# Terms with different meanings depending on your age **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060 "2012-03-28T17:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/41 "2012-03-29T19:44:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Grinder (Italian-American slang for a dock worker)—New England.[5] Called grinder because it took a lot of chewing to eat the hard crust of the bread used. In Pennsylvania, the term grinder refers to a sandwich that has been heated. In eastern Massachusetts a grinder is a toasted sub, for example the sub is toasted in a pizza oven. Huh. That puts a new spin on that old Judas Priest song called “Grinder”: “Grinder … looking for meat Grinder … wants you to eat” ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/42 "2012-03-29T19:49:16Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Huh. That puts a new spin on that old Judas Priest song called “Grinder”: > > “Grinder … looking for meat > Grinder … wants you to eat” Judas Priest: Over 40 - a mild oath Under 40 - metal band ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/43 "2012-03-29T20:02:29Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Judas Priest: > > Over 40 - a mild oath > Under 40 - metal band I’d change that 40 to 50. I’m 45, and Priest was at its commercial peak when I was in high school (1980-84). I can remember hearing my grandmother say “Judas Priest” as a mild oath, but I was always more familiar with the term as a band name. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/44 "2012-03-29T20:15:00Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’d change that 40 to 50. I’m 45, and Priest was at its commercial peak when I was in high school (1980-84). I can remember hearing my grandmother say “Judas Priest” as a mild oath, but I was always more familiar with the term as a band name. Or to 60. I am 60, and I would think of the band first (and I was never even much of a metalhead). I see from Wikipedia that they were actually founded in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/45 "2012-03-29T21:14:29Z")
John Wesley Harding: Under 30: A performer 30-70: A Dylan album Over 70: An outlaw (misspelled) Beck: Under 45: The guy who did “Loser” 45-65: The guy who did “Beck’s Bolero” Over 65: I don’t know… a small stream? ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/46 "2012-03-29T21:22:09Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > But speaking of “Americanisms” vs. “Britishisms”, I remember a male American comedian talking about his time living in London, and how he decided he was going to really enjoy living there when one his attractive female neighbors gave him her apartment number and invited him to come over and “knock me up” 😛 I’ve heard variations on that for years now and I’ve never thought it remotely credible. In the actual archaic British use, if I was to ask someone to knock me up, it would mean I wanted them to knock on my bedroom door - from the outside 😃 - to wake me up in the morning. So the idea that anyone at all would say it to anyone else at all who \*\*didn’t \*\* live in the same house makes no sense at all. There’d never be any need to say it in any other social situation. It’s the same sort of thing as kidney pie - it seems to have taken on a life of its own because someone thought it sounded like it should be real. But it’s not. Well. Don’t I sound grumpy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/47 "2012-03-29T21:42:41Z")
I have a friend whose uncle is over 100. He described what I would call “a fun trip” as a “gay affair”. To me gay affair would mean a secret homosexual tryst. I’m mid twenties. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/48 "2012-03-29T22:23:56Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I have a friend whose uncle is over 100. He described what I would call “a fun trip” as a “gay affair”. > > To me gay affair would mean a secret homosexual tryst. I’m mid twenties. 🙂 Are you sure he’s not just coming on to you? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/49 "2012-03-30T05:37:20Z")
As the original poster mentions, I doubt that they would ever call a movie “The Gay Falcon” again. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/50 "2012-03-30T07:44:34Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > No idea what the ages would be: > > Boner - A social gaffe > > Boner - Juvenile term for an erection > > Every now and then you’ll hear someone use the term in the former sense, but it’s pretty rare. I think even older folks know to expect snickers if they use it. I had a super uptight (but still very cool in a way) assistant manager, and I once used boner in the former meaning to a customer in front of her and feigned innocence when she chastised me for it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/51 "2012-03-30T13:05:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > That depends on where you live - here in South Carolina it’s always a dance. It’s only a fuck if you’re British. > > ETA - but it is carpeting if you’re, say, 30+ I disagree. “Shag” may’ve only meant sex to the British prior to _Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me_, but now I think of both “sex” and “carpet” when I hear the term. I’m a 29-year-old American. ---
**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 30, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/52 "2012-03-30T15:20:33Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I had a super uptight (but still very cool in a way) assistant manager, and I once used boner in the former meaning to a customer in front of her and feigned innocence when she chastised me for it. 😛 It still kind of amazes me that in the '90s on a mainstream family show they got away with having one of the sidekick characters be named “Boner.” (This would be “The Wonder Years,” and the character was older brother Wayne’s best friend.) Of course, this was also the show where Wayne’s favorite insulting name for his younger brother was “scrote,” which also amazed me that it got past the censors. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/53 "2012-03-30T16:47:35Z")
**Bitchin’** If you have ever used this term as a positive description, you are probably over 60. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/54 "2012-03-30T16:53:30Z")
Another one: **Broad** over 70: generic term for a woman 30-70: insulting term for a woman under 30: the opposite of “narrow” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/55 "2012-03-30T16:56:37Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Boner - Juvenile term for an erection Can’t put a number on it, but I used to giggle my way through Sherlock Holmes stories, where Watson was constantly ejaculating. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/56 "2012-03-30T17:18:48Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > It’s the same sort of thing as kidney pie - it seems to have taken on a life of its own because someone thought it sounded like it should be real. But it’s not. I don’t understand this - are you saying there is no such food as a Kidney Pie in the UK (or Ireland)? Either with or without steak? ---
**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 30, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/57 "2012-03-30T17:20:24Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Can’t put a number on it, but I used to giggle my way through Sherlock Holmes stories, where Watson was constantly ejaculating. Yeah, me too! I was quite surprised to encounter that in one of the \*Harry Potter \*books–must be a British thing. It only happened once (yeah, I noticed) but seeing “‘\,’ Ron ejaculated” just kicked me right out of the narrative and gave me a fit of the 12-year-old giggles. ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/58 "2012-03-30T18:05:04Z")
This is a combination of extreme regionalism and age. To me (San Francisco Bay Area, 40+) LOL means Little Old Lady, thanks to Herb Caen’s columns. He was using that abbreviation long before texting/messaging. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/59 "2012-03-30T18:42:06Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > This is a combination of extreme regionalism and age. To me (San Francisco Bay Area, 40+) LOL means Little Old Lady, thanks to Herb Caen’s columns. He was using that abbreviation long before texting/messaging. Medical slang: LOLNAD=Little Old Lady in No Apparent Distress. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060/60 "2012-03-30T19:15:22Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > This is a combination of extreme regionalism and age. To me (San Francisco Bay Area, 40+) LOL means Little Old Lady, thanks to Herb Caen’s columns. He was using that abbreviation long before texting/messaging. And for people of a certain age and geographic region, TMI means [Three Mile Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-with-different-meanings-depending-on-your-age/617060.md?page=4)