Terms Which Have Disappeared

[MissMittens]

I've always wondered...
Do land offices really do a lot of business?
Do hotcakes really sell?
Are churchmice really poor?

Hotcakes REALLY do sell. Have you ever seen a Diner at breakfast? LOL

 

[Zombie_61]

Hotcakes REALLY do sell. Have you ever seen a Diner at breakfast? LOL

Of course they do. Just ask the people who own IHOP.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Lamblike".

I can't imagine, that the smombies still us that.

 

[Trenchfriend]

German "lunzen".

"Peer furtively"

Old speech of the 90s.

 

[skydog757]

Playing both ends against the middle.

 

[Upgrade]

I was trying to explain the “wee paws for station identification” joke the other day. I suppose terrestrial radio doesn’t use the phrase as much anymore and the station call letters are slipped into the sentence “This is 105.1 FM KXCX”.

I was trying to find an actual example of the phrase being used in a 30s radio broadcast, but I could only find the various stock NBC and CBS signoffs.

Though I did find a Three Stooges clip saying “We will now pause for station identification. This is N-U-T-S.”

I suppose the phrase would have to exist on a recording of a live radio broadcast if I cannot find it on syndicated ones.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Usually you'll find it at the midpoint of an hour long show -- "Town Hall Tonight continues immediately following this brief pause for your station announcement (chimes)."

One of the most entertaining variations on the theme was in an obscure 1939 program called "The Circle," a sort of proto-talk show format with a group of celebrities batting around the news of the day. The only surviving specimen of this series features Cary Grant *singing* the FCC regulation setting out the station ID requirements.

I make a point of including the phrase in our own radio show here at the theatre. It's no longer required by law, but it seems to fit.

 

[MissMittens]

Usually you'll find it at the midpoint of an hour long show -- "Town Hall Tonight continues immediately following this brief pause for your station announcement (chimes)."

One of the most entertaining variations on the theme was in an obscure 1939 program called "The Circle," a sort of proto-talk show format with a group of celebrities batting around the news of the day. The only surviving specimen of this series features Cary Grant *singing* the FCC regulation setting out the station ID requirements.

I make a point of including the phrase in our own radio show here at the theatre. It's no longer required by law, but it seems to fit.

Technically, I believe it's still required, but the way in which they can identify has changed, so for example, a station can now identify as "98.1 Tom FM", so it's far more subtle than it used to be:

"Station Identification. Stations must air identification announcements when they sign on and off for the day. They also must broadcast these announcements every hour, as close to the start of the hour as possible, at a natural programming break. TV stations make these announcements on-screen or by voice only. Official station identification includes the station’s call letters, followed by the community specified in its license as the station’s location. Between the call letters and its community, the station may insert the name of the licensee, the station’s channel number, and/or its frequency. It may also include any additional community or communities, as long as it first names the community to which it is licensed by the FCC. TV stations also may identify their digital multicast programming streams separately if they want, and, if so, must follow the format described in the FCC’s rules."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, a half hour break used to be required as well, but that disappeared sometime in the '70s, I think. Up until 1931 or so, the break was required every fifteen minutes. DX enthusaists have been mourning the repeal of that rule ever since.

The only announcer I've ever heard actually say "We pause for station identification" in exactly those words was Lindsey Nelson when he was the broadcaster for the Mets. More often there would be some sort of network system cue.

 

[Woodtroll]

I told someone the other day I was going to “light a shuck” for home, then had to explain what I meant. I thought that was still a common expression, but maybe it’s not anymore except in the southern Appalachians.

 

[tonyb]

I told someone the other day I was going to “light a shuck” for home, then had to explain what I meant. I thought that was still a common expression, but maybe it’s not anymore except in the southern Appalachians.

Can’t say I’m familiar with it. But if heard in the context you just related, I’d think most of us would know what you meant.

 

[EngProf]

That expression never made it the ~200 miles from southern Appalachia to Nashville. That's the first time I have ever heard it.

 

[Woodtroll]

Before battery flashlights, with lamp oil being a luxury, folks who were visiting others after dark would borrow a few corn husks (“shucks”) and burn them for light like a torch on the way home. As you can imagine, these didn’t burn real long, so some haste is implied in the expression because you’d have to hurry to get home before the fire burned out.

I have to wonder how many woods fires resulted from this practice...

I guess this expression is not as common as I thought.

Y’all take care,
Regan

 

[3fingers]

I guess this expression is not as common as I thought.

I think it's a regional thing carried by people who moved from one place to another. My family is from southern Illinois by way of Missouri, Virginia and Germany among other places.
I heard the expression growing up, but only in that small county. It was also used to tell somebody it was time for them to leave right now.

 

[Woodtroll]

It was also used to tell somebody it was time for them to leave right now.

Haha, yes indeed. If someone else told you to light a shuck, it was time for you to take your leave by the quickest possible means.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Yep, a half hour break used to be required as well, but that disappeared sometime in the '70s, I think. Up until 1931 or so, the break was required every fifteen minutes. DX enthusaists have been mourning the repeal of that rule ever since.

The only announcer I've ever heard actually say "We pause for station identification" in exactly those words was Lindsey Nelson when he was the broadcaster for the Mets. More often there would be some sort of network system cue.

I still hear it sometimes during Astros radio broadcasts. Robert Ford will say "let's pause for station identification on your Astros RADIO network". The local station says "you're listening to SportsTalk 790...Houston's home for sports!" I assume all of the other stations on the Astros network announce their station as well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I used to get annoyed with Ken Coleman during Red Sox games when I was running the board during broadcasts -- he'd throw in his station breaks absentmindedly, "oh, and this is Red Sox Baseball on the Campbell Sports Network." And you had to rush back to the studio from the bathroom to stick in the ID. Very frustrating.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

My father used to say "They lit a shuck" meaning "They got out fast" or "They made their getaway." I used to hear it as "lit ashuck." He was born in Oklahoma but his family was from WV.

 

[skydog757]

I haven't heard either phrase"That doesn't hold water" or "Hold your water" for longer than I can remember.

 

[tonyb]

I recall saying ”well, keep your powder dry” to a woman some 10 years or so my junior. She initially took it as a sexist remark (she was generally one looking to take offense, so that wasn’t surprising) and said something to the effect of “what’s THAT supposed to mean.”

I explained that the powder being referenced was gunpowder, and that the phrase, attributed (rightly or wrongly) to Oliver Cromwell, went something like “Trust in God, boys, but keep your powder dry,” meaning do what YOU can to be prepared for whatever challenges await.

It means pretty much the same thing as the old Boy Scout motto, I added. Be Prepared.