I know someone who still uses the term “soddomite.” I hate it, but the sound of it makes me giggle.
The NAACP… well, the name. Come to think of it, the organization itself is increasingly at risk of becoming quaint, too.
How about tipping in restaurants? That seems to be the last remaining widespread vestige of the Honor System.
When I last worked in real estate (10 years ago), unmarried women were still referred to as “spinsters.” This unmarried woman was not amused by that particular quaintism.
I’ve read about that sign somewhere recently (well, the Australian version, which is similar). It was explained that a steam locomotive is instantly recognisable as a simple icon, whereas modern trains tend to be shaped like bricks, and are harder to use to get the message across instantly like that.
The same probably goes for the 1950s-looking cars on signs too. Big, round headlights, obvious radiator grille, big windscreen, high clearance to make the wheels obvious, and a high roof. Great for a black and white icon. A 2006 Toyota might not be so good.
Good point - although I’m not sure this argument extends to this!
The Manhattan Beach, CA Fire Department just held a Bachelor Auction last month. Not only quaint – I had no idea they existed outside of romantic comedies.
I was a little surprised to find myself signing my first mortgage next to the line reading “Tastes of Chocolate - spinster”. That would be 11 years ago. Thankfully, that was gone by the time I signed mortgage number 2, 4 years ago.
And yes, Minnesota has “Kiss and Ride” parking lots.
I love most of the British road signs, with their old-fashioned car silhouettes (this one always makes me think of The Italian Job, for instance) but I’ve always just thought “WTF?” about those speed camera signs. What is that, an old Rolleiflex with a bellows extension? I can’t believe that they represent the technology in use when speed camera signs were first posted on our roads…
Even better, when we include a hidden recipient, we are not yet “visually-impaired carbon-copying” that individual. 
Interesting. Signs giving advance warning of railway crossings in Ontario have pictures of the track, not the train (scroll most of the way down on the linked page–the sign is in the right column). At the crossing, however, is the well-known red-and-white crossbuck sign.
What’s a bachelor auction? Is this something that I, as a bachelor, should be careful of?
I was designing a logo for a music recording business that specializes in bringing their equipment out to bars and recording live gigs. The logo had to include a piece of recording equipment that was recognizable even when reduced to a very small size. Although they’re long out of date by now, a reel-to-reel recorder fit the bill exactly.
Also, the duplex my roommates and I rent has two living rooms. The one at the front of the house has been outfitted as a formal sitting room with our good couch, an antique sewing machine, upright piano, and a number of stringed instruments (one roommate teaches cello lessons there); we refer to that room as “the parlour.”
I fint it somewhat quaint that in this digital age we can still occasionally see our favorite national acts perform live and get within 10 feet of them without having to pay $500 + to do so. Of course, you have to like the right groups…
If you ask folks what you call that big machine that flattens out fresh paving, more than half will say, “A steamroller.” A big digger is a “steam shovel,” too, although the last of those was retired more than a half-century ago.
An insincere, showy presentation is still a “dog and pony show.”
Right now, I am “typing.” I still have a real typewriter, but I haven’t used it in the last twenty years.
In grandpa’s day, there was an “Inter-urban” line of passenger trains that could take you cheaply from one small town to another. Just recently, a county bus line was started for that purpose. They call it “The New InterUrban.”
Same here, I always saw the signs and would start humming the song, but I never quite got why they were called Kiss ‘n’ Ride. Cool.
Actually, we already auctioned you off, we were all thrilled when the top bid for one week with you came for 50,000! We instantly declared them the winner.
Sadly, it wasn’t until the auction had closed that we realized that the bid was being given in Ghanian Cedis. Turns out that 50,000 cedi is roughly equivalent to $6.15 canadian. Well, have a fun week anyway!
At my office, every few years someone will organize a “secret santa” event. Thereby blurring the distinction of “Quaint” and “Twee.”
What? They told me that was a college course in the legalities of the Ontario Building Code!
It feels quaint to refer to the surname I used before I got married as my “maiden” name.