# How to tell if your current book is old **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [May 19, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759 "2024-05-19T04:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/61 "2024-05-20T14:28:31Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > True if based in the US but plenty of countries where that could happen in a modern book. And some people do take trains in the US. Even on business trips, on particular routes. If there’s a baggage porter who says things like “Yassuh”, though, it’s an old book. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/62 "2024-05-20T14:50:10Z")
Come to think of it, know what I have not seen in a while? Compound punctuation, like the semicolon dash, colon dash, comma-dash, stop-dash. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/63 "2024-05-25T13:16:05Z")
An example I just ran across; a sci-fi book where a character comments that there won’t be enough left of somebody for an autopsy to identify them (in this case due to being torn apart by a mob). As opposed to a comment about how “they’ll need to use DNA testing” like you’d see nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/64 "2024-05-25T14:24:45Z")
The space pirates have slide rules. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/65 "2024-05-25T14:46:37Z")
Royal Mail is delivered twice a day. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/66 "2024-05-25T15:17:26Z")
- Angry beyond belief, our hero bellows “I said, good day, sir!” in a peevish tone. - “Three shillings and sixpence! Why are your prices so high?” - Uses the words: blunderbuss, sirrah, pantaloons, Etch-A-Sketch, daguerreotype ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/67 "2024-05-25T15:25:49Z")
“Don’t be silly!”, he ejaculated angrily. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/68 "2024-05-25T17:44:04Z")
Or a newspaper ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/69 "2024-05-25T18:54:54Z")
“Coming, mother,” Tom ejaculated. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/70 "2024-05-26T15:06:34Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > As opposed to a comment about how “they’ll need to use DNA testing” like you’d see nowadays. I prefer, “There won’t be enough of them left to make a tissue sample,” but that will not work if the person was merely torn to pieces by an angry mob. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/71 "2024-05-26T15:30:34Z")
A minor character is identified as an oriental or a negro. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/72 "2024-05-26T20:57:14Z")
Or a Mohammedan or a Hindoo. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/73 "2024-05-26T21:11:19Z")
Girl sneaks into the sitting room to play forbidden 45s on the stereo. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/74 "2024-05-26T21:36:29Z")
Or a sexual deviant. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/75 "2024-05-26T23:07:57Z")
Or a Dacoit. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/76 "2024-05-27T00:39:22Z")
I was just going to mention a 1960 mystery in which a paper boy features. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/77 "2024-05-27T00:46:38Z")
Either old or ignorance, but some part of a crime mystery revolves around a revolver shooting six and only six rounds. I know the Russian Nagant revolver has held seven rounds since the 1890s, but especially in the past 30-40 years five round and even eight round revolvers have become common place. So the hero “counting six shots” against someone using a revolver in order to get the jump on him or finding five bullet holes when the detective knows the bad guys used a six shot revolver. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/78 "2024-05-27T00:52:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I was just going to mention a 1960 mystery in which a paper boy features. It’s like all those jokes about the milkman being some kid’s real father. Somebody hearing those for the first time nowadays would probably get the adultery part but might ask what a milkman is. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/79 "2024-05-27T01:39:06Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But seriously though, when has there ever been any kind of situation not ameliorated by knowing the table of logarithms? Knowing how to use tables of logarithms is fine. Memorizing tables of logarithms is over the top. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > The space pirates have slide rules. Slide rules are much better than tables of logarithms. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759/80 "2024-05-27T02:10:32Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Either old or ignorance, but some part of a crime mystery revolves around a revolver shooting six and only six rounds. > > I know the Russian Nagant revolver has held seven rounds since the 1890s, but especially in the past 30-40 years five round and even eight round revolvers have become common place. So the hero “counting six shots” against someone using a revolver in order to get the jump on him or finding five bullet holes when the detective knows the bad guys used a six shot revolver Depends on whether what model of revolver is known. Sure just “revolver” doesn’t guarantee much but people familiar with the most common makes and models of revolver would know how many rounds they hold. E.G.: “Dirty” Harry Callahan’s Smith & Wesson Model 29 held six rounds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-tell-if-your-current-book-is-old/1001759.md?page=5)