Words You Haven't Heard Spoken Since You Were A Kid

[Rachie]

Nearly wedding veils

I haven't them in use in decades. I got a fright yesterday when on a programme a woman came out wearing one. I was so taken a back. I find with autism face coverings difficult at times.

 

[AuAL]

I don’t know about “great nostalgia”, but I haven’t heard anyone talk about “nightsoil” for years.

 

[Mary Terry]

Water man

Propane Man

Knock on the water tank

We still call the guy who delivers propane the propane man. We just had a 30-hour power outage here due to tornados and violent winds but our generator kicked on to power our entire house. It used up about half the propane in the tank, probably because it was cold and the central heat turned on to warm the house. The central heat and air conditioning unit uses a lot of electricity. The propane man will refill the tank on Thursday.

 

[Mary Terry]

Nearly wedding veils

I haven't them in use in decades. I got a fright yesterday when on a programme a woman came out wearing one. I was so taken a back. I find with autism face coverings difficult at times.

Wedding veils are traditional and common in the US. Most brides don't want their entire faces covered although some still do that, so veils typically cover their hair and flow down their back toward the floor.

 

[Alexej]

Bakelite

 

[Mary Terry]

Rabbit ears on top of the TV

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Zenith, Sharp, Radio Shack, Admiral Ham Radio

 

[AuAL]

Pog, for a small hole in the ground used for playing marbles.

 

[AuAL]

Kemosabe

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Datsun

 

[Cryptid]

Beater (an old car that has been treated badly)
Hula-Hoop
Slinky (Walks down stairs without a care and makes a slinkety sound)
Twister

 

[AuAL]

Crawchies (freshwater crayfish)

 

[Alexej]

Beater (an old car that has been treated badly)
Hula-Hoop
Slinky (Walks down stairs without a care and makes a slinkety sound)
Twister

You can still buy a slinky

 

[Shevek]

Beater (an old car that has been treated badly)
Hula-Hoop
Slinky (Walks down stairs without a care and makes a slinkety sound)
Twister

Slinkies are still making wonderment. Someone recently perfected an escalator that would keep one going for days. The more scientific types with fast cameras demonstrate that if you hold a slinky by one end and let it extend by its own weight, and then let go, the top starts to fall, but the bottom does not fall until the top reaches the rest of the coils.

 

[Shevek]

I have not heard of a Model "T" Ford called a Flivver for a long time, and not many recognize a "Fronty Ford" as one with an aftermarket Frontenac head. The supply of "Isky" camshafts seems to be gone too, now that Ed Iskenderian is no longer re-grinding them for hot rods. I still hear about the days of milkmen occasionally, but have not heard of ice (delivery) men in ages. "Hobble" is also out of use as a noun for a weight used to hold a horse's reins.
I once had a young, very enterprising boss, and the whole staff was kidding around. I said "Bernie (the boss) probably has a bordello up on St. Clair." (posh)
He smiled and replied "Ahh, bordello - what a nice word."

 

[AuAL]

I still hear about the days of milkmen occasionally, but have not heard of ice (delivery) men in ages.

The milkman delivers to our place twice a week. But no more home sales from the greengrocer’s truck or the (horse-drawn) baker’s cart of my youth. There were far fewer homes had a car in those days, so there was a butcher’s shop in walking distance in every suburb. You had to buy bread tokens from the Coop Store, so the baker’s cart carried no cash. I remember seeing them still in use in the 70s.

 

[AuAL]

Cauliflower cut - a haircut, particularly favoured for young boys with curly hair, where a “short back and sides” went halfway up, and the top was trimmed a little and allowed to fall down (not very far) over the short cut.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Those buckskin looking tan boots with tan soles (from the 1970s and early 80s)with tan buckskin looking laces. Chucka?

 

[Judge]

Saw a pharmaceutical commercial where a woman used the word "swell" in her song. I can't recall ever hearing that word conversationally other than in old movies and tv commercials when I was a kid. Funny though, I don't recall me or my peers ever using that word.

Though it reminded me of when my cousin's Barbi doll got broken and she was hysterical about it. With my aunt sighing and saying, "If it's Mattel, it's hell!"

 

[Shevek]

Moving on to phrases, I recall hearing about a Zoot Suit with the Reet Pleat and the Drape Shape. It was the bee's knees. Those in other suits were prone to saying things like "Good Gravy!" I remember when "hip" became too overused, and all the truly cool folk became "hep." When kids on the east side of North America were saying "Outta Sight!" the west coast used "Far Out." Some of the Beach Boys' lyrics were almost lists of current slang to spread California culture. "Gnarly" has fallen out of use. "Friend" used to mean something, but now it is just a Facebonk category. "Gumption" is out of use, along with "kin."