therapist took them away

 

 

 

A term I haven't heard 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.

 

 

 

Hey Butch! I may only be 30, but I know what all these words are!! I'm lucky

enough to still have my grandparents and great parents still alive, so I

hear all these terms very often!

))

Michelle

(who actually still uses the word " album " instead of CD! )

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I missed out on the fender skirts, since my

fifties time was spent in a culture where

cars were still relatively rare and people got

mostly around by public transit, bicycle, or

even feet. They also got around less.

 

The word " store- bought " reverberates in

the reverse snobbery way: the aim of early

seventies Kootenay back-to-the-landers was

to have as much as possible home-made.

Store-bought was somewhat apologized for.

 

Supper, I miss too! The trouble with the word

Dinner is that it can mean either lunch or supper,

depending on the vocabulary of the person you

are talking to.

 

When a supper-sayer says dinner, she means lunch.

Learned that one the hard way with my Home Support

Clients.

 

I am supposed to be gardening. Back out with me.

 

Ien in the Kootenays

**************************

Stop. Breathe. Smile!

~Padma ( my TV yoga teacher)

http://freegreenliving.com

**************************

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I came across this phrase in a book yesterday " FENDER SKIRTS " .

 

A term I haven't heard 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.

 

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.

 

And " sweet milk " .. everybody knew " sweet milk " was not " buttermilk. "

 

" Coast to coast " is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and

now means almost nothing. Now we take the term " world wide " 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.

 

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? " 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! "

 

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. Just for fun, Pass it along to others of

" a certain age " !!

[Guest guest]

I just turned 36 and my first vehicle had a choke

throttle... ;-) I loved my old diesel mercedes!!!

 

Kirstin

 

 

--- naturesnotionsnj wrote:

 

>

> In a message dated 5/25/2006 1:53:39 P.M. Eastern

> Daylight Time,

> paulacoon writes:

>

> I turned 50 last Dec and I remember cars with

> starter buttons

> Paula .......... in Michigan

>

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/26/2006 9:10:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

anita-r writes:

 

everybody knew " sweet milk " was not " buttermilk. "

 

 

 

ok..this was the only thing that I didn't hear growing up.

 

I know what buttermilk is...nasty! But what is sweet milk?

))

Michelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

<snip>

And " sweet milk " .. everybody knew " sweet milk " was not " buttermilk. "

<snip>

I remember most if not all those all words..but the above most of all. My

cousin couldn't stand " sweet milk " and I couldn't stand buttermilk. One

evening at a family gathering we sat down to " supper " in the wrong places.

At about the same time we each took a sip of milk. We both gagged and spit

up all over our plates!! My uncle said for us to change places and finish

our supper, milk spit and all. My aunt who had sat us in the wrong place to

begin with took pitty and gave us fresh supper! Don't think I will ever

forget that and it was " many moons " ago!

Anita

PS Now I like both, sometimes even have a treat of cornbread and buttermilk

for desert when I make cornbread for supper. Which by the way is

cornbread(w/o sugar), and not corncake[my word for it] (with sugar).

Sometimes I have to make both, as DH grew up on corncake.

[Guest guest]

Sweet milk might be sweetened condensed milk, other than that it might be

milk with the cream still in it.

 

Jennifer

 

 

On Behalf Of naturesnotionsnj

Friday, May 26, 2006 8:39 AM

 

Re: OT: Fender Skirts and Supper Time

 

 

In a message dated 5/26/2006 9:10:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

anita-r writes:

 

everybody knew " sweet milk " was not " buttermilk. "

 

 

 

ok..this was the only thing that I didn't hear growing up.

 

I know what buttermilk is...nasty! But what is sweet milk?

))

Michelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

For instance, FRESH OR " SWEET MILK " left sitting will separate into cream

and skim milk. Skim or sweet milk left sitting will turn into sour milk.

Cream churned into butter leaves a tasty delicacy called buttermilk. I don't

know what buttermilk turns into because we drank it all down before it could

turn into any other form, especially if mother made some fresh cornbread.

 

 

On Behalf Of naturesnotionsnj

Friday, May 26, 2006 8:39 AM

 

Re: OT: Fender Skirts and Supper Time

 

 

In a message dated 5/26/2006 9:10:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

anita-r writes:

 

everybody knew " sweet milk " was not " buttermilk. "

 

 

 

ok..this was the only thing that I didn't hear growing up.

 

I know what buttermilk is...nasty! But what is sweet milk?

))

Michelle