Old School vs New School

I read this on a post by the Warren County Kustoms yesterday and fully understand this fella's thinking. You know your getting a little older when words have been replaced.

'FENDER SKIRTS.' 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.' (AKA) SUICIDE KNOB, Neckers 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 70 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.' Many today do not even know what a clutch is or that the 'DIMMER SWITCH' used to be on the floor..

Didn't you ever wait at the street for you 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 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 affection. Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure - '60s word I came acorss 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 'ELECTRIC FLUX.' 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. When was the last time you got a call from the operator saying 'LONG DISTANCE'

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..

How true!

Dear group;
What about *foot feed* or *pop-up pistons* or *3/4 race cam* ? What about *punching out the block 30 over* or *camel humps* or even *boiling the skins (hides) off of it* ? How about putting in another *10/10/20* to see how it runs or or owning a pair *cheater slicks* ? What about running *pizza cutters (AKA as cookie cutters)* up front ? What about *huffers* and top hats* ? Anyone remember what a *rockcrusher* was? Or, what about *2.02s* ? What about a *Columbia butt* ? What about a *six pack* setup? Of course, the ultimate in cool was the *quick change* and a *flip front*. What about *running like heck to try and get the doors back* ? How about *jacking it up* ?

Looking back, I've decided that, yep, we're old!
Your friend;
LAMAR

yea...I still own most of this crap.....sometimes I wish I didn't....

falconwagon62 wrote:yea...I still own most of this crap.....sometimes I wish I didn't....

Times change that's or sure. I remember when having a Hi-Jacker Air Shock decal on your 1/4 window with the rear bumper as hi as it would go was the coolest thing you could do. Pair of 6X9 Spark-O-Mattics and a EQ with as many lights that would fit on it was all you needed to listen to as Joan Jet sing I Love Rock N Roll.
( Your car not fast enough? Rip those pipes off and toss on some Cherry Bombs! LOL )
I've been packing up some stuff for storage. I came across some 8 tracks and told my youngest that they were caveman music CD's. My Joan Jet wasn't in there though. ;(

They desperately need develop an eight track to mp3 converter similar to the record to mp3 converter. If the eight tracks still work, I would have some good music cheap!