# 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:** 5
**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 8, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/81 "2012-10-08T19:02:18Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I wonder if **Harmonious Discord** is misremembering some penile-near-synonym like _phallus_. SF writers and editors know what a phallus is, too\*. They wouldn’t use the term as a synonym for “spaceship” unless there was a deliberate intention to draw a parallel between the shape of the ship and the hman organ (as, indeed, was the case in the two examples I cited). Otherwise it just seems silly. - Standard joke punchline : “Oh, it’s like a penis. Only smaller.” ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/82 "2012-10-08T21:30:07Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > There is a (probably apocryphal) story that Queen Anne described the newly built St Paul’s Cathedral as “awful, terrible and artificial” > > awful - it fills her with awe > terrible - it fills her with terror > artificial - constructed with tremendous skill I heard the same thing about King Charles, including the term “elaborate” - using a lot of labour. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/83 "2012-10-09T01:28:21Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m running across the suffix “-ical” added to some words, like “fantastical”, where now we say “fantastic”. There are other “-ical” words but I’m drawing a blank. > > Has the meaning of “fantastic” changed? Now it means “great” or “awesome” or “wonderful”, but didn’t it used to mean something closer to “fantasy”? There _are_ a few ordinary -ical words like magical and comical, as well as one’s formed from words not originally ending in -ic like farcical and cylindrical. There’s also “tragical” which works if understood to be self referential as it is an overwrought and artificial sounding word to refer to, for example, one who is acting in an overwrought way to elevate a mishap into a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/84 "2012-10-09T01:38:55Z")
[Cylindric](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cylindric)is a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**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 9, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/85 "2012-10-09T01:54:11Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Sad as a colour, particularly for clothing, “a sad coloured gown” I think it meant grey. I always think it’s strange when I see black clothing referred to as “rusty”. But maybe that’s just a British thing, not an old thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/86 "2012-10-09T02:02:37Z")
edit: nevermind ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/87 "2012-10-09T02:41:49Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [Cylindric](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cylindric)is a perfectly cromulent word. So it is. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/88 "2012-10-09T02:52:37Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I always think it’s strange when I see black clothing referred to as “rusty”. But maybe that’s just a British thing, not an old thing. I think that just means it’s brownish-black. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/89 "2012-10-09T04:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Penises referring to cylindrical space ships with a pointed nose or bullet shaped ships. Umm, I’m beginning to suspect you just have long, throbbing projectiles on your mind… ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/90 "2012-10-09T08:06:03Z")
“Venerian” for “Venusian”. “Terranian” or “Terranic” for “Terran”. Maybe I’m weird, but I like it when they use “Terra” for Earth, and “Luna” for the Moon. Earth----\>geography, geology Moon----\>selenography, selenology Mars----\>areography, areology Never saw a Venerian equivalent. “Aphroditeology” seems to me a rather clumsy construction. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/91 "2012-10-09T16:14:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If you go back a couple of hundred years, you find lots of these > [..] > **Projector** – In _Gulliver’s Travels_ a “projector” was what we would call a “professor” or a “researcher” I believe that a Projector was someone who proposed projects (and apparently OED agrees with that). My impression – though I don’t have any sources at the moment to back it up – was that it carried the connotation of projects that were a bit at the far edge of reasonable, whether through excessive optimism, being an outright con-man, or some of both. ---
**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 9, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/92 "2012-10-09T16:50:54Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I believe that a Projector was someone who proposed projects (and apparently OED agrees with that). My impression – though I don’t have any sources at the moment to back it up – was that it carried the connotation of projects that were a bit at the far edge of reasonable, whether through excessive optimism, being an outright con-man, or some of both. The Projectors in Gullver’s Travels were effectively research scientists at a university – which was my point. That, and they weren’t devices for throwing images on screens. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/93 "2012-10-09T18:14:49Z")
I’m rather fond of “degenerate” as a noun specifically referring to compulsive gamblers. I picked it up from \*Casino \*and use it all the time (or at least as all the time as my limited number of opportunities, post-_Luck_, to refer to compulsive gamblers will allow). ---
**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 9, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/94 "2012-10-09T18:49:53Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I think that just means it’s brownish-black. I thought so, but Merriam-Webster says: > [@rusty](#): > > Definition of RUSTY > 1: affected by or as if by rust; especially : stiff with or as if with rust > 2: inept and slow through lack of practice or old age > 3a : of the color rust b : dulled in color or appearance by age and use \ > 4: outmoded > 5: hoarse, grating 3b is the meaning I’m talking about. The Oxford Dictionary of English on my e-reader is even more specific: “(of black clothes) discoloured by age”. At any rate, another word that makes me think twice is when I see the word “desk” being referred to as a thing that a lady is carrying around. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/95 "2012-10-09T23:35:46Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > In old batman comics, the Joker used to always refer to boners. I think they meant mistakes… but I wasn’t really sure. I think they meant mistakes, but [when they do it over and over again,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5w6YSiJyw) it does make you wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/96 "2012-10-10T17:42:41Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > “Apace” meaning walking quickly instead of walking together Say what? “Apace” has always meant “quickly” and still does. I’ve never heard it used to mean “together”. [Apace.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apace) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/97 "2012-10-10T17:52:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Say what? “Apace” has always meant “quickly” and still does. I’ve never heard it used to mean “together”. > > [Apace.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apace) Merriam-Webster sort-of agrees with the “together” usage of _apace_, though perhaps not in a physical sense. That is, it defines \*apace \*as synonymous with _abreast_ without differentiating between the meanings “beside one another with bodies in line” and “up to a particular standard,” but the usage example is of the latter meaning. Imprecise of them; Athena would be displeased. I too think of _apace_ as primarily meaning “quickly.” ---
**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 10, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/98 "2012-10-10T18:27:37Z")
While I was aware of the other meaning, in modern usage I only ever hear/see it as a synonym for “keeping abreast.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/99 "2012-10-10T18:52:30Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > While I was aware of the other meaning, in modern usage I only ever hear/see it as a synonym for “keeping abreast.” Can you give an example? I’m having trouble visualising how it could be used that way, other than “I walked to keep apace with Bob”, which seems very clumsy (it should just be “pace”). ---
**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 10, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741/100 "2012-10-10T18:59:54Z")
I hear it in discussions of R&D work, mostly “we need to keep apace with the technology” or making sure that regulations “keep apace” of the legislation. It’s keeping up with - maintaining or developing the required momentum. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-terms-in-fiction-that-are-weird-to-hear-or-read-today/636741.md?page=6)