Terms Which Have Disappeared

[BlueTrain]

The problem of economics and production and employment is a problem for government. Of course, who gets their way in government is the next problem.

 

[Upgrade]

Consumption, as in tuberculosis. The following exchange was overheard between a visitor and his son at the post hospital at the Fort Davis National Historic Site (a western fort protecting a portion of the road to Sacramento from 1854 to about 1890):

Father- "I didn't know the Apaches were cannibals."
Son- "What?"
Father- "Yeah. It says right here on this sign that this soldier died of consumption."

Clearly the man needs to watch or read more westerns.

There's a fascinating book called "The Gospel of Germs" which looks at the spread of germ theory over miasma theory.

Tuberculosis was finally identified as originating from a bacterium, spitting was recognized as germ-spreading rather than just uncouth, and doctors stopped smoking cigars in operating rooms under the belief that it sterilized everything. Though the surprising outcome was that this led to the shaving of beards and the raising of dress hemlines.

Harper's Weekly lamented on the "passing of the beard" in 1903. "Now that consumption is no longer consumption, but tuberculosis, and is not hereditary buy infectious...the theory of sciences is that the beard is infected with the germs of tuberculosis." Examination of the references on the back of the book led to microfilms of McClure's Magazine in 1916 for campaigns to "Sacrifice whiskers and save children".

Likewise, the floor-length skirt became reviled for dragging pestilence into the house. The cover of the book shows a 1900 illustration from Puck magazine of a lady's maid shaking her mistress' cloak of disease-causing dust while the specter of death hovers by the nearby children. 1897 New York Times articles had shorter skirts being more healthful. 1900 has Scientific American commenting on "septic skirts".

 

[skydog757]

Most people tend to say "cemetery" rather than "graveyard" anymore. I have a friend who refers to it as a "marble orchard".

 

[BlueTrain]

Concerning hair again, at least men's hair, if beards were unsanitary, then what about the rest of our hair? Perhaps that is one reason that short hair for men seems to have been the norm in the first couple of decades of the 20th century. Women, of course, are naturally cleaner than men and so avoid the problem altogether.

I remember references to movie characters saying to someone with a beard, "Why are you hiding behind that beard?"

 

[MisterCairo]

Is "(my) homies" still said, in the US?

I sincerely hope not...

 

[MisterCairo]

if beards were unsanitary, then what about the rest of our hair?

I would assume that because the beard was close to the mouth, it would "catch" germs easily, and be spread through the touching of it by the man's hands, kissing, etc.

 

[Zombie_61]

Most people tend to say "cemetery" rather than "graveyard" anymore. I have a friend who refers to it as a "marble orchard".

"Marble orchard". I like that. I'll have to try to remember to use it once in a while.

...I remember references to movie characters saying to someone with a beard, "Why are you hiding behind that beard?"

On the rare occasions when someone asks about my beard, I always reply by telling them this story. In 1984 Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill (the bearded members of ZZ Top) were offered $1 million by Gillette to shave their beards, presumably for an advertisement. The offer was rejected, and rumor at the time was that their response was, "Because the only thing uglier than these beards is what's under them."

That story is true, but Mr. Gibbons' response was simplified. His actual response was, "No dice. Even adjusted for inflation, this isn't going to fly. The prospect of seeing oneself in the mirror clean-shaven is too close to a Vincent Price film...a prospect not to be contemplated, no matter the compensation." I prefer his actual response, but it's harder to remember.

 

[skydog757]

I've read his interviews; Billy is an eloquent speaker.

 

[Stearmen]

Bone yard, marble city, cement city.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Bone yard, marble city, cement city.

Permanent Address.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The only people I ever hear saying "my homies" are middle-aged white men trying and failing to sound "hip." They're the next generation of all the clueless dweebs who went around in the '90s yelling "whasssssssup" whenever they entered a room.

 

[Zombie_61]

Permanent Address.

Not always. There is a park here in Whittier, California, that is officially called Founders Memorial Park. Unofficially, most people I know call it "Dead Man's Park" because the land the park now occupies was originally two cemeteries. Burials began in 1888, but by the mid-1950s the cemeteries had fallen into disrepair and were declared a public nuisance in 1959, so the city contacted over 2,000 next-of-kin to have the bodies relocated.

The land was eventually re-purposed and the park opened in 1977, but despite their best efforts some of the "remains" were unclaimed and remain in the park to this day.

 

[skydog757]

"He's got an ax to grind."

"It depends upon whose ox is being gored."

 

[skydog757]

Calling somebody "Skeezicks".

 

[LizzieMaine]

Skeezix is still alive in "Gasoline Alley," and turned 95 this year. His adoptive father Walt Wallet is also still alive, and is believed to be at least 116 years old. He doesn't appear as often as he used to because, well, it's kind of ridiculous that he's still alive. And that's why most comic strips don't "age characters in real time."

 

[skydog757]

I didn't know "Skeezix" was a cartoon character; I had always heard it as a synonym for rascal or smart a**.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In the comics it was explained as an old cowboy term for a lost calf. Since Skeezix was left as a two-day-old infant on Walt's doorstep one night in 1921, it was considered a fitting name.

Eventually he was given a "real name" -- Allison -- but nobody has called him that in eighty-odd years or more. Even his Army records called him "Skeezix."

 

[Bigger Don]

I had a small nightmare with "reverse branding" on my last tractor. It was green and yellow alright, but it was made by Yanmar specifically to be sold under the John Deere badge. The problem was years later both companies effectively disowned these models, JD saying "we didn't make that, it just had our name on it" and Yanmar saying "hey, we made that for JD, take it up with them". Not that's there's anything wrong with either John Deere or Yanmar, only that getting parts and service on their little joint venture is now next to impossible.

Beau coups years ago my wife bought me some Magnalite Pro pans. Unfortunately, since that time, the right to manufacture more pans ended up in the hands of one company and the dies for making them in another. No more on the market.

 

[Bigger Don]

I didn't know "Skeezix" was a cartoon character; I had always heard it as a synonym for rascal or smart a**.

Gasoline Alley is still being published (http://www.gocomics.com/gasolinealley/). Skeezix is in his nineties now.

 

[Fading Fast]

Gasoline Alley is still being published (http://www.gocomics.com/gasolinealley/). Skeezix is in his nineties now.

It would be really interesting to learn the demographic of the readership of "Gasoline Alley."