Whatchamacallit

[Marie Mallory]

Yup.

Now I have that commercial song in my head.
'Hey Mabel, black label, Carling black label beer".

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Whenever I called something a "Whatchamacallit", my Dad would say "It's not a Whatchamacallit, it's a Dumaflache!" He was also fond of Doodad, Doohickey, Gizmo and Thingamabob.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

You still haven't told me what "pop" is.

That is a nickname for Soda Pop, but I know from 15 years of one nighters in bars, there are some places where if you order Soda, Pop, or Soda Pop, you'll get Soda Water. Mostly in parts of the mid-west.

It's also when you hit somebody, commonly referred to as putting a pop knot upside their head. In typical Roy D. Mercer style...

 

[John Brunner]

That is a nickname for Soda Pop, but I know from 15 years of one nighters in bars, there are some places where if you order Soda, Pop, or Soda Pop, you'll get Soda Water. Mostly in parts of the mid-west.

It's also when you hit somebody, commonly referred to as putting a pop knot upside their head. In typical Roy D. Mercer style...

At this risk of doing this:


When you order "pop," do you expect them to bring you some random carbonated beverage? How do they know exactly what you want?


No one has yet to explain that to me.

 

[Ken Anderson]

We called it "pop," but that was like saying "beer," in that it didn't communicate the brand or the flavor you were looking for, so it might be followed with, "What kind of pop do you want?"

 

[Axel Slingerland]

When you order "pop," do you expect them to bring you some random carbonated beverage?

Back in the late 1970s and 1980s, if you ordered a Pop, that meant you wanted a Coke. Most of the bars we played at didn't have very many non-alcoholic drinks. But they had Cokes for the Rum and Coke crowd. It's also very region specific.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Whenever I called something a "Whatchamacallit", my Dad would say "It's not a Whatchamacallit, it's a Dumaflache!" He was also fond of Doodad, Doohickey, Gizmo and Thingamabob.

I remember the doodad , thingamajig,

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Yep, they were real humdingers.

 

[Mary Robi]

For some reason, my granddaughter always called anything for her hair (barrettes, bows, pony-tail holders, etc) "hair pretties". I don't know where she first heard it, but it stuck with her.

We were in Dollar Tree once and she said, "Meemaw, I need some new hair pretties!" An elderly lady standing near us came over and said she hadn't heard that term since she was a little girl. She said that whenever her dad went into town from the farm, she'd ask him to bring her a new hair pretty and he'd bring her back a ribbon or a bow. She looked so happy to hear that term again.

 

[Ken Anderson]

When it's cold outside, do you put on a jacket or a coat? Are they different things? By definition, they are different things, but to me they have always been interchangeable terms; sometimes I'll call it a jacket, and at other times I might refer to the same garment as a coat. There is also such a thing as a coat jacket, but that has never been in my working vocabulary.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

When it's cold outside, do you put on a jacket or a coat? Are they different things? By definition, they are different things, but to me they have always been interchangeable terms; sometimes I'll call it a jacket, and at other times I might refer to the same garment as a coat. There is also such a thing as a coat jacket, but that has never been in my working vocabulary.

I consider a jacket to be a shorter, more casual outerwear where a coat is a longer, dressier garment. I think many people use the terms interchangeably though. And FWIW, I seldom wear either since we don't have a lot of cold weather. I'm more likely to throw on a hoodie or other sweatshirt since I don't spend any time outdoors.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

We called it "pop," but that was like saying "beer," in that it didn't communicate the brand or the flavor you were looking for, so it might be followed with, "What kind of pop do you want?"

My band used to play at this club in Memphis back in 1980s that carried 400 types of beer. They had these booklets with a picture of each bottle, and when you bought one, they would put their stamp on the matching picture. If you bought them all (preferably not all at once) they would give you a 12 pack of your favorite one. That was a great sales gimmick in a specialty beer bar.

 

[Don Alaska]

Yeh, but they were probably talking about RC Cola. It's a southern favorite.

And I never thought of the cocaine angle. Original Coca Cola must have been Red Bull on steroids.

I was just told that by folks who were life-long North Carolina residents. True or not, I don't know but it makes sense to me.

 

[Don Alaska]

My mother had a cabinet similar to that at the old hotel, and it was called a Kitchen Queen, at least that is what she always called it. It had bins for storage for potatoes and flour, and cabinets for other kitchen items.

View attachment 668

In ours, the big door hid flour storage and a built-in sifter.

 

[Don Alaska]

When, as a child, I moved from New Jersey to Western Pennsylvania, I ordered a soda and got an Ice cream soda. I was expecting a simple soft drink as that what they were called in NJ, but in PA soft drinks were POP. In a similar way with milk shake and frappe in parts of New England.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

I ordered a soda and got an Ice cream soda.

That's better than Soda Water...

 

[John Brunner]

When, as a child, I moved from New Jersey to Western Pennsylvania, I ordered a soda and got an Ice cream soda. I was expecting a simple soft drink as that what they were called in NJ, but in PA soft drinks were POP. In a similar way with milk shake and frappe in parts of New England.

At least you got out of New Jersey

 

[Don Alaska]

At least you got out of New Jersey

I liked Jersey when I was a kid. We lived in a suburb south of NYC but it was quite rural then. My brother went back to find our house a few years ago and it no longer is rural. The winters in PA were much more fun for us kids. Winter in Jersey was boring.

 

[Patsy Faye]

I consider a jacket to be a shorter, more casual outerwear where a coat is a longer, dressier garment. I think many people use the terms interchangeably though. And FWIW, I seldom wear either since we don't have a lot of cold weather. I'm more likely to throw on a hoodie or other sweatshirt since I don't spend any time outdoors.

I agree with you Beth. When I was looking for a 'coat' online last year, each site kept showing me 'jackets'!
I've got jackets, I want a coat! I had to give up trying to save me mental health
I mean to say - you don't ask for a 'bomber coat' do you, no - you ask for a bomber 'jacket'
You don't ask for a 'coat potato' do you, no - you ask for a 'jacket potato' .....

 

[Madge Bumstead]

In ours, the big door hid flour storage and a built-in sifter.

One of my grandmas had such a flour bin!

Talk about a walk down memory lane reading your entry, Don!