Terms Which Have Disappeared

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Not gone, but used less frequently is the wonderful word thug.

That one has an interesting etymology. They were gangs of undercover robbers and murderers who operated for centuries in the Indian subcontinent until a forty-year effort by the British Raj eradicated them in the 19th Century. A special agency was created for the purpose, the "Thuggee and Dacoity Department".

 

[Fading Fast]

That one has an interesting etymology. They were gangs of undercover robbers and murderers who operated for centuries in the Indian subcontinent until a forty-year effort by the British Raj eradicated them in the 19th Century. A special agency was created for the purpose, the "Thuggee and Dacoity Department".

As you noted, interesting history. What I like is the word "feels" right - it is a heavy, blunt force of a word, just like a thug. It is a brutish word for a brutish being.

 

[Stormy]

When I was a kid, my mother would go to the "butcher shop" weekly for fresh cutlets and whatnot. I hated it because of the smell. Nowadays, I find myself looking for a butcher shop just like the one my mom used to visit. Don't think I would mind the smell so much either.

 

[Fading Fast]

When I was a kid, my mother would go to the "butcher shop" weekly for fresh cutlets and whatnot. I hated it because of the smell. Nowadays, I find myself looking for a butcher shop just like the one my mom used to visit. Don't think I would mind the smell so much either.

As a kid, I found the butcher shop mildly off putting - a weird blood / dead smell, but I hated the overpowering smell of the fish market and believe, to this day, it is that memory that has made me not much of a fan of fish in general.

One nice thing is that NYC still has individual butcher, seafood, cheese, etc. shops. Some are stupid "artisanal" expensive, but some are old holdouts that, usually, have more-reasonable pricing.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

When I lived in Scotland in the early '70s they still had individual food sellers, all with their shops in a small, easily walked area. You went to the butcher for meat, the fishmonger for fish, the greengrocer for vegetables and the fruiterer for fruit. Dairy was mostly delivered and that included cheese and yogurt along with the milk. There was a "grocery" that sold canned "tinned"and packaged food. Incidentally, the drugstore was the "chemist" and the hardware store was the "ironmonger."

 

[Zombie_61]

When I was a kid, my mother would go to the "butcher shop" weekly for fresh cutlets and whatnot. I hated it because of the smell. Nowadays, I find myself looking for a butcher shop just like the one my mom used to visit. Don't think I would mind the smell so much either.

As a kid, I found the butcher shop mildly off putting - a weird blood / dead smell, but I hated the overpowering smell of the fish market and believe, to this day, it is that memory that has made me not much of a fan of fish in general.

Our sense of smell is closely linked to our memories, arguably more so than any of our other senses. Until he retired in 1985 my Dad worked for Pan Pacific Fisheries, a tuna cannery which would become the last in the continental U.S.. I spent a lot of time there in my younger days, so the smell of fresh fish often triggers fond memories for me in the same way that the smell of manure can trigger fond memories for someone who grew up on a farm (as strange as that sounds to someone who has never experienced it).

The key word there is "fresh". Once the fishing boats arrived at the dock, any given fish would be offloaded, processed, and in the can waiting to be cooked in a matter of minutes. Fish markets do what they can to keep their product fresh, but the overwhelming odor of one that has reached it's "expiration date" can be very off-putting even to someone like me.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The sense of smell is one of our most primitive, located in the back part of our brains. I've encountered scents that I only smelled once, decades earlier, and I remembered instantly where and when I'd sensed it before and all the circumstances surrounding it. Scientists have said that the sense of smell is the most closely linked to our memories. A few days ago I caught the scent of patchouli and was instantly transported back to the '60s.

 

[BlueTrain]

I still read the word "thug" fairly often, usually preceded by the word "union," as if they had a monopoly on it.

I agree that smells, or at least aromas, create lingering memories, not necessarily good, however. In the same way, sounds can do the same thing. All of these can be entirely neutral, too, in the sense that it merely reminds you of a time and place even though you have little personal association with either the sound or the smell. But the word "smell" doesn't sound like a pleasant memory, which is why I also said aroma above.

Here is an example of a memory that is triggered by a particular sound. There is a steel column in the lobby of this building that when struck lightly by nothing more than, say, a knuckle, emits a certain ringing sound that is exactly like the same sound produced by chains and handles striking another steel column on the playground at the grade school I attended 60 years ago. Of course, for all I know it may not be the same tone at all but every time I hear it, that's what I'm reminded of.

Another sound which I enjoy hearing, although it reminds me of nothing in particular, is the background noise of traffic and machinery in the early morning. It's the sound of the world around me coming to life. Some people no doubt hate sound like that but to me it is life itself. The little towns and cities, some not so small, don't have that sound anymore.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Another sound which I enjoy hearing, although it reminds me of nothing in particular, is the background noise of traffic and machinery in the early morning. It's the sound of the world around me coming to life. Some people no doubt hate sound like that but to me it is life itself. The little towns and cities, some not so small, don't have that sound anymore.

I am a very early riser and love the exact sound you just described. In NYC, there is always a bit of a background din, even at 2am, but the "waking up" sound you describe usually starts with the early delivery trucks rumbling down the road along with the slam of their cargo areas being opened and closed as well as their hand trucks, etc., being dropped to the ground.

At about the same time, the garbage and carting trucks roll in - NYC has so much commerce that there is garbage removal every single day by private firms, usually, very early in the morning - which brings a general noise level increase punctuated by the loud roar of the garbage truck mashing the garbage. Then, general traffic starts to increase just as the very early construction jobs get up and running and a distant (if you're lucky) jackhammer or two official ring the start-of-the-morning bell.

I love it all as, you implied, those are the sounds of life itself / of commerce / of work / of building / of things happening. It is one of my favorite parts of being an early riser.

 

[BlueTrain]

I generally don't hear these sounds at home, by the way, although eventually I will begin hearing traffic on the nearby parkway. It isn't quite the same sound that I otherwise described. I like getting up early for other reasons, too, but on weekends I'm back in bed by 9:00 for another hour of sleep.

Another sound that brings back memories are the sounds of trains, especially the whistles. I grew up in a small town that was centered around the railroad (but not anymore!). At the time, I recall hearing the sounds of trains starting up with a repetitive clank-clank as the train took up the slack. I could hear that from home. I also distinctly recall the distinctive whine of a diesel-electric locomotive but I don't remember if I could hear it from inside at home; probably not. I can also barely remember steam locomotives, too, but that was a long, long time ago.

 

[MisterCairo]

Paddy wagon.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Another sound that brings back memories are the sounds of trains, especially the whistles. I grew up in a small town that was centered around the railroad (but not anymore!). At the time, I recall hearing the sounds of trains starting up with a repetitive clank-clank as the train took up the slack. I could hear that from home. I also distinctly recall the distinctive whine of a diesel-electric locomotive but I don't remember if I could hear it from inside at home; probably not...

Yes! Our house was/is right next to a Union Pacific rail line, so I grew up being very familiar with the various sounds a freight train can make (post 1961, that is). Sadly, the Union Pacific discontinued use of that line some time in the late-1980s or early-1990s, the land was sold to the city, the rails and ties were removed, and it was converted into a pedestrian trail. But there's still an active line less than a mile west of our house, and we still hear slightly distant train horns from time to time.

 

[skydog757]

And its cousins, "goon" and "fink."

And "ne'er do well." I still throw that one around at the jail. I do miss "gadabout", but I never really have occasion to use it.

 

[Fading Fast]

I generally don't hear these sounds at home, by the way, although eventually I will begin hearing traffic on the nearby parkway. It isn't quite the same sound that I otherwise described. I like getting up early for other reasons, too, but on weekends I'm back in bed by 9:00 for another hour of sleep.

Another sound that brings back memories are the sounds of trains, especially the whistles. I grew up in a small town that was centered around the railroad (but not anymore!). At the time, I recall hearing the sounds of trains starting up with a repetitive clank-clank as the train took up the slack. I could hear that from home. I also distinctly recall the distinctive whine of a diesel-electric locomotive but I don't remember if I could hear it from inside at home; probably not. I can also barely remember steam locomotives, too, but that was a long, long time ago.

I grew up less than a mile away from the Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline that ran through my home town of New Brunswick, NJ. We were just far enough away that, during the day, amidst the town's noises and general clatter of a household, I'd rarely heard the trains, but laying in bed at night, especially with the window open, I'd hear the train horn clearly and even the train itself. To this day, that sound takes me right back to being a kid in bed at night.

Up until I was seven or eight, I was probably hearing the sounds from the last trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad (which had already combined with The New York Central) and, then, it would have been Amtrak trains.

 

[BlueTrain]

Does anyone get called a "cad" anymore? Or gigolo (if such men exist)?

 

[MisterCairo]

Does anyone get called a "cad" anymore? Or gigolo (if such men exist)?

 

[skydog757]

I haven't heard anyone called a "filthy cur" lately either. Or a "scourge" or "varlet".

 

[Upgrade]

I've always liked the pun in "The Lady is a Tramp".

Alas, I missed the Beaux Arts Ball and what is twice as sad,
I was never at a party were they honored Noël Cad.

 

[BlueTrain]

If we don't hear people being called those names nowadays, it probably just because we aren't going to the right establishments.

 

[Zombie_61]

Great clip! I loves me some Louis Prima!

If we don't hear people being called those names nowadays, it probably just because we aren't going to the right establishments.

Or the wrong establishments.