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Richard’s Almanac: Speaking of the old days

RICHARD LOMUSCIO PHOTO  |  On Wednesday, December 7, members of the Silver Circle gathered at the Senior Citizen Center to make Christmas decorations, including, from left, Beverly Cahill, Donna King, Kate Davidson, Ronnie Siller, Giovanna Ketcham, Senior Center Director Laurie Fanelli and Sandy Gilpin.
RICHARD LOMUSCIO PHOTO | On Wednesday, December 7, members of the Silver Circle gathered at the Senior Citizen Center to make Christmas decorations, including, from left, Beverly Cahill, Donna King, Kate Davidson, Ronnie Siller, Giovanna Ketcham, Senior Center Director Laurie Fanelli and Sandy Gilpin.

I was traveling by car recently with a grandchild when a draft was hitting my neck.

“Could you roll your window up a bit, please,” I asked.

“What do you mean by ‘roll up’ Pop Pop?” was the reply.

I then realized that it has been some time since we rolled up car windows. It’s kind of like when I call my 95-year-old mother and get a busy signal. I’ll call back later and she’ll tell me that “I must have left the phone off the hook.”

These and many other words and expressions are leaving our language as technology makes life easier.

Someone recently forwarded to me a list of words and phrases that are disappearing or have disappeared from our language.

A Mr. Joseph Perry explains how some words and phrases now only exist in the memories of individuals of a certain age.

Just ask a young person what a “jalopy” is. Would a youngster know what “Don’t touch that dial” means?

Would any millennial know the meaning for “swell” other than distended tissue?

Other dated metaphors and similes that some seniors may remember and even still might use are “carbon copy,” “you sound like a broken record,” and “hung out to dry.”

Words I remember my parents and grandparents using were “in like Flynn” and living “the life of Riley.”

As I think of these comparisons that are almost gone forever, I wonder why others have been around for centuries. Like the nautical similes and metaphors that started in the 16th century and are still very much a part of our language.

Did you ever see a “loose cannon” who was “three sheets to the wind” try to “maintain an even keel” while keeping everything “above board?”

And the guy who tries to get “all hands on deck” to “know the ropes” and get everything “ship shape” before “casting off” and then trying to “stay the course.”

Sometimes it’s wise to “batten down the hatches” as you approach “rough seas” so you do not have to “abandon ship” or get placed in the “booby hatch.”

All the aforementioned nautical terms are well entrenched in our language, and it looks like they will be for some time to come.