Fwd: Fender Skirts

Subject: Fw: Fender Skirts ?
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2005 13:36:16 +0000

I came across a phrase in a book yesterday, "FENDER SKIRTS"... a term I haven't
heard in a long time. 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." or ?necker knobs?. And how about the
?dimmer-switch? on the floor to turn on your ?Brights? at night. Do you recall
having to demonstrate ?hand-signals? when taking your driving test every year.
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." And how about the knob on the dash we called the
?throttle? before cruise-control happened. Kids today would have no idea what
to do with a ?choke?

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 shirt or a
store-bought bag of candy. How about ?darning? socks?

"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.

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!

And 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 "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 their 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.