# How Quickly does obsolete/Archaic Slang Exit the language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618 "2007-05-03T15:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/21 "2007-05-04T12:48:12Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] '…A telephone still ‘rings’. And so on.) [/QUOTE] And for some reason, we still ‘dial’ them. As for ‘dude’: I’m 47, and have used it most of my life. Yet when I use it as a personal pronoun to my 14-year-old nephew (“Dude, you can’t be serious!”) I get a sidelong glance. Kids these days… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/22 "2007-05-04T13:06:01Z")
When I was a child being happy was _gay_ When I was an adult, being homosexual was _gay_ As I approach old age, being mediocre is _gay_ ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/23 "2007-05-04T19:17:47Z")
The verb “mock” has made a comeback in the last few years. When I was a kid, we would never have used that word. You “made fun” of somebody. When I first heard a kid complain that they were being “mocked,” it sounded very strange and archaic. Now I hear it all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/24 "2007-05-04T20:53:04Z")
Does anybody still use “word”? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/25 "2007-05-04T21:39:53Z")
Or “word up”? The answer to the OP is “When it ceases to be relevant.” Some slang gets assimilated into mainstream language, i.e. “OK”, others maintain the status of slang (“fuck”). Both examples are really old and still serve a purpose, whereas “groovy” doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/26 "2007-05-04T21:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] When was the last time you talked about your experiences at a [Happening](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happening)? [/QUOTE] **This is My Happening and It Freaks Me Out!** ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cBQbEaEw5PY/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/cBQbEaEw5PY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/27 "2007-05-04T22:24:49Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] **This is My Happening and It Freaks Me Out!** [/QUOTE] Just pop a couple of the Red pills. They’ll mellow you right out! 😃 Here’s some [Happening music that might help too.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8z5Xzi2V1g) ---
**Author:** ![Ray\_Patterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Ray\_Patterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ray_Patterson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/28 "2007-05-04T22:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=Jayrot] The point at which it is no longer used enough to convey any meaning (23 skidoo?) one might consider it to be gone. The complicating factor on this end is that since, for the last several hundred years, language and knowledge has been archived, one could always go look up the meaning of a word and, one might argue, keep it alive. [/QUOTE] “23 skidoo” is an interesting example, as presumably it never really meant anything, unless _Illuminatus!_ is on to something of course. It is the kind of slang that has no content, just like “Kilroy was here” and “all your base are belong to us”. They are used only to show that you are in on the joke, so once everybody is in on the joke the joke is over. This is a problem that all slang faces, but it seems to me that slang words can transform meaning or become mainstream easier than fixed expressions with unclear connotations. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/29 "2007-05-05T02:37:41Z")
That’s gas! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/30 "2007-05-05T03:46:00Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Does anybody still use “word”? [/QUOTE] Almost every day. ---
**Author:** ![DellieM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@DellieM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DellieM)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/31 "2007-05-05T05:40:18Z")
Don’t know if this is appropriate for this thread but I tend to use “you’ve been done with the rough end of a pineapple” for someone really arsey (lucky), or for a bad run of luck I say “I couldn’t shit in the ocean without splashing the sides” or “I couldn’t shit up a downpipe” (all of these are Nanna-isms). Also, I still call people ‘china’ as in china plate which rhymes with mate. Other slang we use is ‘koff’ for ‘fuck off’ and ‘cankles’ which is a nasty name for a girl who is chubby so her calves meet her ankles without definition. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/32 "2007-05-05T05:56:51Z")
[QUOTE=DellieM] Don’t know if this is appropriate for this thread but I tend to use “you’ve been done with the rough end of a pineapple” for someone really arsey (lucky), or for a bad run of luck I say “I couldn’t shit in the ocean without splashing the sides” or “I couldn’t shit up a downpipe” (all of these are Nanna-isms). Also, I still call people ‘china’ as in china plate which rhymes with mate. Other slang we use is ‘koff’ for ‘fuck off’ and ‘cankles’ which is a nasty name for a girl who is chubby so her calves meet her ankles without definition. [/QUOTE] I used “copped the rough end of the pineapple” not twenty-four hours ago, but that’s the sort of ocker cove I am. Now, I hope hope your chooks turn to emus and kick yer dunny down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DellieM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@DellieM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DellieM)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618/33 "2007-05-05T07:09:44Z")
Strewth! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-quickly-does-obsolete-archaic-slang-exit-the-language/402618.md?page=1)