Microfiber sheets

Don't think they do that sort of thing in Oxford, old girl.

;-) I'm pretty sure Kay won't cold-conk you.

I just went back to look at the first prior definition you cited which is an adverb, then noticed the second one too, spelled the way Kay used it (from 1910s, that must explain it) ;-> but also spelled "cold-caulk".

And there's a third entry, it can be either a verb or a noun.

I love words.

Beverly

When I was about 8 or 9 I got my right arm caught in my mom's wringer of her washing machine. A neighbor came running over and was finally able to release me. It drew me in as far my elbow and I was in agony. I remember I had on a small heart shaped ring that had my birthstone in it and the doctor had to cut it off my finger. Oh my, my arm swelled to at least twice it's size and I was in a sad state for several days.

Ouch!! I hated those washing machine. My mom loved it. It was a big step up for her from a wash board. When she got a Bendix front loader after WW 2 she thought she was in heaven. Juno

Kay, currently looking rather streely

I like your source much more than the one I found. Bookmarked for future reference, thanks. ;-)

However:

"Search Results for ?streely?

No documents match the query."

And googling is no help:

So, fess up, what's "looking rather streely" look like??? Are you looking dragged-out? Dragged through a knot-hole? Inquiring minds and all....

Beverly

Kay, you even boggled Wikipedia:

wringer

finally

my

Oh my,

state

eeek ... So that was the part of the experience i was spared by that tangled knot of cloth. Many exclaimed how lucky i was to only have a slightly bruised and red arm. I guess they were not just being dramatic.

Don't bet on it. They take all sorts in Oxbridge these days.

Mary

Like nostalgia ... but it never was.

Mary

Hah!

Ah, I think you'll have to wait for Dictionary of American Regional English's last volume, due out about 2010, for "streely". But your Webster's New Twentieth is on the mark.

Messy and bedraggled. It's my grandmother's term, and according to the original editor of DARE, is probably a formation from streel, which was a long sash type in Ireland. His surmise at the time I talked to him was that when the sash became untied, it dragged in the road, becoming messy and bedraggled. Her usual condemnation of my personal appearance was that I "looked like an old streel" or I was "all streely".

I was the first grandkid, and she was determined I'd be the daughter she wanted (she had 4 boys). Unfortunately, she got a tomboy. My next cousin was a little more amenable to dresses and dressup.

Kay

I didn't mind the dresses but oh how I wished to be a boy - they had snake belts and cap bombs ...

Mary

The sayings of our mothers and grandmothers are a window on another age, aren't they? My mother always said that my room looked like a flicker's nest. It wasn't until about three years ago that I finally saw a flicker, long after my mother passed away, and even longer after I left home. I still haven't seen a flicker's nest, but the bird was quite a surprise -- I thought I was seeing a creature created by a cartoonist.

Can you still get snake belts I wonder? I only got such things when my elder brother outgrew them.

Lizzy

Ooohhhh, may I place a pre-order? ;-)

That's so sad. My recollections of my two grandmothers are: the maternal one was still raising babies (one uncle is two year older than I) so I never felt a close grandmother-grandchild relationship to her; the other was nurturing, affectionate, tons of fun, was the only person who ever read to me as a child, and is a party to some of my fondest childhood memories. I've tried hard to be like her with my grandchildren.

Beverly

Mine called me a nuthatch whenever I'd done something cutely weird. The very first time I saw a bird walking down a tree trunk, I said "That's got to be a nuthatch" -- and I was right!

Joy Beeson

Mainly by making us dirty a lot more clothes.

I remember Mom telling how she'd had the revelation that a housedress was as easy to wash as an apron, and stopped wearing aprons. Since I remember learning to iron by ironing aprons, I'm pretty sure this revelation was post Bendix.

Joy Beeson