Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Word games …. what do you say?
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July 18, 2009 at 9:58 pm #591591
charlabobParticipantA lot of words that have been part of the vernacular for years are, for lack of a better “word”, obsolete — over-the-hill — meaningless — unknown to most people under 40.
Sooooo. What do we say now?
“Dial M for Murder” — “Dial 911.” Is call satisfying?
“Phone Booth” — think of the movies whose plots depend on someone trying to find or get into a phone booth to call for help? Where would Clark Kent dress?
….
“Records” (CD’s — what do we call the stuff we download and listen to in our ear buds?)
If you’re very very young, what do you *avoid* saying because people over 40 wouldn’t know what you’re talking about? (Or you think we wouldn’t.) Our 12 year-old grandson was surprised when we not only know what IM is but do it?
Words come and go but what replaces them?
July 18, 2009 at 10:05 pm #672257
JenVMember“party line” is another one that went away – I doubt that anyone under the age of 35 or who didn’t grow up in a rural area remembers what they are. We had a party line on Vashon when I was a kid – phone would ring, pick it up, and you’d hear the other persons conversation down the street.
one thing I hate that young people say (and even some my age) to describe something as cool is “sick!” – oh, I hate that. sick has a bad connotation, and when I say it it means “gross” – so it always confuses me.
Now get off my lawn ye damn fool kids!
July 18, 2009 at 10:16 pm #672258
JanSParticipanthow about “neat”, “groovy”, meaning good…
Jen..I remember , when I was a teenager working as a nanny in Massachusetts for the summer..not only was it a party line…you didn’t dial. You picked up the phone and asked the operator for a 4 digit number, and she’d connect you…
July 18, 2009 at 10:17 pm #672259
JanSParticipantoh, and I hate the word “kewl”, especially when a 40 year old adult types it – lol…
July 18, 2009 at 10:35 pm #672260
charlabobParticipantAnd where did “no worries” come from? I have to say there never was a good “answer” to I’m sorry — but no worries is baffling.
July 18, 2009 at 10:40 pm #672261
pigeonmomParticipantGrowing up in the ’70s my grandma would use these words… chest of drawers, chifferobe, ice box.
July 19, 2009 at 3:06 am #672262
JanSParticipantchest of drawers..in my mind’s eye I’m picturing the guy who pulls his underwear way up to his chest – lol…
pigeonmom…I know those terms, too. When I was a child we had an oak ice box, small, that we used as a toy chest. I guess that when they finally got refrigerators, it carried over to mean the freezer, etc. Oh, and love your avatar..
July 19, 2009 at 5:23 am #672263
pigeonmomParticipant“I’ve been asked to say a couple of words about my husband, Fang. How about short and cheap?” *cackle!*
P. Diller
July 19, 2009 at 5:39 am #672264
JanSParticipant:oD
July 19, 2009 at 8:05 am #672265
datamuseParticipant“No worries” is an Australian saying, originally. I spent a summer sharing a dorm with one and am currently in a martial arts class with another, so I picked it up. It’s not exactly obsolete; it’s a bit like “no problem” in America.
One I see a lot is people referring to the “reigns of power” or such when what they mean are “reins”. A reign is something a monarch has. Reins are used to steer horses. Most people aren’t directly familiar with either anymore.
A couple years back I was explaining to some students in the library why they were called floppy disks…they’d only ever seen 3.5″ disks, which aren’t floppy, until I showed them some old 5.25″s I was getting rid of. The current crop of students have never used disks at all.
July 19, 2009 at 9:36 pm #672266
JoBParticipanti like that our use of expressions dates us..
it’s kinda like the secret handshake to an exclusive club…
and far more conversationally telling than where you were when JFK was shot.
July 20, 2009 at 12:28 am #672267
charlabobParticipantThanks, datamuse — that actually makes sense — aussie english (imnho) has a lot of interesting words and phrases we could “borrow”.
I remembered another one: when did “kewl” become “sweet!!!” ?? It’s ubiquitous — it’s even graduated to the fogies corner.
JoB, I kind of agree with you — I like knowing the old stuff and the new. That’s why I asked (and started this thread).
Floppies is another good one — DM — somehow put it on a chip doesn’t work as well. So we’ll probably be stuck with people putting things on floppies long after floppies have gone the way of the dodo — which probably went the way of extinction years ago. :-)
July 20, 2009 at 3:13 am #672268
WSMomParticipantMy daughter thinks it’s funny when my husband calls her flipflops “thongs”. Yes, he now recognizes that a thong is an entirely different piece of clothing :).
July 20, 2009 at 3:19 am #672269
datamuseParticipantYeah, I’ve started saying “sweet” and also “I know, right?” I attribute this to spending a lot of my workday around college students. It’s not like I’m trying to pick up the phrases they use, they just sort of seep in.
Nobody’s quite settled on what to call today’s portable memory technology; I hear “thumb drive” and “memory stick” about equally often.
WSMom, I’ve often wondered if using “thong” for “flip-flop” is a regional thing. I never encountered it until I moved out here. Sort of like “pop”, which you just don’t hear in the areas of the east coast where I’ve lived; we said “soda” instead.
July 20, 2009 at 3:24 am #672270
WSBKeymasterWhen talking to people for the first time, usually in researching stories via phone, and being asked for my name, as of a few years ago I stopped saying “Record as in record player” and switched to “Record as in record-keeping” or “Record as in record-setting.” But it’s still comforting to see the Junction (and Queen Anne) music shop continue to call itself Easy Street *Records*.
July 20, 2009 at 3:36 am #672271
datamuseParticipantI remember back when I was a music editor at Amazon, I shared an office with a guy just enough older than me that he still used “record” in the sense of a musical recording. Even then it sounded sort of quaint, and I say that as someone who owns a turntable and several of my grandfather’s classic jazz records.
I also recall that KPLU offered to donate several of same to the university library (I work for PLU) last year. I had to turn them down because the library no longer owns any equipment to play them on, and I’d guess most of the students don’t either.
Speaking of, recently I was thinking of the movie High Fidelity, which isn’t even that old. Does anyone make mix tapes anymore? Or is it all playlists now?
July 20, 2009 at 4:35 am #672272
addParticipantI still have a bunch of my old “records” – for some reason I can’t get rid of them! I found myself referring to an audio recording the other day as a “book on tape” and realized that even THAT is totally dating myself!
Oh – and I have so many fond memories of staying up late making mix tapes, tracking the timing of the songs so that you could make sure to fill up all 45 minutes of each side of your Dolby NR cassette tape!
July 20, 2009 at 5:22 am #672273
JGMemberDatamuse was wondering about thong being regional. I don’t know thong specifically, but a lot of our expressions are regional. I’ve always liked this map of what people call ‘soda’ in the US
Its odd, Im used to hearing it called soda, and pop just sounds…wrong :)
July 20, 2009 at 6:08 am #672274
The Velvet BulldogParticipantPhrases I use to try to keep in circulation: “You are the ‘bee’s knees’ or ‘cat’s pajamas.'” Just ‘cuz they’re so weird, I think they should be kept around. Also the term “solid” as in “excellent” or “she did me a solid” as in a really big favor. And the other day, my PT called me “kiddo.” Do people still use “kiddo” or do I just not hear it anymore because I’m too old?? :-)
Also, reading stories by Curt Colbert (author who writes noir-style hard-boiled detective stories set in post-WWII Seattle) provides a wealth of old expressions and terms.
July 20, 2009 at 2:52 pm #672275
TammiWSMemberMy mom still calls a footstool a ‘hassock’, her billfold a ‘pocketbook’ and her couch a ‘sofa’.
July 20, 2009 at 3:24 pm #672276
addParticipantTammi’s mom sounds like she’s from the east coast? We always said (and still say) sofa and pocketbook (although in Jersey/New York accent it’s more like “pockabook”).
July 20, 2009 at 4:00 pm #672277
CMParticipantTVB, Solid. Anyone else remember Linc Hayes?
July 20, 2009 at 4:05 pm #672278
TammiWSMemberShe’s from eastern WA….A small little town called Oakesdale, near Colfax.
July 21, 2009 at 12:06 am #672279
datamuseParticipantTammiWS, curious: I’d have guessed east coast, too. I say “hassock” (a footstool is what you stand on to reach a high shelf); I don’t use “sofa” or “pocketbook” but I grew up around people who do.
July 21, 2009 at 12:24 am #672280
TammiWSMemberCM: Mod Squad!! Oh yeah. I LOVED that show. My friends and I would run back and forth, linked arms, pretending we were them (as in opening credits…).
Good memories. One of the multitude of Aaron Spelling shows that got me through the 70’s!!
Datmuse: I guess a footstool is more like a stepstool – I always just thought of the hassock as a ottoman or footrest.
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