Terms Which Have Disappeared

[scottyrocks]

but then changed to meaning spoiled or overly protected.

That's how I remember it.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

When you use a verb as a noun, you have a "gerund". But turning "molly coddle" from a noun into a verb is something else. Does anyone know the antonym of gerund?

 

[tonyb]

Mollycoddled. I admit I haven't heard this word used frequently, or even recently until this morning when a guest on a local morning news show used it and every member of the 40-something and 50-something on-air staff reacted as if they'd never heard it before. I'd never heard of this youngish guest before so I don't remember his name or why he's famous, but he is English so I'm wondering if it might be a case of "Two countries separated by a common language". Are any of my fellow 'Muricans familiar with the term?

I've used the term myself, and I wouldn't use it if I thought the person(s) I was addressing didn't know its meaning. But your post has me wondering if it might be more obscure than I had assumed.

 

[Upgrade]

The term has gotten some interest because of the ensuing popularity of the Harry Potter novels. There’s an almost obsessive interest with analyzing every detail from the books (and to bemoan how the movies oversimplified things).

Names are a popular subject. Some like Snape and Dursley are names of surrounding English villages and counties. Dumbledore was a Medieval spelling of Bumblebee. Minerva McGonagall was a named for both the Roman goddess and one of the worst Scottish poets in history. Hermione has enjoyed a resurgence as a baby name. All of this is combed from various interviews with the author.

And of course Molly Weasley with her many redheaded children and a surrogate mother to Harry. Mollycoddle and mollify immediately present themselves as derivations.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Mollycoddle" saw a burst of popuiarity in the US around the turn of the 20th Century. The meaning was not so much to describe an "effeminate" male -- "epicene" was more common for that purpose -- as it was to describe any male who didn't enthusiastically express the outdoorsy, two-fisted bear-shooting vigor of Teddy Roosevelt. The target was usually a bookish young intellectual, or a pale, sedentary white-collar office clerk who could expect to be hit with an umbrella by Everett True.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Schaffner".

Just "train-attendant", now.

 

[scottyrocks]

"Schaffner".

Didn't he play Captain Kirk? Oh, no wait . . .

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Schaffner" was also the name of Louis Calhern's valet in "Diplomaniacs," who jumps out a ship's porthole to his certain death in the sea when his master commands him to "be gone!" I've used the name from time to time myself to address some petty functionary who appears to be a fawning, disposable minion. "Jeez, what a schaffner!"

 

[Zombie_61]

Didn't he play Captain Kirk? Oh, no wait . . .

Well played. I was thinking along the same lines.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Does anyone still use the expression, "This is where we came in." ? In the antediluvian days of the '50s-'60s they didn't clear the theater at the end of the movie. You could sit there all day if you wanted. When you're a kid, continuity means little. As long as you saw the whole movie it didn't matter in what order the episodes were presented. You'd sit down in the middle of a film, watch it to the end, then the previews, travelogue, cartoon, second feature and whatever, then the feature started again and when you reached the scene where you came in, you got up and left.

 

[3fingers]

Does anyone still use the expression, "This is where we came in." ?

I've done that myself a time or two, but as you said I'm not sure it is even doable now.
The last time I heard that expression used was when a fellow repeatedly tried to steer a conversation back to a complaint that we thought had been settled. Another participant said "well, this is where we came in. I believe we're done here." Not related to the movies, but everybody in the room was old enough to immediately get the reference.

 

[Fading Fast]

Does anyone still use the expression, "This is where we came in." ? In the antediluvian days of the '50s-'60s they didn't clear the theater at the end of the movie. You could sit there all day if you wanted. When you're a kid, continuity means little. As long as you saw the whole movie it didn't matter in what order the episodes were presented. You'd sit down in the middle of a film, watch it to the end, then the previews, travelogue, cartoon, second feature and whatever, then the feature started again and when you reached the scene where you came in, you got up and left.

Up until the early '70s, a few of those places still existed in NJ as my grandmother - who loved movies - would take me with her and we'd walk in whenever and just stay until the movie looped back to where we came in. She never thought about movie start times, we'd just go to the theater when it fit her schedule, sit down and see a complete loop. Sounds crazy now, but it didn't seem nuts if that's what you knew. While some (and this is an old memory) did run cartoons, etc., some just looped the movie.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Continuous shows were pretty much universal at neighborhood theatres from the twenties into the sixties -- they'd open at 11am or noon, and run until 11pm or midnight. They were a godsend during Depression winters for unemployed and/or homeless people desperate to stay warm. As long as they could scrounge a quarter somewhere -- or find a sympathetic box office manager willing to nod them in -- they could stay out of the elements most of the day.

Earlier, there were continuous-performance vaudeville theatres -- the smallest and grubbiest of the smalltime circuits ran on a five-or-six-a-day policy, which ground the performers to pulp but made enough money to keep the lights on.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

I remember as a kid that once you'd paid for your movie ticket you could stay and watch the movie as many times as you wanted while the theater was open. I rarely go to the movie theater anymore, but I'm assuming that's no longer the case.

 

[Zombie_61]

I remember as a kid that once you'd paid for your movie ticket you could stay and watch the movie as many times as you wanted while the theater was open. I rarely go to the movie theater anymore, but I'm assuming that's no longer the case.

You are correct. Around the same time that theaters stopped showing "double bills" and multiplexes became more common (the late-70s or early-80s as best I can remember), they also started paying more attention to which patrons were going into which theaters and emptying the theaters when the showing ended. In addition most (if not all) of the theaters around here will no longer sell you a ticket for a specific movie/showing once it's started.

 

[Upgrade]

There’s a lovely movie called Mrs. Henderson Presents.

Apparently Laura Henderson and the Windmill Theatre tried out the concept of continuous revue before introducing fully nude showgirls. The catch was they must remain motionless as a tableau vivant to imitate nude statuary to skirt the obscenity laws.

Particularly during the Blitz, they remained open and helped keep up morale leading to the motto, “We Never Clothed”.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I highly recommend that movie. Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins at their best. Judi keeps her clothes on, but Bob loses his pants.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Agreed. A very charming film!

 

[HudsonHawk]

I remember older people using the term molly coddled. Haven't heard it lately though. It is one of those terms whose meaning changed over time. It used to be used to indicate a feminine acting male, but then changed to meaning spoiled or overly protected.

"Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out." - Ty Cobb

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Smile when you say that."
-- Patsy Tebeau, Dolly Stark, Tillie Walker, Kitty Bransfield, Addie Joss, Christy Mathewson, and Candy Cummings.