# it was so long ago that it seems like yesterday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005 "2017-06-15T03:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/1 "2017-06-15T03:11:50Z")
Whilst waiting on a thing, I observed, “_You nail polish almost matches the mousepad_.” Which put a thought in my head. Most probably we have done this kind of exercise before here. I got into my tardis, went back to my high school and asked my young classmates, “What is a ‘mousepad’? Hint: it is not what you think,” and surreptitiously recorded what they said, to see how far afield their responses fell. (I lost the μSD card that was in my phone, so I am not able to accurately report the results. But, damn, it was hard avoiding the temporal anomaly that meeting my young self would have caused.) I also tried “vaping” and “Latte”, with mixed results. Obviously, there is a wealth of computer/electronic jargon (just 20ya, “facebook” would have been puzzling) and hashed-up words like “Xanax” and “Veyron” that would be totally opaque to dwellers of the distant past but are fairly common today. I am interested in trying out some reasonably parseable words in the vein of “mousepad”, but preferably not computer-related, the mean something completely different from what my young classmates would expect (or yours, if you tell me where to go). Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/2 "2017-06-15T03:42:55Z")
cell phone tablet ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/3 "2017-06-15T03:48:06Z")
I took Xanax for a while in the late 1980s. That’s what it was called, too, because a generic was not yet available. “AOL Keyword” used to be a sign that we seemed to be living in the future. Now, it’s a way to find out if something’s obsolete. :o ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/4 "2017-06-15T09:14:11Z")
Buggy whip (a whip with faults that need fixing?!) Police box (a fight tournament?!) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/5 "2017-06-15T11:57:28Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Police box (a fight tournament?!) Anyone who’s gone to college will “know” that’s one of those emergency phones on and near campus. It’s a box (no phone handset) and you call the police on it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/6 "2017-06-15T12:34:48Z")
Spin class. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/7 "2017-06-15T12:39:58Z")
A few possibilities: butthurt hate-watch microaggression photobomb train wreck truther ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/8 "2017-06-15T13:06:41Z")
binge watch troll spam YouTuber drone streaming ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/9 "2017-06-15T14:49:43Z")
mansplain meme blog vlog captcha Netflix 'n chill ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/10 "2017-06-15T15:03:10Z")
Of course “Photoshop”, both noun and verb, would be baffling. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/11 "2017-06-15T15:13:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Obviously, there is a wealth of computer/electronic jargon (just 20ya, “facebook” would have been puzzling) and hashed-up words like “Xanax” and “Veyron” that would be totally opaque to dwellers of the distant past but are fairly common today. Not sure what’s “hashed-up” about “Veyron”. Motorsports fans from decades past would probably be excited to learn that someone in the future had decided to honor [Pierre Veyron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Veyron) by naming a car after him. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/12 "2017-06-15T15:19:15Z")
I think its a shame that most people use “chipotle” to refer to a fast food chain rather than a type of pepper. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-so-long-ago-that-it-seems-like-yesterday/789005/13 "2017-06-15T15:57:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Spin class. or just [spin (the political kind).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(propaganda))