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Terms Which Have Disappeared

KILO NOVEMBER

One Too Many
Messages
1,068
Location
Hurricane Coast Florida
One class of terms which are disappearing fast are those related to agriculture. In 1870, 53% of the US labor force was engaged in agriculture. By 1920, that had dropped to 27%. Today it is about 2%. Expressions like "in high clover" ('to live luxuriously') have lost their meaning and currency. Anyone else have a grandfather who was a farmer? Do you remember any expressions he used but are no longer current?
 

skydog757

A-List Customer
Messages
465
Location
Thumb Area, Michigan
The phrase "Gone to seed" meaning shabby or neglected. If a farmer didn't harvest certain plants in a timely manner they would begin to go past a point where they could be eaten.
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
One class of terms which are disappearing fast are those related to agriculture. In 1870, 53% of the US labor force was engaged in agriculture. By 1920, that had dropped to 27%. Today it is about 2%. Expressions like "in high clover" ('to live luxuriously') have lost their meaning and currency. Anyone else have a grandfather who was a farmer? Do you remember any expressions he used but are no longer current?

Both of my parents were born on farms. Knee high, by the 4th of July, to describe how high your corn should be! As scarce as hen's teeth, Separate the wheat from the chaff, Hold your horses, You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, The black sheep of the family, In a pig's eye. My favorite, though completely non PC, was from my Grandfather, on my mothers side, he even had a plaque with this saying on it, "a big barn and a fat wife, never hurt anyone!"
 

KILO NOVEMBER

One Too Many
Messages
1,068
Location
Hurricane Coast Florida
When I was a boy, my grandparents didn't have a woodshed, but they didn't have an indoor toilet, either. That meant a trip to "the outhouse". Naturally that conjures up the jokes about "two-story outhouses".
 
When I was a boy, my grandparents didn't have a woodshed, but they didn't have an indoor toilet, either. That meant a trip to "the outhouse". Naturally that conjures up the jokes about "two-story outhouses".


I remember my grandparents talking about the reaction to indoor plumbing back in the day: "you want to put a toilet in the house? In the HOUSE??"
 

Renault

One Too Many
Messages
1,688
Location
Wilbarger creek bottom
I used an old term today in a story about "being grabbed up by the stacking swivels" as that was what my elders did to me on the occasions I deserved it! Several listeners stopped me and I had to explain what it meant and where it came from. Most shooters and I would hope all military Reenactors know what it means!
 

skydog757

A-List Customer
Messages
465
Location
Thumb Area, Michigan
One phrase that I usually associate with rural (usually farming) communities is "I can't abide that" or "I can't abide such things." The only people that I ever heard use the phrase regularly were from my Mother's side of the family (all farmers and strong church-goers). Women seemed to use it more frequently than men.
 

Stanley Doble

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,808
Location
Cobourg
How about some terms that used to be common to motorists? Tuneup, winterizing, brake adjustment, battery charge, ring and valve job. All unnecessary on cars built in the last 30 years.

Not to mention road maps, Sunday drives, lap robes, and Simoniz.
 

skydog757

A-List Customer
Messages
465
Location
Thumb Area, Michigan
I miss certain colorful terms that the boxing radio announcers used ". . . and Louis lands home with a right shot that tickled the ivories and turned the tap on!" (Struck him in the mouth and gave him a bloody nose.) They were always so breathy and fast and described things so clearly that they put you in the ring. Some terms like "haymaker" and "move to close quarters" are still in use, but with the advent of televised fights the announcers seem to be more analytical than descriptive. In fact, I believe they even call them "analysts" nowadays.

And speaking of radio annoucers, I sure miss Ernie Harwell calling my Detroit Tigers games. Certain calls like "He stood there like a house on the side of the road and watched that one go by" for strikeouts without a swing, " . . . and that one is (pause) LOOOONG gone!" for Tiger home runs. He called games for over forty years and no one else that I've ever listened to could touch him.
 

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