Fender Skirts

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                  "FENDER SKIRTS".

 

                  A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about

                  "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that have

                  quietly disappeared 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 suppose d 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 dad to come home,

                  so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?  Or beg to ride

                   in the “rumble seat?”  That was replaced with a “trunk,”

 

                  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. 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.

 

                  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 "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.

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