Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Fading Fast]

Yesterday as I was struggling with some broken software I figured out a work-around and got the job done. Later when describing my struggle to my wife I used a simile comparing it to slapping the side of a television set which wasn't working right. This sometimes re-seated some of the vacuum tubes (when it didn't knock them loose entirely) and you could go back to watching Perry Mason.
That in turn brought to mind another old television word which has surely disappeared along with the object it named, "rabbit ears".
But maybe I'm wrong. I just Googled and found them still to be widely available. I suppose I've been living in a major metropolitan area too long as I've had cable TV service for more than forty years now.
If any of you are under 40, or know someone under 40, ask if they know what "rabbit ears" are. I'm curious to know.

"Grass Widow" in the Era was a common euphemism for "divorcee." It was mostly used by older, rural types, but that's what it was generally understood to mean.

As for rabbit ears, most everybody I associate with around here is under 40, and all but the very youngest know the term, having encountered the defunct set of rabbit ears on top of my television set. "Rabbit Ear" television was still a common thing here until the digital hijacking of the broadcast spectrum ten years ago, and there are plenty of under-40 kids from the rurals who didn't grow up with cable and know what it was to twist a rabbit ear around to try and get Channel 10.

My dad did not part with a dollar casually, but at some point in the '70s, he had a TV antenna installed on our roof and it was no less amazing than the parting of the sea. The rabbit ears provided so-so reception that required constant adjusting (usually by me) and, occasionally, somebody holding them in a certain position for the entire show or game (always me) just to get modestly acceptable reception.

But with the roof-top antenna, all the major channels (back then, the three networks, two local stations and PBS) came in perfectly. Within ten or so years, most people (not us) in the NY-metro area would have cable and none of this would matter, but at the time, the difference between rabbit-ears reception and roof-top-antenna reception was almost magical.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"You crab lice!"

Still common in the 90s, but disappeared.

 

[M Brown]

Fit to be tied

 

[tonyb]

The term ‘Bohemian’ applied to artistic or literary types.

That’s seen something of a resurgence recently, leastwise in my circles. It’s commonly abbreviated “boho” when referring to interior decor and attire and other such superficial matters.

A rug merchant friend, who also peddles vintage and antique furnishings, is all for it, of course.

If it were only artistic and literally types who adopted the fashion, I fear my friend would be driving Uber.

 

[Ticklishchap]

If it were only artistic and literally types who adopted the fashion, I fear my friend would be driving Uber.

I love your last comment!

 

[Ticklishchap]

From the days of the 'British Raj' (the colonial era in India): a person who was a bit flaky (the equivalent of an anti-Vaxxer or a Brexiteer today) might be defined as 'not quite sixteen Annas to the Rupee'.
This was based on the currency of the day.

 

[Ticklishchap]

A momentary variation on a theme: what about words or expressions that go out of fashion and then suddenly, inexplicably, come back?
In the 70s, I remember that people were always 'popping in', but that phrase gradually disappeared, perhaps because it conjured up visions of Amyl Nitrate (poppers). Now suddenly it's everywhere again. As a property manager, I now find that tradesmen say that they'll 'pop in on Thursday'. Administrators of various kinds promise to pop things in emails or the post. TV chefs 'pop it in the oven'. Etc.
At work I have come to identify the phrase as a sign of inefficiency. When someone uses it, I know that they will be late or not do the job properly.

 

[Turnip]

„Fräulein“

Being a formal form of address up to the 60s of last century, you are lucky not to get a nice slap in the face nowadays calling a young woman a „Fräulein“...

 

[Stanley Doble]

In England many years ago if someone was in financial difficulty or struggling they were said to be 'in queer street'. If they were so badly off there looked like no way out, they were 'a long way up queer street'. The American equivalent would be up shit creek, and up shit creek without a paddle.

 

[Zombie_61]

From the days of the 'British Raj' (the colonial era in India): a person who was a bit flaky (the equivalent of an anti-Vaxxer or a Brexiteer today) might be defined as 'not quite sixteen Annas to the Rupee'.
This was based on the currency of the day.

The American English version of this would be, "A few cans short of a six-pack." The number of cans missing can be changed depending upon the severity of the insultee's condition, but it essentially means that person is somehow deficient (i.e., "comes up short").

 

[Ticklishchap]

In England many years ago if someone was in financial difficulty or struggling they were said to be 'in queer street'. If they were so badly off there looked like no way out, they were 'a long way up queer street'. The American equivalent would be up shit creek, and up shit creek without a paddle.

Funnily enough I remember this phrase and I always think of it when I see Quality Street chocolates. The phrase went out of use because the word queer became a frequent homophobic slur applied to gay men. However it has now been ‘reclaimed’ so that we have queer film festivals, queer art, etc.

‘In LGBTQI Street’ wouldn’t have the same resonance, I suspect.

 

[Ticklishchap]

‘You need to pull your socks up’: said to someone being lazy or inefficient.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

‘You need to pull your socks up’: said to someone being lazy or inefficient.

This is not a phrase used in the U.S. The first time I head it, it was used by Idi Amin in a movie released in the 1970's. He was holding a cabinet meeting and hectoring his ministers about the need for some group (I can't recall who) to "pull their socks up". Being totally unfamiliar with the phrase, I took it literally. I remember thinking that even for a nut job like the Field Marshall, General, President for Life, it was a weird thing to say.

 

[Ticklishchap]

This is not a phrase used in the U.S. The first time I head it, it was used by Idi Amin in a movie released in the 1970's. He was holding a cabinet meeting and hectoring his ministers about the need for some group (I can't recall who) to "pull their socks up". Being totally unfamiliar with the phrase, I took it literally. I remember thinking that even for a nut job like the Field Marshall, General, President for Life, it was a weird thing to say.

That's interesting. I wonder if it was one of the Entebbe movies.
Amin would have picked up that phrase from his British military training. When he came to power, he appeared to be Anglophile and pro-western (as his background and training would have suggested) and so the direction he took came as a surprise to many.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

That's interesting. I wonder if it was one of the Entebbe movies.
Amin would have picked up that phrase from his British military training. When he came to power, he appeared to be Anglophile and pro-western (as his background and training would have suggested) and so the direction he took came as a surprise to many.

See the link under the "movie" in my post. It was a documentary and the link will take you to a page describing it.

 

[Ticklishchap]

See the link under the "movie" in my post. It was a documentary and the link will take you to a page describing it.

I'm sorry I missed the link. I remember this movie. We have benefited a lot in the UK from the presence of the Ugandan Asians, many of whom were expelled from the country by Idi Amin (although the policy actually started under Milton Obote).

 

[Zombie_61]

...‘In LGBTQI Street’ wouldn’t have the same resonance, I suspect.

You're correct, that would be a bit of a mouthful.



Yeah, I know what I said. Write your own jokes.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Wheel for bicycle and wheelman for a bicycle enthusiast. I believe this was current slang in the late 19th C and I heard it used by some very old relatives.

In a similar way, here in Canada any small imported car was an English car in the late forties and early fifties

 

[Ticklishchap]

‘Buck your ideas up.’

Similar meaning to ‘pull your socks up’ (see above).

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

You're correct, that would be a bit of a mouthful.



Yeah, I know what I said. Write your own jokes.

This brought to mind a scene from the wickedly funny Austrailan TV series, Rake. In one episode the lead character, Cleaver Greene, is involved in an election for the parliament when the issue of LGBTQ rights arises. After his campaign manager offers advice on how to deal with the issue, Greene, who has had a puzzled look on his face during the advice giving, says, "Those people need to buy a vowel."
This was yet another example of how much American (as in U.S.A.) culture seems to have penetrated Australian consciousness. I remember many American pop-culture references cropping up in this series.