# "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:** 2
**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 12, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/21 "2023-01-12T19:10:07Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Mine don’t translate well. _Gott sei Dank!_ Would be embarrasing. That reads to my English-only eyes that you are bragging you just came into ownership of some primo bud 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/22 "2023-01-12T19:16:37Z")
It’s more of a southern Appalachian thing, but I still refer to people in my age group as “that boy” and “that girl.” My niece and her husband are in their mid-30s and can’t stand it when I call them “kids.” ---
**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 12, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/23 "2023-01-12T19:23:06Z")
There’s a fellow volunteer at the museum, smart as a whip,\* just finishing her BS in forensics science before starting her master’s but she couldn’t work our _Beer-n-Bones_ fundraiser back in October because she was a couple weeks shy of her 21st birthday. So, we were having a conversation and she said, “When I read _Percy Jackson_ as a child…” I paused and said, “‘Read _Percy Jackson_ as a child…’ You know, there are times I forget just how young you are.” \*Is that a fogeyism? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/24 "2023-01-12T19:40:12Z")
> [@solost](#): > > That reads to my English-only eyes that you are bragging you just came into ownership of some primo bud That was my first thought, too, although it was only in the last couple of years that I was aware of the English term for high quality goods. I wonder if I am in a “donut hole” age where I was too young for when it was popular the first time around, but old enough that the revitalized usage will always sound like slang to me. Or alternatively, “dank” might always have been in heavy use, but I never knew it until the Internet popularized it recently. ---
**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 12, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/25 "2023-01-12T19:41:35Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Or alternatively, “dank” might always have been in heavy use, but I never knew it until the Internet popularized it recently. Up until a few years ago, I would have thought it only applied to basements and dungeons. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/26 "2023-01-12T20:24:56Z")
I laughed, and then got a little bit silently agitated a while back when someone on Reddit described something as (paraphrased): “a vintage game, like you know, \” I had been out of college for five years by that point. ---
**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 12, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/27 "2023-01-12T20:33:47Z")
Yeah, nothing that originated in the 21st Century should be described as ‘vintage’. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/28 "2023-01-12T21:05:36Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am only 55 and I am already reshuffling things in the dishwasher before running it. I’ve been doing that the whole ten years I’ve lived in an apartment that had one, and I’m two years younger than you are. 🙂 > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’m 62 and I know if i ran into one of my old school teachers, I’d still be calling them, “Mr. Scienceteacher,” or, “Mrs. Englishteacher,” instead of **Bill** or **Tim**. One boss I had in my early 20s also substitute-taught in the local school system (he was probably a generation ahead of me in age). I had never had him as a teacher. Every other employee addressed him by first name, but I never could. He was always “Mr. Lastname”. I had that with college professors, too, even the ones relatively close to my age, and ones who invited use of first names. Just a strong reflex dating back to grade school, where the feeling was that kids probably shouldn’t even be aware teachers had first names. In most workplaces I’ve been in, it was more relaxed, even with significant age differences. Last workplace, great-grandboss was in her 70s and the highest-ranking person in the building. I honestly am not sure I’d be able to pronounce her last name, since I do not remember ever hearing anyone use it. She was “Firstname” to everyone, and lower-ranking supervisors took that cue and were on first-name terms with everyone (unless wishing to convey annoyance with a subordinate or the sup had trouble pronouncing the subordinate’s first name). The HR guy (from Mali) went by initials, since just about no one could say his actual name correctly :). > [@alovem](#): > > Certainly, it took a while before I regularly found myself saying, “When I was your age…” It’s getting frequent for me to use phrases like “just wait until you’re my age” or “I’m not sure if you were born yet [at time of event being talked about]”. > [@solost](#): > > Yeah, nothing that originated in the 21st Century should be described as ‘vintage’. I completely agree with this. I’ve sadly accepted that music from my high school days (mid-80s) can now qualify as “oldies”, but IMO “vintage” should only apply to items at least 40 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/29 "2023-01-12T21:49:32Z")
I’m sure using the term “old school” when referring to myself lately. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/30 "2023-01-12T22:21:21Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > of calling women “sweetheart,” “hon,” “dearie, Please, PLEASE, don’t. I work in customer service and that crap never ceases to make me want to punch someone. Man, I’m violent. I keep talking about punching people lately. I’m 63, physically sometimes I feel 100, though, for my age I’m in very good health, but in my head I feel around late 30’s early 40’s. I too, cannot figure out who that old bag in the mirror is. I don’t say old people stuff except I reference bands, shows, etc. that most of the Millennials and younger I work with aren’t familiar with. Exp: We were going to see Little River Band my coworker was asking me if they were the ones that did the tap dancing clomping thing. I didn’t stop laughing about that for a while. It still makes me chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/31 "2023-01-12T22:36:51Z")
Ooo, ooo, I do say, “(Younger person) don’t get old I don’t recommend it” and if someone is witnessing the pathetic vision of me getting up and down off the floor, “The floor gets farther away every year and I don’t get any taller. It just isn’t fair.” I also roll my eyes when people 40 and under grumble about getting old. Seriously, it’s all down hill after 21. Amirite? And that there is an old person thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/32 "2023-01-12T22:38:30Z")
I’ve found the word “fellas” creeping into my vocabulary. Unironically. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/33 "2023-01-12T22:41:39Z")
Hiya, fella! -From a former Rockefeller Republican (back when there were liberal/progressive pubbies). ---
**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 12, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/34 "2023-01-12T22:53:50Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > Seriously, it’s all down hill after 21. I always tell people it’s all down hill from (wherever they’re at). An employee’s daughter is in first grade and was telling me about how hard it is. I told her life went downhill after kindergarten and she looked like she agreed. ---
**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 12, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/35 "2023-01-12T22:57:44Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > Ooo, ooo, I do say, “(Younger person) don’t get old I don’t recommend it” “…but then again, it is better than the alternative, amirite?” …is an old dad saying I’ve found myself saying. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/36 "2023-01-12T22:58:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am only 55 and I am already reshuffling things in the dishwasher before running it. I don’t get that one. I have always done that, since it became my job to load and run the dishwasher. ---
**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 12, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/37 "2023-01-12T23:03:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > I am only 55 and I am already reshuffling things in the dishwasher before running it. > > I don’t get that one. I have always done that, since it became my job to load and run the dishwasher Mrs. solost is always criticizing my dishwasher stacking routine, and reshuffling on me to get it ‘right’. I’ve really tried to follow her way of doing things, but either I still don’t get it right, or by the time I do she’s come up with a more efficient way of stacking and I’m wrong again. She thinks I do it on purpose to get out of loading the dishwasher, but I really don’t, I swear! ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/38 "2023-01-12T23:08:38Z")
I’ve always reshuffled the dishwasher. As you put things in, you have to move stuff around to make sure it: fits in, doesn’t block smaller items, etc. I don’t think that’s an old person thing. It’s just sensible if you want clean dishes. ---
**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 12, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/39 "2023-01-12T23:12:03Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Mrs. solost is always criticizing my dishwasher stacking routine, and reshuffling on me to get it ‘right’. I’ve really tried to follow her way of doing things, but either I still don’t get it right, or by the time I do she’s come up with a more efficient way of stacking and I’m wrong again. She thinks I do it on purpose to get out of loading the dishwasher, but I really don’t, I swear! I have experienced this with my new wife. I’ve been loading dishwashers logically and successfully now for 40 years. But apparently I was doing it wrong all that time. Who knew. At age 64 and closing rapidly on retirement I’ve certainly found myself saying “Now that I’m old …” or words to that effect. I’m in great shape for my age and I think I have a youthful attitude. But then that phrase leaks out of my face and I wonder who said it. And why. The involuntary and actually unnecessary grunt while standing up has been around for about 5 years ago now. Though I can still knee-bend or do squats with a decent weight for reps just fine. Not sure how or why that got started. But there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111/40 "2023-01-12T23:15:49Z")
About five decades I invited my “elderly” neighbor to my house for lunch. In fact, he had just a couple of years earlier helped wit the construction. I asked him how old he was, and he said “70”. Then he tapped his temple with a forefinger and added, “but up here, I’m still eighteen.” I’m rather older now than he was then, but I get him in a big way. I refer to myself, as well as my age cohort, as “Geezer”. Dan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-personisms-that-have-sneakily-snuck-into-your-habits-or-vocabulary/978111.md?page=3)