Defunct titles and sayings

[Woodcarver]

My mother used to tell me to "mind my P's and Q's.  I never knew exactly what P's and Q's were and I don't think my mother did either. Now I know.  Thank you Timburr.     

[LeeB]

Far out man. :D :D

[timberfaller390]

I guess I'll swanney was just slang for I'll swear from a time when swearing of any kind was generally frowned upon unless you really needed to. My favorite " that ain't worth a fiddler's *DanG" comes from most musicans swearing so often that the words kind of lost thier flare.
Thanks texastimber for reminding me of haints.
"day lawww"
"keep yer nose clean"
"keep yer powder dry"
"dry as a powder keg"
"rich as ten foot up a mule's butt"
"that stuff'll grow pink whiskers on a horse mule" (usally refering to strong drink)
"that'll curl your toes" (strong drink again)
Corn shuckins are mostly a thing of the past but we still host one every year on the farm. I play the fiddle and all the boy's I pick with show up to provide the entertainment. Traditionaly a gallon of moonshine was put at the bottom of the pile of corn to be shucked for insentive to get to the bottom fast. The alternate to this is to have a jug of shine and when somebody shucks a red ear they get a pull off the jug. We usally keep a couple of quarts of my grandpaw's finest for just such an event. It's really a great fun gathering for all the family and friends.

[pineywoods]

Save P and Go

Same as Store P and Branch. Bet Tom thought nobody would have a clue ;D

[Tom]

 :D :D

Aren't you glad to be able to look back on that instead of going to work tomorrow to do it.  :D :D

[pineywoods]

:D :D

Aren't you glad to be able to look back on that instead of going to work tomorrow to do it.  :D :D

Yeah, but going to work to do that wasn't quite as rough as trying to figure out what some @#$%$#@ programmer was thinking when they did it :

[Slabs]

Since we're on unusual expressions, I'd like to know if any members have ever heard of the expression "chawed". (Kinda like a Southern rural  past-tense of chew). It may well be localized to the Southeast Alabama area where I grew up but if it has migrated anywhere else I would like to know.

My best "interpretation" of the word is "humiliated" or something like "put out".

Any responses would be appreciated.

[Tom]

this actually took a path I hadn't intended.  Defunct means "not used anymore".  I was trying to get identified stuff that, either didn't exist anymore, or, we don't say anymore, not just unusual expressions.

I've heard Chawed a lot.  It seems to be a term used through the middle of the country more than the very south.  I've heard it as "chewed out", fussed at, reprimanded as well as a past perfect tense of chew.

It is also used as a reference to chewing tobacco where a chew is a "chaw". 

I've heard it most in North Georgia, N.C., Tenn. and North alabama.  \

It's only been in my later years that I have widened my horizons to include Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.  Those were far-off, foreign soils until my retirement, and I don't know much about their speech.  Accept that I have trouble understanding it a lot of the time.   :P :D

[Dave Shepard]

this actually took a path I hadn't intended. 

Did that surprise you?


Dave

[timberfaller390]

We still use it to describe a "chaw of tobacco" and in the phrase "chaw it over" like "we'll chaw it over and see what we can come up with"

[Don P]

A windjammer could sail "by and large"

Remember the old lead pipes and plumbers "wiping" the joints. Or even the term plumber, one who works with plumbum (lead, Pb)

A tinker doing a repair on a pot would contain the solder within, a clay dam, which once the repair was complete probably wasn't worth a tinker's dam.

"Short were his shrift in that debate. If Lorn encounter'd Bruce!"
A shrift was a pennance given during confessional. Between conviction and the gallows a man often got a short shrift. v. shive

[iffy]

Fits like a saddle on a sow.
Chewin the fat (talking to someone)
chewin the rag (same as above)
peddle pushers (capri pants)

[Sprucegum]

My Grandmother's favorite expressions were

"Oh Rubbish!" or "My Land!"  the closest she ever came to cussin'

[thecfarm]

Half past 3.
My Father would always say that,meaning it's 3:30.My Aunt says it too.It's good to hear her say it.

[Tom]

Half Past and sayings like clock-wise, are going away with the use of digital clocks.

[sawdust]

I was standing in the hall of a local college and a 18 yr old fellow came up to me and asked: What time is it in digital? We were standing in front of an analogue clock!

Suns over the yardarm. close enough time for most things.

sawdust

[tcsmpsi]

LYric 2-3689 

[DouginUtah]

Going back a bit further....

63R7  (Sixty-three ring 7)

Our phone number in the forties, and early fifties.

[Tom]

Mine was 403
My cousins were at 567R.  (party line)


Number please

[little Bark]

Ok I'm going to show my age here what is a party line?

[Tom]

There was a day when it was difficult to get a private/single line from your house to its own connection at the switchboard. (a wo- manned device with connecting wires that were manually installed in jacks that went to the callee's house.)

The sharing of the lines was common to allow for everyone having a phone.  Each phone on that line carried a partyline designation and a certain number of rings so that you could tell that it was your phone being rung. Having a "private" number was a status thing and cost a bit more too. It meant that you were the only person on that line.

You could hear other conversations if you picked up a party line, the same as you would if you picked up an extension in your house.   All Party lines seemed to have a snooper who gossiped about every body else's business.  :D

[pigman]

On the newer party lines only your ring was heard on the line, but on the older 8 party lines, yes I said 8, the rings could be heard by all on the line and it was a real party when someone  everyone was on the line. :

[BBK]

I saw the reference to Naptha and associated it with coleman lanterns and stoves.  We used to call that Coleman fuel, for no better term.

White gas to me was Amoco White.  It was the pre-unleaded era's, unleaded gasoline.  It was used in autos that required high octane and was sold as a fuel that would extend tune-ups and engine life.  It was unleaded gasoline.   Pure, a Standard company, also sold a white gasoline in some of their stores, but it wasn't presented to the public as an available fuel.  You would find the Pure white in a pump on the side of a station much the same as you do Kerosene #1 diesel now. 

Thats what ZI thought you meant - Amoco white gas. Good stuff.
We are showing our age to remember that!

[scsmith42]

"Operator" - try getting a live person on the phone..

Another oldie is cattycorner - as in the drugstore is cattycorner to the barbershop.

And then there's that old southern standby - "down yonder"

Like pulling hen's teeth.

Scarcer than a two dollar bill

[timberfaller390]

"out of kilter"