# "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:** 12
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/221 "2024-01-19T20:56:28Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > “This is my 1980’s vintage sweater!” She said, “Vintage, wow. How did you find it?” **Dung\_Beetle:** “Bought it at Montgomery Ward” **Youngster:** “Oh, is that the name of the hip little resale shop that just opened up next to the vape store downtown?” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/222 "2024-01-19T21:03:19Z")
I belong to a Facebook group called “Historic Anchorage”. People are constantly posting references to “old” businesses from the 80s. My family moved to Anchorage from Juneau in 1958, and by 1980 I’d been in the military for 13 years. That’s not ‘historic’ for me; more like yesterday. I try not to use “old personisms”, but I’m sure that some must creep in, probably in the form of out-dated slang. ---
**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, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/223 "2024-01-19T21:37:45Z")
If you want to really mess with them, call it “Monkey Ward.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/224 "2024-01-19T23:12:11Z")
I get up to pee two or three times a night, and recently started wearing suspenders. I’m 64. ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/225 "2024-01-19T23:16:33Z")
Does it have shoulder pads? 😉 ---
**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:** [January 19, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/226 "2024-01-19T23:40:21Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Hijack alert! > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > losing our first war (the one where we didn’t lose a single battle but marked it down as a loss, not the one where we lost every battle but chalked it up as a win), > > By the latter do you mean the Korean War? Because the North Koreans (with Chinese assistance, IIRC) made it nearly to the south end of the Korean peninsula (the phrase “Pusan Perimeter” sticks in my head, though I know that city is Busan now) but the war ended right around the 38th Parallel. I admit there was a long period of stalemate, but we had to have won _some_ battle to get to that stalemate. One doesn’t want to puff up the already-considerable ego of Gen’l MacArthur, even posthumously 😄 but I recall something about a amphibious landing at Inchon, which IIRC is now the suburbs of Seoul. Nitpick: the push to the Pusan Perimeter was in the opening stages of the war, when the North Koreans caught the South Korean and American forces off guard. Then MacArthur’s landing at Inchon behind the enemy front caught _them_ offguard, and US/SK/UN forces pushed almost to the Yalu River. At which point the “Red Chinese” as they were called at the time got involved, the US was caught off-guard **again** at places like the Chosin reservoir, and the line of scrimmage moved south again to roughly the 38th parallel cease fire line. ---
**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 20, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/227 "2024-01-20T00:10:19Z")
Not anymore. 😁 ---
**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 20, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/228 "2024-01-20T01:23:27Z")
> [@El\_DeLuxo](#): > > I get up to pee two or three times a nigh I get up to pee twice, plus one other time to let our oldest dog out. You’d think she’d maybe get up during one of my awakenings, but she doesn’t. So I’ll get up at one and four. She’ll wake me at 2:30. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/229 "2024-01-20T19:53:08Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > _Superman: The Movie_ came out in 1978, and featured the visual joke of Clark Kent running up to a phone booth Didn’t the George Reeves TV-series frequently have him ducking into an alley instead of a phone booth? > [@Seanette](#): > > Volcano, CA. Very small settlement, about 120 people or so. We found a phone booth there, with amusing signage pointing out Superman needed it to change clothes. DH says he picked up the handset and got a dial tone The Most Isolated Phone Booth in the World (12 miles from the nearest paved road) gained fame in 1997, but it was removed in 2000. > **[Mojave phone booth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_phone_booth)** > > The Mojave phone booth (/moʊˈhɑːvi, mə-/ mo-HAH-vee) was a lone telephone booth in what is now the Mojave National Preserve in California. It attracted online attention in 1997 for its unusual location – it was located at the intersection of two dirt roads in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, 12 miles (19 km) from the nearest paved road (Interstate 15 to the northeast, Kelbaker Road to the southwest) and miles from any buildings. > The phone booth was originally set up in 1948 to provide telep... ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/230 "2024-01-21T09:52:11Z")
Who was it that said, “Kid, I’ve got hemorrhoids older than you…” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/231 "2024-01-21T10:20:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So are the cents. It all balances out. NOT!!! My Grandfather used to say “Why, a nickel ain’t worth a penny anymore.” ---
**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 21, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/232 "2024-01-21T13:04:02Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > “Why, a nickel ain’t worth a penny anymore.” My friend Norman Nardini (Pittsburgh’s Uncrowned King of Rock and Roll) wrote and performs a song, _I Hate a Nickel Cause It Ain’t a Dime_. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/233 "2024-01-21T16:54:40Z")
> [@El\_DeLuxo](#): > > I get up to pee two or three times a night, and recently started wearing suspenders. I’m 64. Ditto, but I’m only 55 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/234 "2024-01-21T18:18:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My friend Norman Nardini (Pittsburgh’s Uncrowned King of Rock and Roll) wrote and performs a song, _I Hate a Nickel Cause It Ain’t a Dime_. Ancient joke. Spinster aunt: If you can keep quiet for the next half hour I’ll give you this shiny, new nickle. Smart-ass kid: How about a dirty, old quarter? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/235 "2024-01-22T18:49:38Z")
Mrs. Solost and I were watching the latest Saturday Night Live over the weekend (Sunday morning on Hulu, naturally, like older people do; we didn’t stay up late on Saturday night, of course). More and more, watching SNL, we find ourselves asking each other “_ **who** _ is the host again-- _ **what** _ are they known for? Have _ **you** _ ever heard of the musical guest? _ **What** _ is this trend they’re satirizing in this skit?” This latest one was particularly bad: “Who’s Jacob Elordi?” “He was in some movie called ‘Saltburn’”. “Never heard of it”. “Well, it’s getting buzz because someone has sex with a grave, or something”. “Whaaa…really?” “Renee Rapp-- ever heard of her?” “Nope. Oh, from the context of the song she must be in the new _Mean Girls_ movie musical”. A skit had some reference to an app called “Raya”. “What’s Raya?” “Never heard of it”. “I’ll look it up-- how do you think it’s spelled?” “uhhh…‘Rya’?” (typing into phone) “It’s ‘Raya’ and apparently it’s some exclusive dating app, that’s invitation-only”. “Huh”. It’s getting to the point I need footnotes to follow SNL. I’m starting to feel like a space alien monitoring Earth culture, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/236 "2024-01-22T21:53:50Z")
> [@solost](#): > > It’s getting to the point I need footnotes to follow SNL. I’m starting to feel like a space alien monitoring Earth culture, or something. I’ve been in that state since 1972. I don’t have any cultural references since Lost In Space and the Beatles. I’ve gotten real good at just nodding and smiling. ---
**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 22, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/237 "2024-01-22T21:59:50Z")
“Handsome, pretty Doctor Smith.” ---
**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 22, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/238 "2024-01-22T22:10:55Z")
> [@solost](#): > > More and more, watching SNL, we find ourselves asking each other “_ **who** _ is the host again-- _ **what** _ are they known for? Have _ **you** _ ever heard of the musical guest? _ **What** _ is this trend they’re satirizing in this skit?” Between exactly this and then reminiscing about some of the truly great talents that _were_ SNL, I just don’t watch. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/239 "2024-02-24T20:25:43Z")
I (and my friends) used to use “back in the day” a lot when we were in our 20s. “Back in the day” the parties were in warehouses, back in the day, the DJs were on floor level so you could actually chat with them and train(wreck) spotting was easier (and they’re were always a bunch of kids watching the turntables closely to see if a beat was skipped or something) back in the day there were these pills , what were they called again…? Anyway they were AMAZING… It was kind of a running joke, but i use use it much less ironically now. And not usually about raves. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/240 "2024-02-28T20:35:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I just now realized that _ **‘smart as a whip’ is a pun** _. I guess everyone knew this but me. I feel sad for myself. Feel sad for me. It’s the first I’ve heard of this, and I don’t get it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=13)