Terms Which Have Disappeared

[LizzieMaine]

I still call those stretchy waterproof things you pull over your shoes on a rainy day "rubbas" and this causes the Dear Young People no end of hilarity. I encourage them in this by yelling after them when it's inclement outside "don't f'get ta weah ya rub-bas!"

 

[Hercule]

Right. Traditional brogans resembled what we might refer to today as a "Chukka boot", except a bit higher up the ankle and sometimes had a taller heel.

My grandmother called them "gun-boots". The ones I wore were (courtesy of my brother who was in the navy at the time) were boondockers. I loved them. So much more practical than army boots (I wore those too). I would polish them up and wear them with a tux when I performed in college. Nobody was the wiser.

 

[Hercule]

I still call those stretchy waterproof things you pull over your shoes on a rainy day "rubbas" and this causes the Dear Young People no end of hilarity. I encourage them in this by yelling after them when it's inclement outside "don't f'get ta weah ya rub-bas!"

Somehow you sound like Catherine Hepburn when you talk like that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I do a deadly Hepburn. Rally ah do.

 

[Harp]

I still call those stretchy waterproof things you pull over your shoes on a rainy day "rubbas" and this causes the Dear Young People no end of hilarity. I encourage them in this by yelling after them when it's inclement outside "don't f'get ta weah ya rub-bas!"

Long ago and far away, I was sergeant of an arms room for my detachment in northern Greece. Thirty Americans,
all rifles, pistols, and ammo counted daily with inventory signed by a commissioned officer. Policy was to place a
ribber condum over the barrel of the M16 rifle kept in stocks; then one day the US Army concluded that such application
sweat the rifle's barrel and said practice was discontinued. This notice was given by radio and a four-star general,
inspecting the detachment, reiterated this verbally. I promptly took off all condums, tossing them on my small desk.
Fifty rifles, quite a tire pile. Also with the general's entourage was a chaplain, a lieutenant colonel who stuck his head
inside the arms room to say hello. He saw the pile of condums, and his smile disappeared. My corporal assistant
spoke up in his best Alabama twang: "The general says we can't use no rubbers, sir."

 

[Fading Fast]

I still call those stretchy waterproof things you pull over your shoes on a rainy day "rubbas" and this causes the Dear Young People no end of hilarity. I encourage them in this by yelling after them when it's inclement outside "don't f'get ta weah ya rub-bas!"

What I find amazing is that most people under 40 never wear them, period, as they simply get their shoes wet. I don't understand that, but I see it all the time. To be sure, a few wear "rain shoes" and switch at the office, but most young men (and many young women) just walk through the rain with their regular shoes and, then, sit with wet shoes at work.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't get that either. Granted, most shoes today have rubber soles instead of leather, but rain -- and especially winter salt -- will do a number on anything with any leather in it at all, including these $300 dress boots I see people wearing. A pair of footwear that costs more than I spend on food in a month deserves at least some kind of protection.

The only thing I don't like about rubbas (I use the dialect spelling to avoid confusion with, you know, the other kind) is when I forget to take them off and end up with overheated feet.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

"Dry Goods" as in "Dry Goods store". I get that these were not groceries, but what exactly are dry goods? What would you buy in a dry goods store that you wouldn't find in a hardware store? I suppose you could get paint and kerosene in a hardware store, but it seems that pretty much everything else would be dry.

 

[Harp]

What I find amazing is that most people under 40 never wear them, period, as they simply get their shoes wet. I don't understand that, but I see it all the time. To be sure, a few wear "rain shoes" and switch at the office, but most young men (and many young women) just walk through the rain with their regular shoes and, then, sit with wet shoes at work.

Salt is corrosive as hell, rain or sleet, or snow. When I was a kid in the Army salt infested Corcoran leather jump boots
had to be cleaned with either ammonia or Gilette razor blades, then repolished to a spit shine gloss. I hate to admit
this but a private informed me that Johnson's Floor Wax applied over Kiwi polish worked for garrison duty standards.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Dry goods" are fabrics sold off the bolts for sewing, along with notions and other sewing supplies. "Fancy goods" are often sold alongside "Dry goods" and are things like rolls of lace edging, ribbons, and other fancy trimmings.

Most any Lum-and-Abner-style "General Store," or city Five-and-Ten featured a "dry goods counter" where such products were sold, and if you wanted better grades you could go to a dedicated "dry goods store."

 

[BobHufford]

... and then there are the "sundries".

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

I remember there being a "notions" counter at my home town G.C. Murphy's Five and Ten Cent store, but I don't think that anyone ever found a "Million Dollar Baby" there.

 

[MisterCairo]

I still call those stretchy waterproof things you pull over your shoes on a rainy day "rubbas" and this causes the Dear Young People no end of hilarity. I encourage them in this by yelling after them when it's inclement outside "don't f'get ta weah ya rub-bas!"

As a child in the 70s, we called erasers rubbers. Try that today...

 

[tonyb]

I remember there being a "notions" counter at my home town G.C. Murphy's Five and Ten Cent store, but I don't think that anyone ever found a "Million Dollar Baby" there.

My Dear Old Ma gave her Singer a regular workout back when she was far from old. So I was familiar with that definition of “notions” before any of the others. “Sewing notions” was a bit of a redundancy in that time and place, although I would probably use it myself these days, to spare any- and everyone the confusion.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Late to the party...as usual...but I've never in my life seen anyone wear "rubbas" or "rain boots" or whatever the locals call them. I know what they are, of course, but never have seen anyone wearing them. And it's not due to lack of rain, I've always lived in locations where we got more than our fair share. People, myself included, just walked through the rain in their regular shoes. Perhaps it's a regional thing.

 

[Bushman]

Late to the party...as usual...but I've never in my life seen anyone wear "rubbas" or "rain boots" or whatever the locals call them. I know what they are, of course, but never have seen anyone wearing them. And it's not due to lack of rain, I've always lived in locations where we got more than our fair share. People, myself included, just walked through the rain in their regular shoes. Perhaps it's a regional thing.

Around here, I only see kids wearing galoshes or rainboots. Like you said, most people just walk in the rain with their regular shoes. Personally, I prefer to wear my leather work boots if I can.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Hershey squirts" = diarrhea

Because of Hershey chocolate? Can be so bad for your stomach??

 

[ChrisB]

"Hershey squirts" = diarrhea

Because of Hershey chocolate? Can be so bad for your stomach??

The expression refers to the effect, not the cause.

 

[Zombie_61]

"Hershey squirts" = diarrhea

Because of Hershey chocolate? Can be so bad for your stomach??

Actually, chocolate, and dark chocolate in particular, contains "flavonoids" that can allegedly help to treat diarrhea, not cause it. As ChrisB wrote above, the term "Hershey squirts" is simply a reference that the "squirts" somewhat resemble melted chocolate.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Ever been "too big for your britches"?
Tackled a job that requires "thee men and a boy"?