The Goat and the Bureau

Have you ever noticed that you say certain words or phrases that no one else around you says?  I have.  In this post, I will explore why I say the following: Channel Changer and Bureau

Channel Changer
Most of my contemporaries refer to this modern day miracle as the remote (or the Goat...watch Muppets from Space if you need an explanation).  After a little bit of googling, I found out that there is very little history on the term and the only people concerned with this debate are two teenagers who started a group of facebook, one of which is flicking off the camera in the group picture (classy).  In their findings only eight people of thirty used the phrase "Channel Changer".  I delved deeper into google and found out that "Channel Changer" was used to describe the dial that changed channels on old television sets.  As it turns out, I am using a remote control and not a channel changer!  I think I'll just refer to it as the Goat going forward.

Bureau
I am not referring to an organization (i.e. the Federal Bureau of Investigations).  I am referring to what others call a dresser or if you're from the south, a chest of drawers.  Google revealed that the term bureau comes from aristocratic England and is more commonly used in large cities.  That explains it!  I would like to thank my mother for the word bureau.  My mother grew up outside of Washington, D.C. (aha!  large city!).  Her ancestors came to St. Mary's City, Maryland with Lord Baltimore on the Ark and Dove in 1634.  My guess is that Lord Baltimore probably said bureau.

So, the words channel changer and bureau may have gone out of style more than a hundred years ago, but they are still alive and well in my family.  Time to fold some laundry and put Baby Ethan's clothes away in his bureau!