# Phrases that don't mean what they used to **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862 "2011-05-31T16:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/41 "2011-06-02T18:01:14Z")
“Mailing it in” is quite popular: used all the time. How about referring to a “boner” as a mistake, or gaffe? As in, “looks like I pulled a real boner on that one!” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/42 "2011-06-02T18:41:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > As for phrases: “You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle.” Hey, that was supposed to be [my](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023969/quotes) line! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/43 "2011-06-02T19:01:38Z")
“The sky was the color of a television tuned to a neutral channel” - a bright, cheery blue. (I think someone (maybe Charlie Stross?) actually used that in a book.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/44 "2011-06-02T19:03:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > How about referring to a “boner” as a mistake, or gaffe? As in, “looks like I pulled a real boner on that one!” [Merkle’s Boner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle's_Boner) > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > “Scum” used to refer to semen, and “scumbag” meant essentially a used condom (I don’t know if people commonly called actual used condoms “scumbags,” but to call a person a scumbag meant that he was as disgusting as a used condom.) Nowadays this meaning has pretty much been forgotten and while the term is still insulting, it doesn’t pack the same punch. When I was in high school, telling somebody “You suck!” was understood to be a reference to fellatio and pretty offensive. Now “that sucks” is pretty mild and everybody uses it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/45 "2011-06-02T20:12:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > How about referring to a “boner” as a mistake, or gaffe? As in, “looks like I pulled a real boner on that one!” > [@Colibri](#): > > [Merkle’s Boner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle's_Boner) [See also: Batman](http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/136/) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/46 "2011-06-02T20:23:24Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > “The sky was the color of a television tuned to a neutral channel” - a bright, cheery blue. > > (I think someone (maybe Charlie Stross?) actually used that in a book.) William Gibson, the first line of **Neuromancer** : “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” The image was Gibson’s own. There is the supposed description of St. Paul’s Church by Queen Anne as “awful, artificial, and amusing.” It was totally complementary in its original sense of the three words – “causing awe,” “clever,” and “thought-provoking.” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/47 "2011-06-02T20:26:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > William Gibson, the first line of **Neuromancer** : “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” The image was Gibson’s own. Yes. I meant that someone (possibly Stross) used the “bright, cheery blue” line in another (much later) book. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/48 "2011-06-04T02:40:35Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > _Making love_ used to mean _act charmingly toward_, not engage in coitus. I recall being mildly surprised when a little girl in the Chronicles of Narnia was described as “making love” to everyone in the castle of the giants. Haha I remember feeling that way when I read it too. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/49 "2011-06-04T03:01:41Z")
Hooking up. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/50 "2011-06-05T16:44:53Z")
An E ticket used to be what you needed to ride the best rides at Disneyland. Now an e-ticket is how you make a plane reservation. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/51 "2011-06-05T17:08:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > “Mailing it in” is quite popular: used all the time. > > How about referring to a “boner” as a mistake, or gaffe? As in, “looks like I pulled a real boner on that one!” I still can’t believe that the best friend on Growing Pains was named “Boner.” This was the mid-eighties, I was an early teen, and had never heard the word mean anything _ **other than** _ “penile erection.” Joe ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/52 "2011-06-06T16:55:05Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > (emphasis mine). Do you have any links to popular usages in this manner? I don’t recall ever hearing in this context. To me, one bad apple will still almost always spoil the bunch. I’ve never heard the reverse version either. I’ve only ever heard it in the context of one dumbass ruining something for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862/53 "2011-06-06T19:10:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There is the supposed description of St. Paul’s Church by Queen Anne as “awful, artificial, and amusing.” It was totally complementary in its original sense of the three words – “causing awe,” “clever,” and “thought-provoking.” They’re two different words. The one she used is spelled “aweful.” And “fantastic” used to mean something that is so ridiculous, it could only exist in a fantasy. And then there’s “Type that up in triplicate,” meaning you’ll need three sheets of paper and two sheets of carbon paper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/583862.md?page=2)