Terms Which Have Disappeared

[HudsonHawk]

Of course, before the young folks here get all horrified at the abuse we had to endure and call the DHS for a retroactive call on our parents, keep in mind that we never took these threats literally. "SHUT UP BACK THERE OR I'LL PULL THIS CAR OVER AND BREAK YOUR G-D NECKS" simply meant we needed to settle down and stop arguing. It was simple hyperbole along the same lines as Ralph Kramden threating to send Alice bang-zoom to the moon. Such was the language then.

My dad used to say "If I have to stop this car and beat your ass, you're gonna be sorry you came on this trip".

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another thing my mother used to say to the notorious O'Brien kids from the next block was "GET OUTTA MY DOORYARD YOU G-D LITTLE PUNKS! And when she said "punk" it had nothing to do with safety pins thru the face and listening to cacaphonous music, it meant "undisciplined, dirty little brats."

Speaking of childhood, I never heard the word "kindergarten" when I was attending it. We didn't go to kindergarten. We went to "subprimary."

 

[HudsonHawk]

Another thing my mother used to say to the notorious O'Brien kids from the next block was "GET OUTTA MY DOORYARD YOU G-D LITTLE PUNKS! And when she said "punk" it had nothing to do with safety pins thru the face and listening to cacaphonous music, it meant "undisciplined, dirty little brats."

Speaking of childhood, I never heard the word "kindergarten" when I was attending it. We didn't go to kindergarten. We went to "subprimary."

We didn't go to kindergarten, it didn't exist, at least where I was. We simply started in the first grade.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Junior High School, now called Middle School.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We didn't get "report cards." We got Rank Cards, which came in a little manila envelope and were handed out one at a time by the teacher like they were summonses.

 

[HudsonHawk]

We didn't get "report cards." We got Rank Cards, which came in a little manila envelope and were handed out one at a time by the teacher like they were summonses.

In addition to our academic grades, we got conduct grades. We even got "conduct cards" sent home with us every Friday. Teacher would call us up one by one to hand out our conduct cards at the end of the day on Friday. It was the worst time of the week. Seeing as I was kind of the class clown, my conduct grades were typically at the bottom of the scale. My dad would say "how can you misbehave so much and still get good grades in everything else?" It's gift, really.

 

[Zombie_61]

My mother used to threaten to sell me to the baby oil factory. And that was when she was in a good mood.

My Mom's threat was that she was going to "ship me off to military school." I didn't even know what it was, but her use of the word "military" was enough to let me know I didn't want to find out. To be clear, I have nothing against this country's armed forces or the troops. But this was during the time that images of the Vietnam war were broadcast on the evening news every night, and I didn't find that environment appealing.

...Seeing as I was kind of the class clown, my conduct grades were typically at the bottom of the scale. My dad would say "how can you misbehave so much and still get good grades in everything else?" It's gift, really.

This sure sounds familiar. Every one of my report cards included notes to the effect of "Disruptive in class" and "Doesn't apply himself". I admit to being disruptive, but never quite understood how I could not be applying myself but still get straight A's (at least, until junior high...er, middle school...which is when someone introduced me to the concept of "fun"). My parents didn't seem to pay much attention to those notes as long as I kept my grades up.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My parents didn't seem to pay much attention to those notes as long as I kept my grades up.

Wow, mine sure did. When I got a bad grade, conduct or academic, bad being a "C" or worse, I was grounded until I got at least a "B". Sometimes that lasted for months. That was through jr. high. I was so glad to get to high school where we no longer got conduct grades. When I was a little kid, I'd get spanked for bad conduct grades. I'd even get pre-emptive spankings every morning before school. I got them whether I actually misbehaved or not. My dad called them "reminders".

 

[rjb1]

I think I may have the best/worst conduct-grade story. In kindergarten we had "nap time" after lunch when we were all supposed to lie down on towels spread on the floor and take a nap.
I got a "red check" (bad) instead of a "blue check" (good) conduct-grade because a cute little blonde named Jeannette kept trying to share my towel with me during nap time. I would get up and run away to avoid that - hence getting a red check mark.
What was I thinking!?! And where was she about twenty years or so post-kindergarten?!?

 

[LizzieMaine]

We didn't get letter grades for deportment, but the teachers felt free to express their views in the "comments" section of the rank cards, and they didn't sugar coat or mince words. My mother has never let me forget what my sixth grade teacher wrote: "Lizzie has been a royal pain this year."

 

[jamespowers]

SNAFU, situation normal, all fouled up! The F word was different, you can figure it out

You forgot his partner in those movies FUBAR and TARFU.

http://youtu.be/fqKhNSOG9B0

 

[LizzieMaine]

At the Thanksgiving table today my mother described a friend who'd gotten her hair done and still came out of it "as homely as a cut rabbit."

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Here are two more terms which I think have disappeared in the past 30 to 40 years: telex, teletype

 

[Stearmen]

So ugly, only a mother could love it! and. So ugly, it's cute!

 

[jamespowers]

At the Thanksgiving table today my mother described a friend who'd gotten her hair done and still came out of it "as homely as a cut rabbit."

:rofl:

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

How many years has it been since a man "made a pass" at a woman?

 

[jamespowers]

How many years has it been since a man "made a pass" at a woman?

Every few seconds I would imagine.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Only if he was fresh. How long has it been since someone who acted like a smart aleck was called "fresh"? How long since someone was called a smart aleck?

 

[LizzieMaine]

My grandmother would describe a mouthy kid as "fresh as paint." And if that kid was really cutting up rough, she'd call him a "tartar."

 

[Shangas]

I use "Fresh" in some of my writing. Someone who's overconfident, a smart-aleck, someone who's really bold.

"Smart alek/ck/c", I haven't heard used in years. These days, I think it's replaced by "Smartass".