This made me think of purple medicine....if you can find a pharmacist that
knows what it is, it can still be found....Jamie
Subject: LOST WORDS!
The other day I picked up a copy of his essay collection, "Tom Dodge
Talks About Texas." Well, one of those little pieces sent me off on a
reverie almost immediately. It was about Big Jim Tidwell of Whitney - "The
Fender Skirt King of Texas." And I thought, "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 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."
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.
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.
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