# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/41 "2012-10-05T20:40:06Z")
Brawn now means muscle, but it once was a kind of of headcheese. “The cat’s got into the brawn again.” What, has she bitten a hunk out of a bicep? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/42 "2012-10-05T21:10:19Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Brawn now means muscle, but it once was a kind of of headcheese. Still is, round here. My Granda used to love a brawn sandwich in his bait. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/43 "2012-10-05T21:16:46Z")
“Weak eyes”; I’ve never quite understood what this referred to. Was it typical mid-life onset of difficulty in focusing on printed material, or did they mean the character’s eyes were especially sensitive to bright light? Or were his/her eyes gradually failing like an old fashioned TV picture tube fading? ETA: i know, I asked about this once, but it was a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/44 "2012-10-05T21:23:45Z")
> [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > I came in here to post that too. I did a double-take the first time I ever encountered it, because it grammatically could have meant “have sex with”, but was contextually very strange. I was weirded out by It’s A Wonderful Life for many years as a child because of the scene between George and Mary in the sitting room. “He’s making violent love to me, Mother!” ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/45 "2012-10-05T21:28:37Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > [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. Calhoun and his tormal Murgatroyd travel in their Med Ship Aesclipus Twenty bringing latest health advances to planets and responding to planetary plaques. > [@](#): > > There were the random noises a ship tape makes for human need. Absolute silence is unendurable. So there were small sounds released in the ship. Little, meaningless noises. Faint traffic. Faint conversation. Very faint music. Rain, and wind, and thunder as heard from a snug, tight house. It had no significance, so one did not listen to it, but its absence would have been unendurable. Murray Leinster was writing his short stories about the Med Service. I will not hijack my own thread further. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/46 "2012-10-05T21:29:27Z")
Looking “pale and interesting”. I never could figure out what was interesting about being kind of wan and sickly-looking. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/47 "2012-10-05T21:42:04Z")
Referring to a woman having a “muscle-butt” as if that was an insult. Today we’d be thanking them for the complement! Ditto using “adventurer” to describe what we’d call a “venture capitalist.” “Turning the barrel” to mean unlocking a door. “Apace” meaning walking quickly instead of walking together “hobnob” meaning just a friendly chat, as opposed to socializing with the upper crust. “Nicely” to mean with great precision, rather than the vague useless version of today which basically means “without offending.” “Boob” a foolish person. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/48 "2012-10-05T23:13:08Z")
I think modern children would have a few questions about certain passages in “Little Lord Fauntleroy.” Seven-year-old Lord Fauntleroy, who left his American home to take his place as the heir apparent to the Earl of Dorincourt, is at a party and has made a friend of a lady there: > [@](#): > > She kept him by her side a great part of the evening, and the group of which they were the center was very gay. > > [Little Lord Fauntleroy shows his new friends a gaudy red silk handkerchief that was given to him by his American friend, Dick, as a going-away present] > > And queer as the big, flaming, spotted thing was, there was a serious, affectionate look in his eyes, which prevented his audience from laughing very much. > > “You see, I like it,” he said, “because Dick is my friend.” ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/49 "2012-10-06T00:10:55Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I was weirded out by It’s A Wonderful Life for many years as a child because of the scene between George and Mary in the sitting room. “He’s making violent love to me, Mother!” Similarly, I was expecting a nice evening of musical theatre when I went to The Fantasticks, only to be confronted with a Dad paying a man to rape his daughter! Apparently, in the olden days “rape” meant “abduct”. Same with the Rape of the Sabine Women. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/50 "2012-10-06T00:14:17Z")
> [@Silvorange](#): > > I think modern children would have a few questions about certain passages in “Little Lord Fauntleroy.” > > Seven-year-old Lord Fauntleroy, who left his American home to take his place as the heir apparent to the Earl of Dorincourt, is at a party and has made a friend of a lady there: > > > [@](#): > > > > She kept him by her side a great part of the evening, and the group of which they were the center was very gay. > > > > [Little Lord Fauntleroy shows his new friends a gaudy red silk handkerchief that was given to him by his American friend, Dick, as a going-away present] > > > > And queer as the big, flaming, spotted thing was, there was a serious, affectionate look in his eyes, which prevented his audience from laughing very much. > > > > “You see, I like it,” he said, “because Dick is my friend.” And then they threw some faggots into the fire… 😛 ---
**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 6, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/51 "2012-10-06T00:45:07Z")
> [@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. Interesting to think that all those adds to enlarge my penis could be about selling me a bigger boat. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/52 "2012-10-06T00:46:29Z")
There’s a passage in Jane Austen’s _Northanger Abbey_ where Henry Tilney complains about people using the word “nice” as slang to mean “pleasant” instead of its proper meaning: “neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement”. It was a lost cause, though. I doubt many people today are even aware that “nice” once had this more precise meaning. > [@Corcaigh](#): > > “fantastic” - which I always use to mean amazing or incredible - being used to mean ridiculous, a fantasy if you will. I once happened to see an old yearbooks from the 1930s that described a formal event at the university as “pompous”…and meant it as a compliment. That is, the event was a grand, dignified ceremony. > [@teela\_brown](#): > > Looking “pale and interesting”. I never could figure out what was interesting about being kind of wan and sickly-looking. I think that basically means being kind of Goth-y. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/53 "2012-10-06T03:39:03Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > “Weak eyes”; I’ve never quite understood what this referred to. Was it typical mid-life onset of difficulty in focusing on printed material, or did they mean the character’s eyes were especially sensitive to bright light? Or were his/her eyes gradually failing like an old fashioned TV picture tube fading? > > ETA: i know, I asked about this once, but it was a long time ago. I don’t have a cite, but I’m fairly certain that it simply means near-sighted. > [@teela\_brown](#): > > Looking “pale and interesting”. I never could figure out what was interesting about being kind of wan and sickly-looking. 100+ years ago, when a lot of people–especially poor people–worked outside, by far the most common reason people got tanned was because they couldn’t avoid it. Thus the fashion of the time was the exact opposite of what it is now. High-society people tried very hard to avoid getting tanned, because pale skin showed that they didn’t do manual labor. Also, ladies were not supposed to be tan–only men. If you’ve ever read the Little House books, that’s a recurring theme. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/54 "2012-10-06T04:38:01Z")
“Two hundred thousands,” rather than “two hundred thousand.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/55 "2012-10-06T04:42:14Z")
Well, where are the Martians? (_Oh dear, I hate being re-integrated_) ---
**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:** [October 6, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/56 "2012-10-06T05:58:50Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > You figured correctly. From baseball lore: [Merkle’s Boner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle%27s_Boner). > [@](#): > > Merkle’s Boner refers to the notorious baserunning mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs in 1908. Merkle’s failure to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit led instead to a forceout at second and a tied game. In the end, the Cubs won the National League pennant that year. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/57 "2012-10-06T06:16:45Z")
My grade school math teacher who liked to tell stories in class seemed oblivious to the roomful of smirks and snickering when he talked about how he “pulled a boner”. He was a guy straight out of the 40s/50s, always reminded me of Paul Drake from Perry Mason. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/58 "2012-10-06T10:06:01Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > There’s a passage in Jane Austen’s _Northanger Abbey_ where Henry Tilney complains about people using the word “nice” as slang to mean “pleasant” instead of its proper meaning: “neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement”. It was a lost cause, though. I doubt many people today are even aware that “nice” once had this more precise meaning. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen referred to “The Nice And Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch” in their book, “Good Omens.”. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/59 "2012-10-06T17:03:14Z")
**Awesome** used to mean something that inspired awe or wonder. Now it seems to be used for anything that’s even mediocre. A good word ruined. ☹ ---
**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 6, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/60 "2012-10-06T17:09:08Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > **Awesome** used to mean something that inspired awe or wonder. Now it seems to be used for anything that’s even mediocre. A good word ruined. ☹ Same thing happened to “genius” and “hero.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=4)