Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Fading Fast]

"20th Century Fox" is no more, with Disney, which bought out the studio last year, having officially changed the name to "20th Century Studios." This is almost, but not quite, a return to the original "20th Century Pictures" name that Darryl F. Zanuck used for his studio before it merged with the Fox Film Corporation in 1934.

It was this original "20th Century Pictures" company that first used the animated art-deco buildings-and-searchlights logo, with the addition of FOX to the trademark coming later.

The logo will be retained with the elimination of the FOX name. The change was stipulated in the contracts under which Disney bought out the film and television studio operations, in order to prevent any confusion with Fox News or the Fox Television Network, which will remain under control of the Murdoch family. That company has had nothing to do with its founder, William Fox, since that mogul was expelled from the company in 1930, driven to bankruptcy, and ultimately sentenced to prison for trying to bribe a bankruptcy judge. The present Murdoch companies will retain the Fox name.

When I was a real little kid, I remember thinking this was the most impressive of the studio logos and, as little kids will, thought that meant these were the best movies and shows. Fueling that early idolization, when I was five and watching the Batman TV show, this was its logo, which only made sense since, to my five-year-old self, that was the best show on TV.

 

[skydog757]

I was watching an old Youtube video the other day and heard a baseball umpire use the term "We're in the jackpot here". I remembered hearing the phrase before but didn't know what it meant until I looked it up.

 

[og_jason_lee]

People don’t use the phrase “Grab ass” enough. There I said it!

 

[earl]

People don’t use the phrase “Grab ass” enough. There I said it!

Haven't heard nor thought of the phrase "playing grab ass" since I was a young buck 45 years ago.

 

[og_jason_lee]

It’s a great phrase! We really should bring it back.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Haven't heard nor thought of the phrase "playing grab ass" since I was a young buck 45 years ago.

You Americans have such a wonderful way with words - from the President upwards.

 

[Ticklishchap]

A few days ago, when booking a local Italian restaurant dinner for two, I missed out on the discount night (we have a government subsidised Monday-Wednesday diners' discount in the UK at the moment called 'Eat Out to Help Out'). When I realised that we had to book another night, I said that because it would be quieter it was a 'blessing in disguise'. I realised then that it was ages since I'd heard anyone use that phrase!

 

[Fading Fast]

In yesterday's "Day by Day" thread, the expression "an egg in your beer" came up. I knew what it meant by context (something extra / a bonus / something you don't really deserve) and think (only think) I'd heard it before in either an old movie or book, but that one has disappeared as far as I can tell.

 

[tonyb]

...
When I realised that we had to book another night, I said that because it would be quieter it was a 'blessing in disguise'. I realised then that it was ages since I'd heard anyone use that phrase!

I’ve used that phrase myself, but, come to think of it, probably not in at least a couple of decades.

 

[Ticklishchap]

I’ve used that phrase myself, but, come to think of it, probably not in at least a couple of decades.

We’re probably about the same age then Tony!

 

[skydog757]

"There wasn't enough room to swing a cat" or conversely
"There was a hole in the wall big enough to throw a cat through".

 

[Woodtroll]

"There wasn't enough room to swing a cat" or conversely
"There was a hole in the wall big enough to throw a cat through".

Haha! Both of those are alive and well here in the Southern Appalachians. Although I'll have to say in all my life I've never seen anyone swing or throw a cat. Toss, maybe, but not throw...

Another cat saying - "a cord of firewood should be stacked loose enough to let a squirrel run through, but tight enough to stop the cat that's chasing it." The idea is to give the wood air room to season and dry, but not be so loose as to waste space, topple easily, or cheat a buyer. I have seen this one in use far, far too many times, and my now-adult kids learned it early, as well. In a few more years, I hope to teach it by application to my grandkids.

 

[Bushman]

Haha! Both of those are alive and well here in the Southern Appalachians. Although I'll have to say in all my life I've never seen anyone swing or throw a cat. Toss, maybe, but not throw...

Another cat saying - "a cord of firewood should be stacked loose enough to let a squirrel run through, but tight enough to stop the cat that's chasing it." The idea is to give the wood air room to season and dry, but not be so loose as to waste space, topple easily, or cheat a buyer. I have seen this one in use far, far too many times, and my now-adult kids learned it early, as well. In a few more years, I hope to teach it by application to my grandkids.

I've never heard this one before, but I like it. I think I'm gonna start using it.

 

[Ticklishchap]

"Dead as a Dodo": it's years since I heard that expression.

 

[tonyb]

“Shirttail relative.”

I used the phrase myself today, but I’ve rarely heard anyone else use it in decades, it seems. I trust that most native American-English speakers would figure out its meaning from context.

 

[Stanley Doble]

In yesterday's "Day by Day" thread, the expression "an egg in your beer" came up. I knew what it meant by context (something extra / a bonus / something you don't really deserve) and think (only think) I'd heard it before in either an old movie or book, but that one has disappeared as far as I can tell.

If you want to see someone enjoy an egg in his beer find the 1937 William Powell Myrna Loy movie "Double Wedding". Not only is it a great movie, very enjoyable, but you can see William Powell having a schooner of beer with a raw egg in it for breakfast.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

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.

 

[Haversack]

"Grass Widow". - A term I last heard used in the 1980s in the Army in Germany. Especially for wives of soldiers in the 2nd and 11th ACRs who would average about 200 days a year 'in the field'. I wonder if it is still in use given the extended deployments so prevalent today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"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.

 

[Ticklishchap]

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