# Post your favourite old fashioned unusual words... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588 "2004-02-28T05:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Empress\_Jolrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Empress\_Jolrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Empress_Jolrael)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/21 "2004-02-29T10:50:13Z")
**Arden Ranger** , thank you for jogging my memory! Milquetoast. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/22 "2004-02-29T11:08:43Z")
Bluestocking Lollygagging ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/23 "2004-02-29T11:27:36Z")
gallivant ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/24 "2004-02-29T11:28:40Z")
Well I swan! This phrase was used by my father in mixed company. If we were alone,he would say what he really meant by that,which was,“Well I’ll be goddamned!” I’ll have to search around and find out what it really meant and where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/25 "2004-02-29T11:51:47Z")
> [@CloudCar](#): > > My late uncle used to say “kittywumpus” for something that had gone awry usually referring to having put something together wrong. There are several variations on that one. From the Info Please dictionary: > [@](#): > > cat•a•wam•pus > > Pronunciation: (kat"u-wom’pus), [key] Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. > > —adj. > > 1. askew; awry. > 2. positioned diagonally; cater-cornered. > > —adv. > diagonally; obliquely: We took a shortcut and walked catawampus across the field. Also,cattywampus. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/26 "2004-02-29T12:34:14Z")
> [@ageless6](#): > > Well I swan! . . . I’ll have to search around and find out what it really meant and where it came from. I always heard this one as “I swunnee,” pronounced sorta like the river. I always took it to be a euphemism for “I swear.” ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/27 "2004-02-29T13:30:40Z")
I had an uncle who unaffectedly used any number of archaic expressions such as “by ginger!” (probably a variant of “by Geoorge”), “Crikey!” and a whole raft of others. If you were in his house and closed your eyes and just listened, you might think you were transported to the earky 1900’s. Speaking of that, some of you might enjoy a novel called **The Alienist**. It involves, uh…time travel…to turn of the century NYC and the search for a serial killer. What I liked is how the author presented the people of this time. It is by no one’s standard an all-time mystery story, but I found it to be a good read. See a down to earth review at… [http://www.forbisthemighty.com/pages/alienist.htm](http://www.forbisthemighty.com/pages/alienist.htm) …where you’ll also learn the definition of “Alienist” - if you don’t know already. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/28 "2004-02-29T13:41:17Z")
Earl: Yeah,I just found it at [THEWORDMAVEN.COM](http://THEWORDMAVEN.COM) site, and it does indeed mean “I swear”. It says that (this means you) in the south it’s said “I swanny,” and in the north (I was brought up on a farm in Ohio) it’s said “I swan”. ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/29 "2004-02-29T14:14:24Z")
One of my grandmothers always referred to my blue jeans as dungarees, which amused me. (This was in the '70s and first half of the '80s, so well archaic by then, I’d say.) ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/30 "2004-02-29T16:00:37Z")
I never think my word usage is particularly weird, but a friend of mine gets a bad case of the giggles almost every time we talk. She claims that NO ONE says “dreadful” or “cross” (meaning mildly angry) anymore, and that I am hopelessly out-of-date. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/31 "2004-02-29T16:02:15Z")
**Banter** is a wonderful word. People tend to know what it means but it’s so old-fashioned they still do a slightly non-plussed double-take when I come out with it. - So what did you do when you met up with them? - Oh, not much, had a drink, indulged in the usual _banter_. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/32 "2004-02-29T18:02:09Z")
Does the word ‘swell’ count? Bear in mind that i’m British so this always makes me look like some strange extra from ‘Happy days’ or something. I find it is particularly effective when couple with an expletive! ---
**Author:** ![jayseebee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jayseebee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayseebee)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/33 "2004-02-29T18:13:13Z")
woo ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/34 "2004-02-29T18:15:00Z")
[Poltroon](http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?r=2&q=poltroon). As in “A pox upon thee for a niggardly poltroon.” ---
**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:** [February 29, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/35 "2004-02-29T18:15:00Z")
> [@ColonelDax](#): > > One of my grandmothers always referred to my blue jeans as dungarees, which amused me. (This was in the '70s and first half of the '80s, so well archaic by then, I’d say.) A few years before that, I had a friend whose mother used that term. And she wasn’t that old; but they had originally come from Virginia, so maybe it’s a regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/36 "2004-02-29T18:22:07Z")
Ought. The other day, in the office, I actually used the phrase “Ought I to do so?” Got some very blank stares. ---
**Author:** ![seaworthy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@seaworthy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seaworthy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/37 "2004-02-29T18:28:32Z")
Reading all these wonderful words made me forget the one that I was going to post! Damnit! OH- foodstuffs. It’s a great word. I also like hooligan, that’s not used very often in the US. I found it really funny that _Interpol_ has devoted part of its website to football hooliganism. My drawing teacher is really fond of telling us our drawings are cattywampus if the proportions are off. It’s kinda hard to keep a straight face when he says that. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/38 "2004-02-29T18:38:23Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Ought. > > The other day, in the office, I actually used the phrase “Ought I to do so?” Got some very blank stares. “Ought” is old-fashioned? Color me surprised. Of course, I use it as in, “I remember last year, back in aught-three . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/39 "2004-02-29T21:17:55Z")
Personally, I like any english words that has it’s origins in Yiddish. Oh, and Defenestrate. Defenestrate is a great word. I tought it to a class of ESL students, for fun 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588/40 "2004-02-29T22:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > The other day, in the office, I actually used the phrase “Ought I to do so?” Got some very blank stares. I think it might have been your unusual phrasing (to most people’s ears, anyway) that drew the blank looks. Although I guess you’re right that “should” is preferred over “ought” these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-favourite-old-fashioned-unusual-words/231588.md?page=3)