# Terms that have fallen out of fashion **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938 "2012-03-06T16:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/21 "2012-03-06T19:46:18Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I still use the term “cordless” but also sometimes call it “the landline”. Definitely, we still use the word phone, but the meaning is shifting. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/22 "2012-03-06T19:49:19Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > We called them Zoris. I have no idea where that came from. > [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s what the Japanese call them. My parents and the parents of my Jewish friends called them zoris which I assumed was the Hebrew word for sandals. My girlfriend in college was Japanese-American and I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard her call them zoris. Yep, it’s Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/23 "2012-03-06T20:19:06Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > How do you describe my home phone, a landline with a base to charge the handset? We call it the “phone”, with no modifier. We’ve still got one corded phone, but pretty much never use it (clock radio/phone in the bedroom, but every calls us on our cells). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/24 "2012-03-06T20:35:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > My parents and the parents of my Jewish friends called them zoris which I assumed was the Hebrew word for sandals. My girlfriend in college was Japanese-American and I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard her call them zoris. Yep, it’s Japanese. I belive the word “sandal” is used in the Talmud, which would at least make it Aramaic, and very possibly Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/25 "2012-03-06T20:36:52Z")
Music - They still award a Grammy for “Record of the Year” Listen to any of the ‘this year in rock history’ shows on some radio station & they’ll talk about some song originally being released as a “B-side” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/26 "2012-03-06T20:39:10Z")
Speaking of music, does anyone call a band a “group” anymore? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/27 "2012-03-06T20:45:10Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Music - > They still award a Grammy for “Record of the Year” That makes sense to me. Regardless of the medium, it’s still a recording. Of course us old folks called a single 33 rpm vinyl disk a “record album” which dates back to the days of an entire symphony recorded on 78 rpm records that would take several disks to fit to whole thing and they came in a book like thing sort of like a photo album. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/28 "2012-03-06T20:48:18Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Music - > They still award a Grammy for “Record of the Year” > Listen to any of the ‘this year in rock history’ shows on some radio station & they’ll talk about some song originally being released as a “B-side” Yes, record is entirely appropriate as the noun for song in this regard. Also, historically it was a B-side, and even though 45s aren’t the medium used any longer, that doesn’t change history. It still was on side “B”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/29 "2012-03-06T20:56:16Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Speaking of music, does anyone call a band a “group” anymore? Well, if they’re _a cappella_ and don’t play any instruments, “band” doesn’t quite seem right. I’ve heard different terms for the trash container that you put out at the curb each week. (And I’m not thinking of the big ones, like a dumpster or skip.) I’m curious if it’s regional, generational, or professional. What do folks here call it? I haven’t heard anyone use “gams” in a long time. “Nice gams”, they used to say. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/30 "2012-03-06T20:56:32Z")
Insults tend to fall into and out of fashion. Harlot! Strumpet! Trollop! Rascal! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/31 "2012-03-06T21:09:57Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > When was the last time you said you wanted to buy a new “color” TV? From when this topic gets rehashed in 2025: [QUOTE=FutureDoper] When was the last time you said you wanted to buy a new “flat screen” TV? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/32 "2012-03-06T21:25:55Z")
The terms “widescreen” vs. “full frame” for DVDs seem to have fallen to the wayside. Widescreen appears to be the default standard now. I don’t even think new dvd releases are even available in full-frame anymore. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/33 "2012-03-06T21:39:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Well, if they’re _a cappella_ and don’t play any instruments, “band” doesn’t quite seem right. True enough, but I don’t even know of any current a capella groups still around. I think it used to be a joke on several shows back in the day where the kids would talk about a hip young musical act, and the square old dad would look confused. “They’re a group.” “A group of what?” ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/34 "2012-03-06T21:46:32Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Insults tend to fall into and out of fashion. > > Harlot! Strumpet! Trollop! > > Rascal! You rakish cad! :eek: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/35 "2012-03-06T21:56:51Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > My MIL still calls her couch a davenport. She comes from the upper midwest- is this maybe a regional thing? Yes, that’s regional. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/36 "2012-03-06T21:58:41Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Yes, that’s regional. Is it? I associate it with my grandparents, who were in the midwest – Davenport, Iowa! ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/37 "2012-03-06T22:10:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve heard different terms for the trash container that you put out at the curb each week. (And I’m not thinking of the big ones, like a dumpster or skip.) I’m curious if it’s regional, generational, or professional. What do folks here call it? Rubbish barrels. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/38 "2012-03-06T22:15:29Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > Rubbish barrels. To me, it’s just a “trash can”. My new landlord referred to it as a “barrel”. I don’t know if that’s a northeast thing, or because of his profession (he’s a contractor). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/39 "2012-03-06T22:15:36Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > You rakish cad! :eek: > > 🙂 You spoony bard! It’s not really a term, but I do wonder how long it’ll be before the kids have no idea what that little icon is on their documents that’s supposed to represent “save” (it’s a 3.5" diskette). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/40 "2012-03-06T22:31:09Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > My MIL still calls her couch a davenport. She comes from the upper midwest- is this maybe a regional thing? Probably. My grandmother, who lived almost all of her life in and around Green Bay, WI, is the last person I’ve heard using the term (and she passed away in 1991). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938.md?page=3)