# "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:** 16
**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:** [March 10, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/301 "2024-03-10T21:50:21Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You’re _really_ old when you think, “I used to be a Goldwater Republican. WHAT was I _thinking_?” In other words, you’re almost a 2024 Democrat. The Overton window has moved so far that Goldwater, insane though he was, would now be reckoned a centrist at best. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/302 "2024-03-10T23:52:12Z")
Almost? _ **Almost?** _ I am firmly a 2024 Democrat! 😀 ---
**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:** [March 11, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/303 "2024-03-11T01:58:58Z")
My point was that Goldwater could damn near be a 2024 Democrat. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/304 "2024-03-11T03:08:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I have officially reached the age where I can no longer put on a pair of pants without sitting down. The days of standing on one leg while I try to hit the leghole with my other foot are past. Too many close calls where I end up hopping around the room on one foot, crashing into furniture and scrambling to avoid a fall. Now I sit on edge of the bed, slip both feet through the legs of the pants, then stand and pull them up. That sound like you are having balance problems … without trying to frighten you they can be a killer! My father and father-in-law both died after “having a fall” which broke their respective hips. There are balance exercises you can do to stave this off. So I guess I have officially reached the age when I feel okay about giving unsolicited medical advice to strangers! ---
**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:** [March 11, 2024, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/305 "2024-03-11T03:52:41Z")
I do it because of my knees. Of course, the cruddy knees make it hard to balance on one leg, but it’s not really a balance problem. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/306 "2024-03-11T05:49:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Overton window has moved so far that Goldwater, insane though he was, would now be reckoned a centrist at best. Refresh my memory: was Goldwater in favor of unrestricted immigration, or reduced policing and prosecution that effectively allows street drug use and smash-and-grab looting that occurs in front of police who do nothing to stop it? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/307 "2024-03-11T11:55:24Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Refresh my memory: was Goldwater in favor of unrestricted immigration, or reduced policing and prosecution that effectively allows street drug use and smash-and-grab looting that occurs in front of police who do nothing to stop it? I live in a state where Democrats control virtually all levers of government and yet no one proposes any of what you’re describing here. Refresh my memory of which centrist democrats propose what you are ascribing to them. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/308 "2024-03-11T14:01:05Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Refresh my memory: was Goldwater in favor of unrestricted immigration, or reduced policing and prosecution that effectively allows street drug use and smash-and-grab looting that occurs in front of police who do nothing to stop it? There is nothing IMHO-compatible that I can say in response to your ridiculous fact-free screed. Good day. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/309 "2024-03-11T16:55:52Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > That sound like you are having balance problems … without trying to frighten you they can be a killer! My father and father-in-law both died after “having a fall” which broke their respective hips. There are balance exercises you can do to stave this off. > > So I guess I have officially reached the age when I feel okay about giving unsolicited medical advice to strangers! I can’t remember how long I’ve been putting my pants on while sitting down, It was never a balance issue, it just seems to be the easiest way to do it. Although now I do occasionally have balance issues, partly caused by knee issues. And I did recently see a physical therapist and was given a series of exercises to try to strengthen my knees. These include a balance exercise. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/310 "2024-03-12T21:04:51Z")
Why, don’t 'cha know? In the _How safe is San Francisco/Oakland_ thread user **Past Tense** asserted that the reason SF came in so low in violent crime is because of the ineffective police/criminal justice system there. > [@Trip advise - how unsafe is SF & Oakland](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trip-advise-how-unsafe-is-sf-oakland/998671/26): > > These statistics are for reported crime. People are more like to report a crime when there is an effective police/criminal justice system–something San Francisco doesn’t have. **PT** has hidden their profile. 'Nuff said. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/311 "2024-05-05T20:01:18Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think that’s why 250 wasn’t a big deal. Too awkward. Well, that. And also the fact that the 250th anniversary hasn’t even arrived yet. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/312 "2024-05-06T02:33:10Z")
More than a decade ago I was at a restaurant one evening and it was a very, very cold night. It was in the low 30s and quite windy which intolerable for most people here in Little Rock. A lovely young woman walked in with her date and she was wearing an outfit appropriate for the summer but not for such a cold night. Instead of admiring the view, my first thought was concern that she was going to freeze. I’m having some trouble with prices. The few times I go to the see a movie these days, I absolutely refuse to purchase snacks. There’s just no way in hell I’m spending $18 on a large drink and popcorn. Here’s the weird thing. Back in the late 1980s, a large drink and popcorn would have cost about $7 which is about $18 in today’s money when taking inflation into account. But despite $18 being a trivial about for me, I just can’t spend the money. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/313 "2024-05-06T03:26:49Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I said I hope they cancel school the next day for a snow day, so kids could stay home and watch _The Price is Right_ like we used to do Nothing personal, but my idea of individually-tailored torturous hell is a TV that only has episodes of The Price is Right. Well, I guess hell would also offer the option of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and a few other offerings, but still. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/314 "2024-05-06T03:32:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > They said young people would pronounce it as “wite”. They probably say “witch” when they mean “which” and “wearever” for “wherever”. _shakes head_ I refer to the photocopying process as “kseeerocks” because that’s how you pronounce an “x” – “ks”. I admit I don’t refer to the dude who’s accompanied by a squire as a kch-nie-cht (knight). That was before even my time 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 7, 2024, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/315 "2024-05-07T09:15:20Z")
> [@solost](#): > > When I was in college in the 80s, some of the older buildings still had elaborate indoor phone booth areas with doors that sealed tight, and even little benches to sit and relax while talking. When I was there in the early '80s, UCLA’s original student union building, Kerckhoff Hall had two of these “phone cabins” on the main level. They featured wooden paneling, a copious writing table, and a light that came on when you shut the door. It was probably around 2000 that they took the phones out, but people still use the rooms for privacy when using their mobiles. On the other hand, this fully equipped phone booth, recessed into the wall between banks of lockers, was still there when I last visited around 2008. For those who know the campus, this was (is?) in Boelter hall. [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53704985359_b1a47769fd_o_d.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53704985359_b1a47769fd_o_d.jpg) By contrast, at UCSD through most of the late '70s, I don’t recall ever seeing a true phone booth of any kind. Of course, the campus as it existed at the time had all been built withing the last dozen years or so, so it wasn’t too surprising. Compared to that, UCLA looked like Harvard or Oxford. Although there were no booths, UCSD’s phone system did offer one quaint feature: four-digit dialing throughout the campus, meaning there could be a maximum of ten thousand phones, or perhaps less, if some potential numbers had to be withheld from use. Whether you were calling a friend in another dorm, or the bookstore, or your senior project advisor, it was always four digits. From off campus you dialed 452- plus the four numbers. I imagine that to anyone younger than about 45 even just being able to dial seven digits for all local calls must seem like a strange feature of days long ago, like when we look at phone directories from the 1800s with people having phone numbers like 8 and 27. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/316 "2024-05-10T13:36:42Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Although there were no booths, UCSD’s phone system did offer one quaint feature: four-digit dialing throughout the campus, meaning there could be a maximum of ten thousand phones, or perhaps less, if some potential numbers had to be withheld from use. Ohio State still had this with five-digit dialing (there were several exchanges) when I was there in the late 2000s. Except it was fully the cell phone era by then, and a phone number advertised with only five digits was more annoying than helpful. I was in a class where the instructor needed to call tech support to fix a broken projector, and it took us a while to dig up the other two digits of 8-HELP since there were no campus phones anywhere nearby. (Not that much earlier, it probably would have been common knowledge that 8- was 688-.) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/317 "2024-05-12T23:00:33Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I imagine that to anyone younger than about 45 even just being able to dial seven digits for all local calls must seem like a strange feature of days long ago, like when we look at phone directories from the 1800s with people having phone numbers like 8 and 27. our family phone number in the 70ies to 90ies was **3400** , I think my grandfather’s was **3201** (small to medium sized town in central europe) ---
**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:** [May 13, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/318 "2024-05-13T19:33:52Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Hwæt! We Gār‐Dena⁠ in geār‐dagum þēod‐cyninga⁠ þrym gefrūnon I love this line, because while “Whaet!” is the direct ancestor of “What!”, used today to express shock or disbelief, in the poem it means "I’m going to tell you what! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/319 "2024-05-13T19:47:39Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > But despite $18 being a trivial about for me, I just can’t spend the money. I wouldn’t say it’s a trivial amount but I do notice myself resenting things for being more expensive even though adjusted for inflation they are the same price. Two of my contributions are Green Day related. 1. I was at Home Depot and a nice young woman noted my shirt. In a friendly way she said, “Green Day! Who’s that? Wait. Is that one of those new European bands?” Adding insult to injury, the shirt in question was from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1. My son’s babysitter/former nanny is painfully young. 21 now, I think. One day _she_ came in wearing a Green Day shirt. Instantly feeling more youthful, I said, “Hey, you like Green Day?” She said, “Yeah, my Dad always makes me listen to them.” The other day I was at Zen Center and the teacher was trying to make an analogy to P90X, the workout regimen, remember that? He said, “You put the VHS in and it was just this guy yelling at you for an hour…” After a pause, he said, “Is everyone clear on what VHS is?” ---
**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:** [May 13, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/320 "2024-05-13T20:11:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Two of my contributions are Green Day related. The sad thing is that I’m old enough not only to remember Green Day, but to have thought of them back in the day as “that new band the kids listen to”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=17)