What Do You Call That? 11 Old Names for Things We Use Everyday!

The grandkids might not understand these terms, but we sure do!

You might call them different names in different parts of the country. We use these different names based on where we live and how old we are. How many of us remember our parents referring to the refrigerator as an icebox? Read on for more of what we used to call things.

Via/ Flickr

Tom Thumb golf: the old-fashioned way of referring to miniature golf, bringing to mind the diminutive fairy tale character. The Tom Thumb chain of golf courses is what started the miniature golf craze.

Via/ Library of Congress

Sweeper: is what we called a vacuum. Some people also call all vacuums Hoovers.

Via/ Flickr

Red hots: (or red snappers) is what hot dogs used to be called because of their red color and the snap from the natural casing.

Via/ Library of Congress

Flapjacks: I can still remember my grandmother calling pancakes flapjacks.

Via/ Library of Congress

Dungarees: you won’t hear teens today talking about running off to the mall to buy a new pair of dungarees, but when we used this word we were talking about denim jeans or overalls.

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