# "Old-personisms" that have sneakily snuck into your habits or vocabulary **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111 "2023-01-12T16:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/201 "2024-01-17T23:12:29Z")
[![](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297151474_8065485286796632_3809958841734392219_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=OWLjpUalkk4AX8hV1Zl&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCSMBmcGiSK8k0C2EqADABpf6ZTp7wqQzUD6HLQCSqRSA&oe=65AD1756) ](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297151474_8065485286796632_3809958841734392219_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=OWLjpUalkk4AX8hV1Zl&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCSMBmcGiSK8k0C2EqADABpf6ZTp7wqQzUD6HLQCSqRSA&oe=65AD1756) [![](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297278349_8065485353463292_7032679930536053049_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=5I2A6hhR5zkAX8fkorY&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfBjUaXSxgXTWeZqu36wvrdF64NY5xNQHKWw14j2hj-xEQ&oe=65ACCCCC) ](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297278349_8065485353463292_7032679930536053049_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=5I2A6hhR5zkAX8fkorY&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfBjUaXSxgXTWeZqu36wvrdF64NY5xNQHKWw14j2hj-xEQ&oe=65ACCCCC) [![](https://scontent.fsac1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/420086454_24876027035315860_8124885910557502176_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=yXt7R2sHNqAAX8TIbHD&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-2.fna&oh=00_AfAcqiRgspIrUV2XHwW8ZGp3etR63UsiIXZAl_l4szeung&oe=65AE4296) ](https://scontent.fsac1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/420086454_24876027035315860_8124885910557502176_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=yXt7R2sHNqAAX8TIbHD&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-2.fna&oh=00_AfAcqiRgspIrUV2XHwW8ZGp3etR63UsiIXZAl_l4szeung&oe=65AE4296) ---
**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:** [January 17, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/202 "2024-01-17T23:56:44Z")
I don’t have any old personisms. (Shakes fist at passing cloud.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/203 "2024-01-18T01:48:58Z")
Don’t forget that the $2.50 candy bar is probably smaller than when it was 75 cents. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/204 "2024-01-18T02:32:59Z")
So are the cents. It all balances out. NOT!!! ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/205 "2024-01-18T03:44:12Z")
  A couple more pictures to put that phone booth in better context.   That’s @Seanette in the blue shirt.  She appears thrice in the second picture, due to the manner in which I took each of these as multiple shots, and stitched them together to form a wider view.   The phone booth is at approximately [38°26’31.0"N 120°37’50.9"W](https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B026'31.0%22N+120%C2%B037'50.9%22W/@38.4419252,-120.6309397,55m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d38.44193!4d-120.630792?entry=ttu).  (Google Maps doesn’t seem to want to let me tag the location more exactly.)   In the first picture, @Seanette is standing just to the right of the phone booth, in the middle of the picture, facing it, while some other lady is walking past it. [![](https://scontent.fsac1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297273255_8065485106796650_3420940282977152377_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=3wDQzKTUPskAX_petBP&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-2.fna&oh=00_AfCbZrTkpyY7AUg9tdcSn8PVQL3t1VR8hPKOfzgsOq87JQ&oe=65ADA0A2) ](https://scontent.fsac1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297273255_8065485106796650_3420940282977152377_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=3wDQzKTUPskAX_petBP&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-2.fna&oh=00_AfCbZrTkpyY7AUg9tdcSn8PVQL3t1VR8hPKOfzgsOq87JQ&oe=65ADA0A2) [![](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297227081_8065485560129938_7183264764902379783_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=yIjvedqOsf0AX8LqSSW&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCBkGYFrgkaRbReJrIEk86rFPnyvdLluRq1uDNCCvtbQw&oe=65AD4620) ](https://scontent.fsac1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/297227081_8065485560129938_7183264764902379783_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=3635dc&_nc_ohc=yIjvedqOsf0AX8LqSSW&_nc_ht=scontent.fsac1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCBkGYFrgkaRbReJrIEk86rFPnyvdLluRq1uDNCCvtbQw&oe=65AD4620) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/206 "2024-01-18T14:36:20Z")
I find I can’t bend down or stand up again without uttering “oof!” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/207 "2024-01-18T17:01:05Z")
What I noticed was that I started doing that when there was no obvious sensation I was "oof"ing to. I just made the noise for no apparent reason. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/208 "2024-01-18T17:34:03Z")
Speaking of standing up - I now know why we’re called Old Farts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/209 "2024-01-18T21:56:48Z")
I meant 1812. Yes, we won some skirmishes, but it was also a stalemate. I was pointing out how it’s was counted as a US war victory until we faced murkier situations like Korea and Vietnam and couldn’t call ourselves undefeated anymore. Our win-loss record continues to need asterisks. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/210 "2024-01-19T00:34:13Z")
You know you’re getting old when you bend down to pick up something, and think: “what else can I do while I’m down here?”. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/211 "2024-01-19T00:55:52Z")
Getting up from the couch: “Oh my knees.” Crack. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/212 "2024-01-19T06:02:48Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > But the result is that i dont have a firm idea of what things “ought” to cost, unless i bought them last week and noticed. There was too much flux in my formative years. So i don’t do this. > > Ditto, with one major exception: I have the nagging feeling that a 12-oz can of soda “should” cost about 50 cents to $1 at most. When a restaurant sells me a can of soda (or those old-school little glass Coke bottles I see only in higher-end restaurants 🤨 ) for $2-4 I feel ripped off. I was about to say “well that’s because that’s what they **do** cost per can at vending machines and bodegas” and then realized that I haven’t actually bought an individual can of soda from the corner store since before 2020 ($1 per can was standard), so maybe they do cost more now and I don’t know it! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/213 "2024-01-19T11:52:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When I started driving in 1974 almost all the true booths were already gone A phone booth saved my stupid ass. In 1978(?) I was camping with friends on Assateague Island. A tropical storm warning was in effect and many campers evacuated. We stayed, and were walking around when weather got really bad really fast. Three of ass crammed into a phone booth and stayed there to ride out the worst of it, about 30 minutes. Our tent was destroyed but we had loaded everything else into our car. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/214 "2024-01-19T12:13:19Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I was about to say “well that’s because that’s what they **do** cost per can at vending machines and bodegas” and then realized that I haven’t actually bought an individual can of soda from the corner store since before 2020 ($1 per can was standard), so maybe they do cost more now and I don’t know it! I also have not bought an individual _can_ of soda since 2020, but not for lack of trying. At least around here (Central Florida), I can’t find them anymore. They last were indeed priced around $1 for a 12 ouncer in the late 2010s, but for a couple years around 2020, they only sold cans that were larger than 12 ouncers for a comparable per-ounce price (i.e. around $2 for a 24 ounce can.) Nowadays, it’s still around the same price per ounce, but the minimum has gone steadily up to around 32 ounces for around $3, and they are all plastic. There are aluminum cans in the cooler sections, but they contain energy drinks and beer. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/215 "2024-01-19T13:39:37Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > When a restaurant sells me a can of soda (or those old-school little glass Coke bottles I see only in higher-end restaurants 🤨 ) for $2-4 I feel ripped off. In my experience, those little glass bottles are Mexican Coke which is made with cane sugar and is more expensive that regular Coke. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/216 "2024-01-19T19:17:47Z")
And is worth the extra coinage. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/217 "2024-01-19T19:23:40Z")
When I was in my last few years in .the Canadian Navy, which isn’t a large population by most standards, I have been able to say on a few occasions “Your father and I used to be shipmates” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/218 "2024-01-19T19:27:46Z")
A friend of mine is now about 75, so about 10 years older than I am. She’s also a sharp wit and always has been. One of her long-standing comebacks for putting young whipper-snappers in their place is: > Kid, I’ve got socks older than you. I haven’t used that line yet for real, but I (and more importantly some of my socks) are getting to the age where I could use it on shop clerks, waitpersons, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/219 "2024-01-19T20:18:00Z")
Oh my gosh. Yesterday a newly hired young lady complimented me on my sweater. I laughed and said, “This is my 1980’s vintage sweater!” She said, “Vintage, wow. How did you find it?” I laughed a little less, and said, “I’ve owned it since high school.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/220 "2024-01-19T20:44:17Z")
When it still fits 45 years later you know you got it goin’ on, Honey. 😁 All that _and_ no stains or moth-holes? You also know how to care for clothing. Vintage or otherwise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=12)