Speaking of old fashioned words

[TR]

Did anyone else have older family members that called the couch a “davenport”?

[isabel]

No, but DH’s girlfriend before me was Canadian and her parents called their couch a chesterfield.

[winecat]

My grandmother. She's 102.

[TR]

Aug 6, 2020 21:39:10 GMT -5 winecat said:

My grandmother. She's 102.

Ok the people I’m thinking of were my great-aunts & uncles and they would be around that age if they were still alive.

[gerder3]

My grandmother. Except she would say it like "dam-port", so I was very confused for many years.

[flex]

"Davenport" is what we called it when I was a kid. Okay boomer.

[skidunks]

My grandma called it a davenport.
My mom insisted on calling her wallet a “billfold”. I have not a clue why.

[mysteriouswife]

I have never heard a sofa called a Davenport outside of antique roadshow.

[keyslover]

Aug 6, 2020 21:37:38 GMT -5 isabel said:

No, but DH’s girlfriend before me was Canadian and her parents called their couch a chesterfield.

Reminds me of a Barenaked Ladies song.

" And if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars
I'd buy you furniture for your house
Maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman"

[7costanza]

Aug 6, 2020 22:17:04 GMT -5 skidunks said:

My grandma called it a davenport.
My mom insisted on calling her wallet a “billfold”. I have not a clue why.

My mom uses both of these words!

[mccallister84]

Aug 6, 2020 21:39:10 GMT -5 winecat said:

My grandmother. She's 102.

@@ I am reading my girls Beezus and Ramona. Beverly Cleary calls it a Davenport. She’s 104.

[rosiebear]

My parents did! And a footstool was a hassock.

[lilac05]

When I read the title of the thread, I immediately thought of “Davenport.” LOL!

My grandma also used billfold.

One side of the family used both words, the other side didn’t use either one.

[Roc A Bee]

My grandma used Davenport and billfold. Good memories!

[ellipses84]

My grandma did. She’s be in her 90s.

[Rainyday]

Pocketbook
Draperies

[nellgirl]

Aug 6, 2020 23:17:13 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

My parents did! And a footstool was a hassock.

Ha! I’m 40 and I call it a hassock.

[nellgirl]

Aug 6, 2020 21:37:38 GMT -5 isabel said:

No, but DH’s girlfriend before me was Canadian and her parents called their couch a chesterfield.

That’s pretty common in certain regions in Canada. I alternate between chesterfield and couch/sofa. Also, I think that for me, a chesterfield is more of an old school style, like something that would have been covered in plastic at an elderly relative’s house.

[Nonny]

My gram called it a Davenport. She'd be 101 I think if she were still alive.

I'm pretty sure both Davenport and Chesterfield were brands turned common names. Kind of like how we might call any reclining chair a la-z-boy.

Not sure about billfold. It's a term my 76 year old mom uses though.

[Deleted]

Aug 7, 2020 0:48:52 GMT -5 Rainyday said:

Pocketbook
Draperies

Wait, pocketbook is old fashioned? I use pocketbook and purse and handbag interchangeably depending on my mood LOL

[tennisgal]

My grandparents had a couch that was 'the davenport.' Also, I swear that thing was some magical furniture that could comfortably seat 4-5 adults!

[wildrice]

Aug 6, 2020 22:17:04 GMT -5 skidunks said:

My grandma called it a davenport.
My mom insisted on calling her wallet a “billfold”. I have not a clue why.

I have a friend (who is 41) who calls her purse her "pocketbook". Not sure if that's old fashioned or regional, but I lived in the same state she grew up in for many years and she's the only person our age I've ever heard use that term!

Never heard of a davenport. Is that a brand name or where did that even come from?

[rubytue]

My father said billfold, although, it was more like “billfoal”. He has a lot of quirky expressions, that I never really thought about. I assumed it was an Appalachian dialect thing.

And ottomans were hassocks in our house. Mentally, I categorized a ottoman as something more furniture like, with a frame, and a hassock more of a stuffed, cushion foot rest. Because that’s what our hassocks were, but that was probably coincidence.

My grandma was always a breakfast, dinner, supper person. Lunch didn’t happen in her house. But, she did stick to the true meaning and dinner was the large meal, with supper being a light meal.

[BeagleMama]

My mom, who watches my four year old daughter, often refers to getting her hair cut as "going to the beauty salon." I love when DD calls it that too.

[flex]

Billfold was for guys; pocketbook was for women.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oleo

[followyourarrow]

All the men I know refer to them as billfolds not wallets.

[winecat]

rubytue- I forgot about supper! <3

[winecat]

Aug 7, 2020 8:24:18 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Oleo

My grandma still calls it Oleo.  I remember her telling me that there used to be small yellow tablets/capsules that they'd have to crush and work into the bag of Oleo to make it look like margarine.  

[flex]

"Supper" was used by my grandma and my aunts/uncles who were still living at home when I was a little girl. But my parents called it dinner, and that's what I used.

I remember when I was real little (4 or 5) I was playing outside while at my grandma's house. My aunt who would have been around 10 at the time came out to bring me inside for dinner: "Baby Flex, it's time for 'supper'". I didn't want to go inside because I was having fun, but I thought she said "sucker" and I wanted some candy, so I went inside without a fuss. lol