Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Stanley Doble]

Are you saying you would refuse to associate with them unless you were paid.

Someone asked Fred Allen "what's an Associate Producer?" He replied "That's anybody who will associate with a producer".

 

[tonyb]

When I am a guest somewhere, I don't expect to pay for the hospitality proffered. When I am a customer, I expect to pay for the service, and I expect the service or product or both to be satisfactory. If I were a guest, and the meal wasn't satisfactory, it would be a faux pas to complain. If I am a customer, and the goods or services were unsatisfactory, pointing this out to the vendor and his staff (in a polite, direct, and unambiguous manner) gives them an opportunity to improve.

Couldn't agree with you more. That last sentence in particular strikes a chord. I once had a job that had me fielding customer complaints. I soon learned that there is just no pleasing some people (whatever their actual problems might have been had little if anything to do with me and my employers), but I came to appreciate most people who took the time to gripe. Even in those cases when I felt they had made their own contributions to whatever difficulties they may have had with our service, most of those folks were giving us the chance to keep them as customers. People were always free to take their money elsewhere. With rare exception, I much preferred they not do that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Exactly. Mr. Allen knew whereof he spoke.

 

[Alice Blue]

I just stumped the employees of a local fabric store by asking for "button cord." Apparently the usual term is "button thread," but I'm 99% sure that my grandmother called it "cord." Now I'm wondering if my brains are scrambled since Google isn't turning anything up.

The shop clerk told me that her grandmother used to say "in the forenoon."

 

[Stanley Doble]

My grandmother told me slang was ill bred and there were two words she never wanted to hear me say. One of them was swell and the other one was lousy. But she never told me what they were.

 

[jamespowers]

No Sir, I was merely pointing out that the inconsiderate neighbors were more troublesome during those 14-1/2 years than the alley. On that day, I'm sure we were nothing more than the victims of a local police officer who had fallen behind on his monthly quota for ticket-writing.

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.... They dropped a dime on you and you know it.

 

[Zombie_61]

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.... They dropped a dime on you and you know it.

Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

 

[tonyb]

Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

Well, at least they were that smart, right? Although if it were apparent to the neighbors that they were up to various illegalities, well, they weren't as discreet as a truly smart criminal would be.

 

[Zombie_61]

Well, at least they were that smart, right? Although if it were apparent to the neighbors that they were up to various illegalities, well, they weren't as discreet as a truly smart criminal would be.

In my experience the words "smart" and "criminal" don't often belong in the same sentence. lol

 

[tonyb]

In my experience the words "smart" and "criminal" don't often belong in the same sentence. lol

Part of what makes a smart criminal smart is that most people wouldn't think he or she was a criminal, leastwise not at first glance. It's the people given to posing, to swagger, to conspicuous display of their ill-gotten proceeds, who go to prison, usually sooner rather than later. These are the more common sort, of course.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Part of what makes a smart criminal smart is that most people wouldn't think he or she was a criminal, leastwise not at first glance. It's the people given to posing, to swagger, to conspicuous display of their ill-gotten proceeds, who go to prison, usually sooner rather than later. These are the more common sort, of course.

Whitewashed tombs, filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Now there's a term which has disappeared.

 

[jamespowers]

Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

They can call in anonymously.

 

[F. J.]

Matt. 23:27

Whitewashed tombs, filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Now there's a term which has disappeared.

“Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men’s bones,
and of all uncleanness.”

—St. Matthew XXIII. 27.​

Jesus kinda liked to tell it as it is, doncha think?

 

[Zombie_61]

They can call in anonymously.

Right, like the police department doesn't have caller I.D.. lol

 

[Dan Allen]

It seems to me as though the terms "sir" and "ma'am" are fast Disappearing, at least around here. Almost daily I am addressed by a lady at a cash register as "honey" or "sweety". I find this very annoying. Just this morning while paying for gas, I was addressed by the lady cashier as "baby doll". I informed her that it was both unprofessional and infers a familiarity that does not exist, sir would be fine. She just shoved the change into my hand without saying a word and turned and looked out the window with her arms folded .... no doubt to look at the space ship she figured I was fueling.

 

[dh66]

I hear that so often down here that I guess I'm just used to it. Don't even give it much thought. As a matter of fact, if I were to, say, dine in a BBQ restaurant or maybe a meat and three, or some such place where the iced tea is sweet enough to pour over pancakes, and the waitress did NOT call me Hon or Sugar, I would take the omission as a black mark against the establishment.

On the opposite side of the coin, I once had a woman politely but firmly ask that I not call her Ma'am, as that was short for Madame, and that was another name for a woman who ran an establishment of questionable virtue, which she herself most certainly was not. I guess it takes all kinds.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Around here, "sir" is most often heard ironically, as in "Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

 

[Bruce Wayne]

My bosses name is Paul but I can't recall if I've ever called him anything other than sir.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I hear that so often down here that I guess I'm just used to it. Don't even give it much thought. As a matter of fact, if I were to, say, dine in a BBQ restaurant or maybe a meat and three, or some such place where the iced tea is sweet enough to pour over pancakes, and the waitress did NOT call me Hon or Sugar, I would take the omission as a black mark against the establishment.

On the opposite side of the coin, I once had a woman politely but firmly ask that I not call her Ma'am, as that was short for Madame, and that was another name for a woman who ran an establishment of questionable virtue, which she herself most certainly was not. I guess it takes all kinds.

Yeah, I LIKE being addressed as "Hon" or "Sugar". That implied familiarity is one of the South's charms.

 

[jamespowers]

Right, like the police department doesn't have caller I.D.. lol

Not on the anonymous line.