[Lexicog] Save a word

[Fritz Goerling]

Subject: Remember Fender Skirts??

The following article is a delightful trip down Memory Lane.  Enjoy.
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By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News

Tom Dodge is the sage of Midlothian.  I have enjoyed his public-
radio commentaries for years.  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 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! (Seems like I remember a 40's movie with James Cagney
using "rat fink")

Another word not used, "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.





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