Paper for plastic?

[Toleman]

My grandma used to say don't drop your sweet papers when it wasn't paper it was plastic. Why is this?

Thanks

[Schutzengel]

Perhaps when grandma was a young girl, all sweet wrappers were made of paper.

[Ethel]

sweet wrappers are always called sweet papers, or sweet wrappers. I have never, ever heard anybody refer to sweet plastics.

[kpinsiff]

Perhaps it was because paper is biodegradable and plastic ain't?

[Bert]

There are several examples of things we say that no longer apply to what we do. We (generally) still 'dial' a telephone number - does anyone have a good alternative? We still say 'pull the chain' though most toilets now have a handle or button. You used to have to ask for plastic lenses in spectacles, but my last pair were plastic without having to ask, so a 'pair of glasses' may now be another example. Many pubs now serve beer in plastic 'glasses'.