More nostalgia...

>
> Sometimes words get me to thinking, like .....
>
> 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 40 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. But never worked, in my estimation.
>
> 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."
>
> 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,either.
>
> 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.