Words from another day  Scott Bradshaw's picture  The meaning of
words and expressions from yesterday has changed to the extent
my grandmother, Mattie Paulk Loyd, would have difficulty
communicating today. She was born in 1877 and lived to be more
than 100 years of age.  Grandmother Mattie told me that Aunt
Tessie was a poor woman. Her definition of poor had nothing to
do with Tessie’s income or financial condition. She meant Tessie
looked pathetically skinny and malnourished.  She criticized
Uncle Jake for being a gay bachelor in his early adult life. Gay
was not a reference to sexual preference in her vocabulary.  A
gay bachelor was an unmarried male who dressed dandily, lived
the high life, frequented saloons, and chased the opposite sex.
Mattie’s characterization of Uncle Jake as a gay bachelor would
be misunderstood today.  My grandmother once suggested that Aunt
Izora give Uncle Jule the mitten. “Give him the mitten” was a
term used when ladies discarded men. Youngsters today might
think the expression