When Stahdahs Were Stahdahs

By DICK DULANY

Dear Diary:

I had just come to New York in the late 1960s and rented a roach-infested apartment for $75 a month on East 25th Street.

The fluorescent light in the bathroom refused to come on even after putting in a new bulb. I saw a miniature tin-can-shaped thingy that, with a twist, came out easily. I took it to my favorite and helpful hardware store on Third Avenue, Schneider's Hardware, run by Mrs. Schneider. She was an encyclopedia of helpful information for a new arrival in the city.

I told her the problem and asked her what the small, tin-colored cylinder in my hand was called. She said, “Those are stahdahs.”

“O.K., give me a stahdah,” I repeated back. She said O.K. and rang it up. I paid and left.

As I was walking back to my apartment, I dissembled the curious word stahdahs. Stahdahs, stahdahs … starters? Starter? It's a starter!

About the same time I heard a cabdriver say, “Toit y-toid and Toid.” Those accents have succumbed to the accentless voices on radio and television. Some of the nuance and color of New York is gone.

Read all recent entries and our updated submissions guidelines. Reach us via e-mail: diary@nytimes.com or telephone: (212) 556-1333. Follow @NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary.