# Old terms in fiction that are weird to hear or read today. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741 "2012-10-04T20:44:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/21 "2012-10-05T13:31:22Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > You will have to wait until later today, when I can spend the time to find it. [Adlai Stevenson/] “I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that’s your decision.” [/Adlai Stevenson] ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/22 "2012-10-05T13:35:04Z")
“To-morrow.” [sic] ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/23 "2012-10-05T13:39:15Z")
“Ray” for any kind of radiation. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/24 "2012-10-05T13:39:19Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > In old batman comics, the Joker used to always refer to boners. I think they meant mistakes… but I wasn’t really sure. He was referring to rocket ships. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/25 "2012-10-05T13:41:32Z")
To be ‘in a Brown Study’ (meaning to be daydreaming or generally introspective) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/26 "2012-10-05T14:10:13Z")
Weird ways of expressing two-digit numbers, where they say the ones digit first, followed by the tens digit. The “Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds” nursery rhyme is a good example. I don’t remember if it was in _Robinson Crusoe_ or somewhere else, but I’ve read about people going a-fishing. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/27 "2012-10-05T14:16:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > - “Ejaculated” for “exclaimed”. Roman Catholic children were encouraged to ejaculate frequently. that is real life and maybe also in fictional accounts. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/28 "2012-10-05T14:22:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > - “Ejaculated” for “exclaimed”. This [snippet from QI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z99xbwrFWoc) is _extremely_ relevant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/29 "2012-10-05T14:29:50Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Roman Catholic children were encouraged to ejaculate frequently. > > that is real life and maybe also in fictional accounts. We were encouraged to write up “Spiritual Bouquets” of prayers we promised to say, and were encouraged to promise ejaculations in units of 500. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/30 "2012-10-05T17:46:12Z")
You lucked out on the penises, because I didn’t find it in the 15 minutes I looked. It will get posted when I run across it again, even when it’s months down the road. I have too much to look through, and haven’t had total recall for well over a decade. Today has been a day where I keep losing things and it’s taking hours to find the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/31 "2012-10-05T17:54:28Z")
The one I recall is one my mother picked up from her broad reading, “I beg a boon of thee.” Meaning, I am asking you for a favor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/32 "2012-10-05T17:59:15Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > You lucked out on the penises, because I didn’t find it in the 15 minutes I looked. It will get posted when I run across it again, even when it’s months down the road. I have too much to look through, and haven’t had total recall for well over a decade. Today has been a day where I keep losing things and it’s taking hours to find the stuff. A Penis is a Terrible Thing to Lose. Let us know whn you find it. I’m genuinely curious to see if this usage existed independent of any body-referential intent. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/33 "2012-10-05T18:07:09Z")
Speaking of penises… there’s a phrase “to give head” = to loose rein on a horse. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/34 "2012-10-05T18:15:29Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > “To-morrow.” [sic] “Ice-cream” (mid 19th century) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/35 "2012-10-05T18:20:35Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > Speaking of penises… > > there’s a phrase “to give head” = to loose rein on a horse. I have seen that written as “give him his head”. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/36 "2012-10-05T18:34:07Z")
[A Logic Named Joe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Logic_Named_Joe) in which a ‘logic’ is what we now call a computer. I once read a series of short stories where a man was traveling about the galaxy in a single person ship and because ships ran so quietly there had to be a loop tape of background noise running to keep people from going crazy because it was too quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/37 "2012-10-05T18:57:52Z")
“fantastic” - which I always use to mean amazing or incredible - being used to mean ridiculous, a fantasy if you will. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/38 "2012-10-05T19:01:46Z")
In the old silent film “Metropolis” they refer to the robot as a man-machine. This man-machine was the inspiration for C-3PO ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/39 "2012-10-05T19:19:58Z")
I’m in the midst of reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Black Arrow” - there are many examples of oddities in the (deliberately) archaic usage. One of my favourites is the use of ‘incontinently’ to mean without any delay. > [@](#): > > “And now, Sir Richard,” he continued, “if that ye see Lord Risingham, send me an express upor the instant. Were it your last man, let me hear of it incontinently. I had rather venture the post than lose my stroke at him.” There are other examples of someone incontinently picking up or dropping their bow, incontinently entering the room, etc. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/40 "2012-10-05T19:37:03Z")
It took me a surprisingly long time to realise that “post horses” have nothing to do with the post office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=3)