Things We Don't Say Anymore

Shirley Thompson, stopped by the Harpswell Anchor office the other day. Irritated by some “damned fool,” she referred to him as a “piss pot.” Now back in the day before profanity ran rampant, “piss pot” was about as nasty a name a kid could call another. No one uses that insult anymore, even though it is actually used in one of Shakespeare’s plays. (Don’t ask which, I don’t remember). That brought to mind a whole host of terms, one never hears any more.
Does anyone go down street or over town to visit Dr. Green? For those of you too young to remember, does anyone go to town to the liquor store? Do you get there by suburban wagon? And while you’re there, do you stop at the five and ten? Come to think of it, will a nickel buy anything anymore?
My mother used to suffer from “sick headaches.” Does anybody get those anymore or have they been replaced by migraines or something else more exotic, some syndrome, perhaps? Maybe we don’t get them anymore. I certainly hope not, they were not a good way to spend a day unless projectile vomiting happens to be your thing.
How many parents stay awake rubbing Vicks or Bengue or their kids’ legs to alleviate “growing pains.” Maybe kids these days don’t exercise enough to get them?
Stan Freeberg, once named some colors for an automotive manufacturer as “Come and get me copper” and “Thanks vermillion.” Back in the day anyone describing a vague color would tell you it was “sky blue pink.” Haven’t heard that in a long time. I still have a Stan Freeburg record that I can play on the Victrola, though.
How come we don’t go to the pictures on Saturday afternoon or cough up a dime for a funny book? If you didn’t know what flick was playing back then, you probably didn’t know shit from Shinola, but then again, who polishes shoes anymore?
When is the last time you saw kids play a game of alleys? The finger dexterity required would certainly aid their performance on a play station and at the same time teach them about the joys or hazards of gambling and the laws of economics.
As old timers die off and technology changes, so does speech and life. We don’t drive uptown to shop for everything we need on Maine St. Soon, among the many things we won’t hear will be the drone of the planes taking off from the Naval Air Station. Life will go on and someday, someone will write an article about how we don’t hear the term “cell phone” anymore.