Terms Which Have Disappeared

Stanley Doble · Jan 11, 2015

Are you saying you would refuse to associate with them unless you were paid.

Someone asked Fred Allen "what's an Associate Producer?" He replied "That's anybody who will associate with a producer".

tonyb · Jan 11, 2015

KILO NOVEMBER said:
When I am a guest somewhere, I don't expect to pay for the hospitality proffered. When I am a customer, I expect to pay for the service, and I expect the service or product or both to be satisfactory. If I were a guest, and the meal wasn't satisfactory, it would be a faux pas to complain. If I am a customer, and the goods or services were unsatisfactory, pointing this out to the vendor and his staff (in a polite, direct, and unambiguous manner) gives them an opportunity to improve.

Couldn't agree with you more. That last sentence in particular strikes a chord. I once had a job that had me fielding customer complaints. I soon learned that there is just no pleasing some people (whatever their actual problems might have been had little if anything to do with me and my employers), but I came to appreciate most people who took the time to gripe. Even in those cases when I felt they had made their own contributions to whatever difficulties they may have had with our service, most of those folks were giving us the chance to keep them as customers. People were always free to take their money elsewhere. With rare exception, I much preferred they not do that.

LizzieMaine · Jan 11, 2015

Exactly. Mr. Allen knew whereof he spoke.

Alice Blue · Jan 11, 2015

I just stumped the employees of a local fabric store by asking for "button cord." Apparently the usual term is "button thread," but I'm 99% sure that my grandmother called it "cord." Now I'm wondering if my brains are scrambled since Google isn't turning anything up.

The shop clerk told me that her grandmother used to say "in the forenoon."

Stanley Doble · Jan 11, 2015

My grandmother told me slang was ill bred and there were two words she never wanted to hear me say. One of them was swell and the other one was lousy. But she never told me what they were.

jamespowers · Jan 12, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
No Sir, I was merely pointing out that the inconsiderate neighbors were more troublesome during those 14-1/2 years than the alley. On that day, I'm sure we were nothing more than the victims of a local police officer who had fallen behind on his monthly quota for ticket-writing.

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.... They dropped a dime on you and you know it.

Zombie_61 · Jan 12, 2015

jamespowers said:
Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.... They dropped a dime on you and you know it.

Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

tonyb · Jan 13, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

Well, at least they were that smart, right? Although if it were apparent to the neighbors that they were up to various illegalities, well, they weren't as discreet as a truly smart criminal would be.

Zombie_61 · Jan 14, 2015

tonyb said:
Well, at least they were that smart, right? Although if it were apparent to the neighbors that they were up to various illegalities, well, they weren't as discreet as a truly smart criminal would be.

In my experience the words "smart" and "criminal" don't often belong in the same sentence. lol

tonyb · Jan 14, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
In my experience the words "smart" and "criminal" don't often belong in the same sentence. lol

Part of what makes a smart criminal smart is that most people wouldn't think he or she was a criminal, leastwise not at first glance. It's the people given to posing, to swagger, to conspicuous display of their ill-gotten proceeds, who go to prison, usually sooner rather than later. These are the more common sort, of course.

LizzieMaine · Jan 14, 2015

tonyb said:
Part of what makes a smart criminal smart is that most people wouldn't think he or she was a criminal, leastwise not at first glance. It's the people given to posing, to swagger, to conspicuous display of their ill-gotten proceeds, who go to prison, usually sooner rather than later. These are the more common sort, of course.

Whitewashed tombs, filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Now there's a term which has disappeared.

jamespowers · Jan 14, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
Nahhh. Having witnessed their actions, I believe I can safely say at least half of them wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the police. lol

They can call in anonymously.

F. J. · Jan 15, 2015

Matt. 23:27

LizzieMaine said:
Whitewashed tombs, filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Now there's a term which has disappeared.

“Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men’s bones,
and of all uncleanness.”

—St. Matthew XXIII. 27.

Jesus kinda liked to tell it as it is, doncha think?

Zombie_61 · Jan 15, 2015

jamespowers said:
They can call in anonymously.

Right, like the police department doesn't have caller I.D.. lol

Dan Allen · Jan 15, 2015

It seems to me as though the terms "sir" and "ma'am" are fast Disappearing, at least around here. Almost daily I am addressed by a lady at a cash register as "honey" or "sweety". I find this very annoying. Just this morning while paying for gas, I was addressed by the lady cashier as "baby doll". I informed her that it was both unprofessional and infers a familiarity that does not exist, sir would be fine. She just shoved the change into my hand without saying a word and turned and looked out the window with her arms folded .... no doubt to look at the space ship she figured I was fueling.

dh66 · Jan 15, 2015

I hear that so often down here that I guess I'm just used to it. Don't even give it much thought. As a matter of fact, if I were to, say, dine in a BBQ restaurant or maybe a meat and three, or some such place where the iced tea is sweet enough to pour over pancakes, and the waitress did NOT call me Hon or Sugar, I would take the omission as a black mark against the establishment.

On the opposite side of the coin, I once had a woman politely but firmly ask that I not call her Ma'am, as that was short for Madame, and that was another name for a woman who ran an establishment of questionable virtue, which she herself most certainly was not. I guess it takes all kinds.

LizzieMaine · Jan 15, 2015

Around here, "sir" is most often heard ironically, as in "Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

Bruce Wayne · Jan 15, 2015

My bosses name is Paul but I can't recall if I've ever called him anything other than sir.

HudsonHawk · Jan 15, 2015

dh66 said:
I hear that so often down here that I guess I'm just used to it. Don't even give it much thought. As a matter of fact, if I were to, say, dine in a BBQ restaurant or maybe a meat and three, or some such place where the iced tea is sweet enough to pour over pancakes, and the waitress did NOT call me Hon or Sugar, I would take the omission as a black mark against the establishment.

On the opposite side of the coin, I once had a woman politely but firmly ask that I not call her Ma'am, as that was short for Madame, and that was another name for a woman who ran an establishment of questionable virtue, which she herself most certainly was not. I guess it takes all kinds.

Yeah, I LIKE being addressed as "Hon" or "Sugar". That implied familiarity is one of the South's charms.

jamespowers · Jan 15, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
Right, like the police department doesn't have caller I.D.. lol

Not on the anonymous line.

Terms Which Have Disappeared

Stanley Doble

Call Me a Cab

tonyb

LizzieMaine

Alice Blue

One of the Regulars

Stanley Doble

Call Me a Cab

jamespowers

Zombie_61

tonyb

Zombie_61

tonyb

LizzieMaine

jamespowers

F. J.

One of the Regulars

Zombie_61

Dan Allen

A-List Customer

dh66

LizzieMaine

Bruce Wayne

My Mail is Forwarded Here

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

jamespowers

Similar threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Latest posts

Latest posts

Terms Which Have Disappeared

Call Me a Cab

One of the Regulars

Call Me a Cab

One of the Regulars

A-List Customer

My Mail is Forwarded Here

I'll Lock Up

Similar threads

Log in

Forum statistics