# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/121 "2012-03-07T22:06:30Z")
Did grizzled old prospectors really uses terms like “Dag nab it!” or “Consarn it!”? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/122 "2012-03-07T22:12:21Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Did grizzled old prospectors really uses terms like “Dag nab it!” or “Consarn it!”? I don’t know, but my dad doesn’t like to swear and he will very sincerely shout “DADGUMIT!” which I believe is “goddamn it” spelled sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/123 "2012-03-08T00:27:29Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > A very good friend of mine is a professional (Director of Special Projects). She’s 50 years old and still uses ‘Groovy’ quite a bit. It’s really pretty cute. She uses ‘Howdy’ too. She’s a cross between a country girl and a hippie chick I guess. I bet I’d like her. I’ve often referred to myself as a _hippiebilly._ ---
**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 8, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/124 "2012-03-08T00:36:56Z")
> [@campp](#): > > 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”. I don’t dispute it was historically accurate, I’m just saying it’s not used anymore. I’m old enough to remember the DJ playing a B-side; now it’d just be another single. …& while we’re at it, why do we still have a DJ/Disc Jockey on the radio station? It was the guy who used to spin the records (disks); you could even make an argument for the term for the guy who play the compact discs, but now all music is electronic; all they do is push some buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/125 "2012-03-08T00:38:50Z")
I think a lot of radio stations still use CDs. Edit: Hell, into the 90’s there were a lot of radio stations that still used vinyl records. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/126 "2012-03-08T01:09:58Z")
Moon-calf Towhead “Soup-and-fish” referring to a tuxedo “Bread-and-butter letters”: thank-you letters ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/127 "2012-03-08T02:24:58Z")
My favorite out of fashion term is “beauty parlor”, which brings to mind ladies in curlers sitting under helmet-like dryers getting a wash and set from a beautician - other terms you don’t hear much anymore. Now everyone goes to a salon and gets a cut and color from their stylist. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/128 "2012-03-08T04:20:57Z")
bitchen for great. gnarley for a challenging, whatever. get it on for sex. peachy keen for cool. and huba huba for wow, she looks hot. To be said while shaking a downturned wrist frantically, and making the eyes get big. ---
**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 8, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/129 "2012-03-08T05:00:35Z")
“fox” for hottie of either gender ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/130 "2012-03-08T05:15:43Z")
None of your lip, young lady! Fresh! > [@Merriam-Webster](#): > > [probably by folk etymology from German frech] : disposed to take liberties : impudent \ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/131 "2012-03-08T06:53:47Z")
Can’t believe that nobody (myself included) thought of this one until now: _Dime store_. Like, there’s any stores around that still have very many items that sell for a _dime?_ ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/132 "2012-03-08T07:03:10Z")
hot to trot cassette walkman hurray swell gee willikers 10-4 good buddy bear in the air high-falutin jive turkey 4-track VHS 8-track tape popped her cherry age of aquarius zoot suit whaz happenin’ bro? let the good times roll coupon clipping greenstamps debonair Ann Coulter MySpace Whore sixty-nine milksop knickerbocker ice cream man …not! metrosexual cool O rly peace, man qanat sperry topsiders gag me with a spoon zoiks ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/133 "2012-03-08T11:03:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Blueprints** > > I’ve seen and handled actualy blue-prints 9and blue-line) drawings, but in my professional career, it’s been either hand-=drawn prints or computer-generated or scanned-and-printed prints. The term “blueprint” is supposedly still used, but I inevitably hear simply “Prints” > > I’m reminded of an old science fiction novel where we have fallen into a new Dark Age, and one of the monks laboriously copying the blueprints (white lines on a blue-colored background) suddenly has a revelation that the reason the drawings look that way is because they’re the result of a _duplication process_. After that, they can just copy them black on white. Or in the trades “One lines” or “As builts” ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/134 "2012-03-08T11:07:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I don’t know, but my dad doesn’t like to swear and he will very sincerely shout “DADGUMIT!” which I believe is “goddamn it” spelled sideways. LOL… Mine would say OH…SHHHHHHugar. Which probably would have been “Oh Shit” if us kids were not around! ---
**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:** [March 8, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/135 "2012-03-08T12:34:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Can’t believe that nobody (myself included) thought of this one until now: > > _Dime store_. > > Like, there’s any stores around that still have very many items that sell for a _dime?_ I never heard “Dime Store”. The more common term was _five and time_. I didn’t hear that one either, but we had a _five and ten_ in my home town until only about a decade ago. – a Ben Franklin store. The chain still exists, but not anywhere near where i grew up any more. (Woolworth was the famous “five and ten”. Knowing that helps you understand the Groucho Marx patter: “That’ll get you ten years in Leavenworth or Eleven years in Twelveworth. Or Five and Ten at Woolworth.”) ---
**Author:** ![Cestrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Cestrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cestrian)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/136 "2012-03-08T13:17:40Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Speaking of music, does anyone call a band a “group” anymore? It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to the latest popular beat combos on the tranny. tranny - transistor radio ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/137 "2012-03-08T14:08:03Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > “fox” for hottie of either gender For some reason you still see “silver fox” for the Anderson Cooper/Tim Gunn type. Mostly in, you know, Vanity Fair. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/138 "2012-03-08T14:23:21Z")
> [@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? Dumpster is a trade name of Dempster Brothers Inc., but they haven’t been very successful at keeping it from becoming generic. While Pitney Bowes owned the Dictaphone name, they were very vigilant and protective of their trade name, and if they saw it with a lower-case “d” they’d fire off a letter to the offending publication. I think that stopped when their new owner went into bankruptcy, but I can’t be sure. Now it’s just “dictaphone.” ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/139 "2012-03-08T14:29:07Z")
Despite Sony’s best marketing attempts, the term **Walkman** appears to be well on it’s way out, replaced by the **iPod**. When I was in high school, it was all about the Walkman. I’m sad to see the term go. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938/140 "2012-03-08T16:09:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I never heard “Dime Store”. The more common term was _five and time_. I didn’t hear that one either, but we had a _five and ten_ in my home town until only about a decade ago. – a Ben Franklin store. The chain still exists, but not anywhere near where i grew up any more. Dime Store was the phrase I heard most often. All the smaller outlying towns had a Kresge store. Remember those? They eventually grew too big for their britches and mutated into K-Mart. ETA: I never did learn how you’re supposed to pronounce Kresge. But I know when to use an apostrophe in words like “you’re” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-that-have-fallen-out-of-fashion/614938.md?page=8)