I was actually thinking of that episode when I wrote the question.
Grotty, I think, for grotesque.
Oh, you kid!
No – “grotty” alwaysd struck me as a Britishism, pronounced with a short “o”.
“Griody” – with a long “o” – was a Valley Girl -ism. I don’t know if it’s reallly synonymous with “grotty” (the words seem to imply the same thing), but the pronunciation and the user pool were different.
In addition to the cable modems mentioned by JRDelirious, there are also wireless USB modems that connect to cell phone networks. They’re popular with laptop and netbook users, but can be used with any computer with a USB port. We bought one when we moved and were told by our (wired) Internet provider that it would be two months before they could hook us up.
I thought she was crabby.
Wait, the Brits don’t say ‘bugger’ anymore? Like “Bugger that”?
It was a joke, heavens to murgatroyd!
ISTR, in old crime novels or movies, people urging nervous whistle-blowers or witnesses to “drop a dime” to anonymously expose someone.
Ohhhh, I just got this: a dime was what a payphone used to cost. Hence, “drop a dime” into the payphone to call the cops. (A payphone has always cost a quarter to me.)
I saw a teenager accuse another teen on Facebook of “diming me out to the 5-0” recently.
Speaking of cops, I don’t hear them being called “The Fuzz” anymore.
Do the flatfoots have the bird’s eye lowdown on your caper?
The device you use to connect to the Internet through DSL is called a DSL modem, even though technically it isn’t a modem.
Easy there Snagglepuss. 
Aaah shut your pie-hole.
Don’t make me El Kabong you.
You’re not going to finagle your way out of this, buster!
Oh, my mom says Daveno–accent on Dav (and she’s in Maryland)
At one time just about all phones were wall-mounted and had an actual, visible hook where the handset rested when not in use. When you were done you literally hung the handset back up on the hook. If a house had only one phone it was likely to be mounted on the wall in the kitchen, hard-wired in of course.
(Sorry about that. I leave the room for a minute and anything can happen. Of course it doesn’t help that the keyboard is the warmest place in the room right now.)
Until I read tdn’s post I never stopped to think that wall-mounted phones have become quite rare, even if many phones that you can buy still have the necessary holes on the bottom to be hung up on a couple of nails in the wall if desired. When you see people using land line phones in films or TV shows, it seems they’re always using desk or tabletop phones.
That book told me why they’re called blueprints in English. The Spanish name is completely different (planos, “flats”) and I’d never seen one of those white lines scratched off blue paper reproductions, only normal black-in-on-white-paper prints; I’ve seen some later in period movies.
Does anybody know what were those drawings called in English before that repro technique came along?
I believe they were (and, as an alternative to blueprints, still are) called “plans”.
Yup, In the trades we call 'em “One lines” (or “Single Lines”) , “As-Builts” , “Shop Drawings” or “prints”. Only the suits call 'em plans. 