I recently came across this phrase
"FENDER SKIRTS".



 That's a term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about
"fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly
disappeared from our language with hardly a notice like
"curb feelers"

 

And "steering knobs." (AKA) suicide knob



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 "Convertibles?"

 

How about "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?

Or maybe even ride in the back of his pickup!



  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 "world wide" for granted.

         

"Wall-to-Wall,"
on a smaller scale was once a magical term in our homes.
In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors
with wall-to-wall carpeting!
Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall
carpeting with hardwood floors.

                

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."


  "Brassiere,"
Apparently is a word no longer in use.
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.

                    

  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."
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" and/or "Mr. Coffee."

                  

  I miss those made-up marketing words
that were meant to sound so modern
and now sound so retro.
Words like "DynaFlow,"

      
"Electrolux,"


And of course the 1963 Admiral Color TV
with "SpectraVision!"

And we can't forget the VW
"Bug!"


 

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 "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 you of a
"certain age"
would remember most of these.


 

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