Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Stanley Doble]

Does anyone remember dining out on a story? This was a common theme in English novels of long ago. If someone had an interesting anecdote or personal experience to tell, it might be said of him "he dined out on that story for years".

I took it that meant when a hostess was putting together a dinner party she would try to include someone who could entertain her guests.

This was an upper class thing or so I gathered. Never heard the phrase anywhere else but posh English novels. For some reason I got thinking about them today.

 

[tonyb]

Does anyone remember dining out on a story? This was a common theme in English novels of long ago. If someone had an interesting anecdote or personal experience to tell, it might be said of him "he dined out on that story for years".

I took it that meant when a hostess was putting together a dinner party she would try to include someone who could entertain her guests.

This was an upper class thing or so I gathered. Never heard the phrase anywhere else but posh English novels. For some reason I got thinking about them today.

I have a vague recollection of that phrase. I take it and what must be numerous variations thereon to mean something along the lines of "milking it for all it's worth." Kinda like the old guy at the bar who regales the drink-buying newcomers with the apocryphal tale(s) the regulars have heard umpteen times before.

 

[Fading Fast]

Does anyone remember dining out on a story? This was a common theme in English novels of long ago. If someone had an interesting anecdote or personal experience to tell, it might be said of him "he dined out on that story for years".

I took it that meant when a hostess was putting together a dinner party she would try to include someone who could entertain her guests.

This was an upper class thing or so I gathered. Never heard the phrase anywhere else but posh English novels. For some reason I got thinking about them today.

See bold above - that's the only place I've encountered it as well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, it's a creation of formal dinner parties, where a rigid protocol of seating was forced -- man/woman/man/woman/man/woman, with all married couples separated to ensure that all participants were required to converse with persons to whom they were not married. Colorful stories helped to fill That Awkward Moment when the guest realized that he or she otherwise had nothing much to say to the persons seated on either side.

Show business personalities dreaded being invited to such soirees, because they knew that when the conversation inevitably began to sag, they would be "invited" to step to the piano and put on an impromptu performance for which they would not be paid, except perhaps with the privilege of associating with such an august group.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yep, it's a creation of formal dinner parties, where a rigid protocol of seating was forced -- man/woman/man/woman/man/woman, with all married couples separated to ensure that all participants were required to converse with persons to whom they were not married. Colorful stories helped to fill That Awkward Moment when the guest realized that he or she otherwise had nothing much to say to the persons seated on either side.

Show business personalities dreaded being invited to such soirees, because they knew that when the conversation inevitably began to sag, they would be "invited" to step to the piano and put on an impromptu performance for which they would not be paid, except perhaps with the privilege of associating with such an august group.

In addition to novels, you can see some of this behavior in pre-code / early '30s movies. One of the key plot lines of "Dinner at Eight" is the host's need to both get the right male-female balance for her dinner party and her desire to have a "star" guest - in this case European royalty of some sort if memory serves. I enjoy the insane "rules" and formality of these dinners - right down to the crazy "who's going to walk whom in" event. It's all nuts, but fun to watch.

 

[tonyb]

In addition to novels, you can see some of this behavior in pre-code / early '30s movies. One of the key plot lines of "Dinner at Eight" is the host's need to both get the right male-female balance for her dinner party and her desire to have a "star" guest - in this case European royalty of some sort if memory serves. I enjoy the insane "rules" and formality of these dinners - right down to the crazy "who's going to walk whom in" event. It's all nuts, but fun to watch.

Yeah, kinda nuts, and potentially as entertaining as the saying-of-grace-before-dinner scene in "Talledega Nights."

Whoever wrote that scene could dine out on it for the duration.

 

[Stanley Doble]

For a hilarious take on the stuffy upper class dinner party see After The Thin Man. This is the second in the Thin Man series starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are a wonderful team and the Thin Man series shows them at their best.

 

[Just Jim]

Outside of a couple of old movies, I've not heard the phrase "lead pipe cinch" in years. I can remember asking what it meant, and everyone pointed to the common-sense idea that if someone wraps a lead pipe around your head, its a cinch they won the argument. . . . Etymologists don't seem to agree on the origin of the term, and most folks today don't seem to have ever even seen a lead pipe.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

... and most folks today don't seem to have ever even seen a lead pipe.

Unless you live in Flint Michigan

 

[Upgrade]

Wasn’t that problem that most places still have lead pipes because of cost, but Flint did not sustain the anti-corrosion treatment that maintains the protective barrier lining the pipes?

Also lead pipes still maintain popular currency in Clue/Cluedo, though the tiny prop stopped being made of lead some time ago.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Lead pipes were very popular in Flint in the 1930s -- they were widely used by goons hired by GM to cave in the skulls of UAW organizers.

 

[3fingers]

Wasn’t that problem that most places still have lead pipes because of cost, but Flint did not sustain the anti-corrosion treatment that maintains the protective barrier lining the pipes?

Correct. There have never been lead water mains (at least in modern times). One theory of the fall of the Roman empire was dementia caused by lead poisoning from their water system. The lead pipe is the small service line for the home (usually 3/4" diameter) connected to the large water main in the street. Corrosive water etches the lead service line or lead solder used for copper piping inside the home. Flint quit paying Detroit for their water, so Detroit shut them off. Flint tried to restart their own long idled water plant and incompetence and buffoonery ensued.

 

[vitanola]

Correct. There have never been lead water mains (at least in modern times). One theory of the fall of the Roman empire was dementia caused by lead poisoning from their water system. The lead pipe is the small service line for the home (usually 3/4" diameter) connected to the large water main in the street. Corrosive water etches the lead service line or lead solder used for copper piping inside the home. Flint quit paying Detroit for their water, so Detroit shut them off. Flint tried to restart their own long idled water plant and incompetence and buffoonery ensued.

Yes, but there was more involved. A prominent, politicallt activeve West Michigan family was hoping to work with an international conglomerate to acquire the Detroit water system. The loss of booked revenue from Flint further destabilized the finances of the Detroit Water Authority. An unexpected wrench was thrown into this plan when the Michigan voters overwhelmingly voted against the "Emergency Manager" law. With a little effort a new emergency manager law was passed, this one attached to a minor approprations bill, for appropriations bills are not subject to referendum. All went well until the emergency managers in Flint (with more than a little encouragement from Flint's singularly inept elected officials) bollixed the whole game.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yes, but there was more involved. A prominent, politicallt activeve West Michigan family was hoping to work with an international conglomerate to acquire the Detroit water system. The loss of booked revenue from Flint further destabilized the finances of the Detroit Water Authority. An unexpected wrench was thrown into this plan when the Michigan voters overwhelmingly voted against the "Emergency Manager" law. With a little effort a new emergency manager law was passed, this one attached to a minor approprations bill, for appropriations bills are not subject to referendum. All went well until the emergency managers in Flint (with more than a little encouragement from Flint's singularly inept elected officials) bollixed the whole game.

I am not commenting (and don't know / don't have an opinion) on whether or not this Emergency Manager law is good or bad - I have no idea at all.

But this:

An unexpected wrench was thrown into this plan when the Michigan voters overwhelmingly voted against the "Emergency Manager" law. With a little effort a new emergency manager law was passed, this one attached to a minor approprations bill, for appropriations bills are not subject to referendum.
​

is, IMHO, a good part of the reason people (from both sides of the political divide) are so angry at politicians in general. The people voted "no" and the politicians used legislative gaming to get around the will of people.

Again, maybe the EML was/is necessary, but the job of the politician is to sell that to the people - to convince them of its necessity - not fail at selling it and, then, jam it through anyway.

 

[scottyrocks]

But this:

An unexpected wrench was thrown into this plan when the Michigan voters overwhelmingly voted against the "Emergency Manager" law. With a little effort a new emergency manager law was passed, this one attached to a minor approprations bill, for appropriations bills are not subject to referendum.
​

is, IMHO, a good part of the reason people (from both sides of the political divide) are so angry at politicians in general. The people voted "no" and the politicians used legislative gaming to get around the will of people.

Again, maybe the EML was/is necessary, but the job of the politician is to sell that to the people - to convince them of its necessity - not fail at selling it and, then, jam it through anyway.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[vitanola]

I am not commenting (and don't know / don't have an opinion) on whether or not this Emergency Manager law is good or bad - I have no idea at all.

But this:

An unexpected wrench was thrown into this plan when the Michigan voters overwhelmingly voted against the "Emergency Manager" law. With a little effort a new emergency manager law was passed, this one attached to a minor approprations bill, for appropriations bills are not subject to referendum.
​

is, IMHO, a good part of the reason people (from both sides of the political divide) are so angry at politicians in general. The people voted "no" and the politicians used legislative gaming to get around the will of people.

Again, maybe the EML was/is necessary, but the job of the politician is to sell that to the people - to convince them of its necessity - not fail at selling it and, then, jam it through anyway.

Yes. Of course the votes against the flawed Emergency Manager statute largely came from the cities and suburbs, the "wrong" kind of voters. The legislators from the rural areas (who generally received heavy financial support from the politically active West Michigan family) fixed the problem. Until, of course, an unacountable emergency manager appointed under the law made just the sort of error opponents of the law feared

 

[skydog757]

Of course they do; they just don't call it that any more.

"He 'Big-Timed' me!"

 

[skydog757]

One that I never hear anymore is "So sue me" when people have a disagreement. Most likely because things have gotten so litigious nowadays that people actually will sue and they certainly don't need any encouragement.

 

[Fading Fast]

One that is fading - still hear it, but rarely: "stock-in-trade."

 

[skydog757]

One that is fading - still hear it, but rarely: "stock-in-trade."

The only place I hear that anymore is in folk songs.