DAILY WORDS

It occurred to me this morning, after the second or third coffee, that as dictionaries grow in size, so do our everyday vocabularies change.

And much as we often do not notice the little changes in ourselves as we live from day to day, so we do not notice the changes in our vocabularies.

I have a list somewhere of words/phrases that I grew up using, but, of course, I cannot find it now.

But a few terms do resonate…and I still use all of them.

I used to tell my students that they didn’t have to use coarse language to impress people in conversation. Try to use a few antique words and phrases instead and people will sit up and take notice.

Here are a few:

We used to watch the police go by in their prowl car.

We used to sit by the fireplace in the front room.

We looked forward to the arrivals of the milk men and the bread men in their horse drawn wagons.

And some of us wanted to be coal men or ice men and make deliveries to all the houses.

And it was exciting to watch the tinker sharpen the shears and knives and clippers when he came through the neighborhood.

And then there was the pumice stone on the shelf by the bathtub.

And we were directed not to lallygag on the way home.

And we used to play monopoly on the verandah.

And we always made sure everyone had a serviette for all meals.

And the sofa was a chesterfield.

And we needed to be careful of our spectacles.

And we needed to tie our laces carefully when we put our boots on.

And in bad weather we always wore our galoshes.

And there you have the list as I recall it as of now.
I am sure there are dozens and dozens more of such antiques.

I look forward to remembering.