Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Upgrade]

I’ve found what the UK did with the backs of their coins to be nifty. Admittedly the coins look terrible individually outside of the shield arrangement.

Also, I suppose “don’t take any wooden nickels” has fallen out of favor. Though coin carving is still a practiced art.

The demise of the value of coins also contributed to the demise of the Automat which couldn’t sell decent food offered by the price point of a single coin.

And Americans are quite stubborn about accepting new coins with a tradeoff of being more durable than paper, but heavier. The half-dollar died out and the dollar coins are barely accepted anywhere.

 

[Fading Fast]

It's just really sad that an institution that infests the tills of today with coins that don't even look good next to Chucky Cheese money was once capable of this:

That is artistry reflecting the power, might, beauty, philosophy and history putatively behind the coin.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember being disappointed when I found out it was some glamour girl who modeled for the Liberty figure there. I was sure it was Blanche Payson.

 

[Fading Fast]

I remember being disappointed when I found out it was some glamour girl who modeled for the Liberty figure there. I was sure it was Blanche Payson.

Or an off-course Valkyrie.

 

[Zombie_61]

It's even worse than what they did to the Washington head on the quarter -- some bright bulb at the Mint decided that what old G. W. needed was a snazzy new wig, so they had some hacky apprentice trace over his hair to define individual waves and strands with the result that The Father Etc. looks like somebody hit him in the head with a bowl of spaghetti. Probably Franklin, you couldn't turn your back on him for a second.

The original. Boring as dishwater, but at least it's dignified.

The Revision. Ridiculous and stupid.

It can always get worse.

 

[LizzieMaine]

He's just trying to keep up with that noted frat boy Sam Adams.

 

[wallypop]

As a teacher, criticizing some some classes, I used to say: Don't worry. If the shoe fits wear it!
Almost always, the students looked at their feet!!

 

[St. Louis]

The other morning the gas man told me my furnace motor needed to be replaced. I asked him for a referral, and he told me to "look in the yellow pages."

 

[Zombie_61]

The other morning the gas man told me my furnace motor needed to be replaced. I asked him for a referral, and he told me to "look in the yellow pages."

Maybe he meant these yellow pages.

 

[St. Louis]

Well, when I agreed to do so, he observed, "Or, if you are on the computer, I suppose you could look it up that way too."

 

[Upgrade]

I believe there was an episode of CSI where they were trying to find the bullet. One of the investigators found the slug buried halfway through the phone book.

He muttered, “So, let your fingers do the walking!” to which the other coworker replied, “What?” and he replied, “Never mind you wouldn’t get it.”

 

[skydog757]

I forget the movie or show, but I do remember this scene:

Guy: Can I get your number?
Attractive woman: It's in the book.
Guy: What's your name?
Attractive woman: That's in the book too. (Walks away)

 

[Bruce Wayne]

What a load of spinach.

 

[LizzieMaine]

 

[tonyb]

"That's all she wrote."

I grew up around a person who used that phrase often, and it was clear what he meant by it, but I gave little thought to its origins until much later. It's a reference to "Dear John" letters, I suspect. "That's what she wrote, and there's nothing more to say."

No?

 

[Zombie_61]

"That's all she wrote."

I grew up around a person who used that phrase often, and it was clear what he meant by it, but I gave little thought to its origins until much later. It's a reference to "Dear John" letters, I suspect. "That's what she wrote, and there's nothing more to say."

No?

This has another of those "No one really knows" origin stories. According to some quick Google-Fu the first documented use of the phrase comes from a column in a Texas newspaper called "The Brownsville Herald" from June 1935:

"No power except that of the legislature can change the rolls. The assessor-collectors do not have the power, the commissioners’ courts do not have the power. That’s all she wrote and it’s final, the attorney general says in language much more eloquent and technical."

Within the context of the column, the phrase was used figuratively and was not a reference to a specific "she".

The second documented use of the phrase comes from a country music song titled "That's All She Wrote" recorded by Ernest Tubb and published in "sheet music" form in 1942:

"I got a letter from my mama, just a line or two
She said 'Listen daddy your good girl's leavin' you.'
That's all she wrote - didn't write no more
She'd left the gloom a hanging round my front door."

No one can verify this, but it's believed Tubb picked up the phrase from popular usage and didn't coin it himself. As such, most etymologists support the theory that it's common/modern usage does indeed come from U.S. troops discussing "Dear John" letters they had received.

 

[skydog757]

I'll have no truck with that sort of activity

Her mind is made up, she'll brook no argument concerning the matter.

 

[Fading Fast]

I'll have no truck with that sort of activity

Her mind is made up, she'll brook no argument concerning the matter.

Both great expressions that one rarely hears today.

 

[1mach1]

"Shoveling smoke". My grandfather used to use this regularly, since he thought that of most peoples efforts.

 

[Zombie_61]

"Shoveling smoke". My grandfather used to use this regularly, since he thought that of most peoples efforts.

Never heard it before, but I like it.