# Will rewind fall from use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093 "2011-06-11T07:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/1 "2011-06-11T07:25:18Z")
Noticed the other day that my young nephew who has never had the experience of cassette tapes or VHS doesn’t use the word rewind. He just says, “back it up” or “go back”. Is rewind destined for the dust bin? Or will it continue to be used despite the roots of the word having little to with the actual process of music and video playback today. What other words are still in use despite the process they describe no longer existing. I am sure there must be some, but damned if I can think of any at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/2 "2011-06-11T07:33:53Z")
We call this a message “board” to which we make “posts”, though there are no longer any actual physical boards or posts involved. What’s relevant for music and video playback today aren’t tapes; no, it’s “files”, saved in “folders”, which can be “opened” and “closed”. One can “cut” data from one document onto a “clipboard”, and then “paste” it into another document. In browsing through a file, one often “scrolls” in various directions. Etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/3 "2011-06-11T08:29:35Z")
“Dialling” a telephone number is still used by kids who have never used a phone dial in their lives. I think “rewind” will still linger for a while yet. The activity of rewinding still occurs, even if it’s not physically what’s actually happening. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/4 "2011-06-11T08:51:05Z")
I think you’re onto something here. Perhaps it’s related to not having to “rewind” your media once it’s got to the end…? As for your bonus question: You “drive” a motor-vehicle, “hang up” a telephone, “turn” the television on and off, and [not quite sure about this one] “write” an e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/5 "2011-06-11T11:48:10Z")
Thanks to all of you for responses that are so obvious in hindsight that I am embarrassed to not have come up with a one. :smack: As rewind has become somewhat ubiquitous for “do over”, maybe it will stick around in our vernacular for a long time to come. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/6 "2011-06-11T12:14:16Z")
I think ‘rewind’ will go away; unlike ‘dial’, ‘hang up’, ‘type’, or ‘roll down’ (a car window), there is a common and easy alternative, ‘back up’. (What verb besides ‘drive’ would one use for operating a motor vehicle?) ---
**Author:** ![Analogue\_Skywalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Analogue\_Skywalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Analogue_Skywalker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/7 "2011-06-11T12:34:23Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I think ‘rewind’ will go away; unlike ‘dial’, ‘hang up’, ‘type’, or ‘roll down’ (a car window), there is a common and easy alternative, ‘back up’. > > (What verb besides ‘drive’ would one use for operating a motor vehicle?) You drive a beast of burden, like the horse or ox pulling your cart by prodding them to go forward. Ie. Driving a horse drawn sled or cart. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/8 "2011-06-11T12:55:37Z")
some cell phones do have a handset image involved in the ‘on hook’ and ‘off hook’ (which is ancient itself even after most phones were desk phones with a cradle and not a hook like a candlestick or wall phone) functions. dialing will also persist. ‘tape’ is still used to mean recording by those who lived when VCR and cassettes ---
**Author:** ![notsoheavyd3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@notsoheavyd3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsoheavyd3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/9 "2011-06-11T13:05:30Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I think ‘rewind’ will go away; unlike ‘dial’, ‘hang up’, ‘type’, or ‘roll down’ (a car window), there is a common and easy alternative, ‘back up’. > > (What verb besides ‘drive’ would one use for operating a motor vehicle?) Well I guess “pilot” would work. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/10 "2011-06-11T13:14:57Z")
Similarly, most of the signs/pictograms/icons I’ve seen to represent telephones tend to be based on 1970s vintage push-button (or sometimes dial) desk telephones. I’m 52 yrs old so I’m very familiar with them but I suspect most people in their 30s or younger might only see them in museums and history books. Related to this is the word “dial-tone”; as some have alluded earlier phones haven’t had dials for a few decades. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/11 "2011-06-11T13:23:18Z")
We’ve been using “lock, stock, & barrel” to refer to a complete package for some 250 years now. It originally referred to firearms technology current in the mid 1700s. TV remote controls are commonly called “clickers”. Why? Because back in the 1960s they operated by making a loud metallic clicking noise which a microphone on the TV recognized & responded to. I suspect “rewind” will be with us for many years to come. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/12 "2011-06-11T13:32:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > TV remote controls are commonly called “clickers”. Why? Because back in the 1960s they operated by making a loud metallic clicking noise which a microphone on the TV recognized & responded to. But this is a good example of the OP’s question. “Clicker” has fallen out of favor, even though it was extremely common back in the 60s. I was born in 1981 and I never heard anyone refer to a remote a clicker. OK, I guess I may have heard it on TV once or twice, but that’s because TV writers are old. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/13 "2011-06-11T13:33:44Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I think ‘rewind’ will go away; unlike ‘dial’, ‘hang up’, ‘type’, or ‘roll down’ (a car window), there is a common and easy alternative, ‘back up’. Dial: Enter or Input Hang up: Disconnect or Terminate Type: Input, Key or Punch Roll down: Lower or Open There are common and easy alternatives to all those words as well. In fact all those words are commonly used alternatives to the (often slightly) more common archaic. Nonetheless the archaics hang on. > [@](#): > > (What verb besides ‘drive’ would one use for operating a motor vehicle?) Operate, ride, pilot, control and manipulate are all commonly used. Operate, especially, is common in technical and training manuals and in legal settings. ---
**Author:** ![Fourtyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Fourtyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourtyfold)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/14 "2011-06-11T13:48:02Z")
‘Put a sock in it’ is still just about used, even though it hasn’t been physicaly possible to do that with speakers for a long, long time. I guess you could stick a sock in the bass hole of a subwoofer though. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/15 "2011-06-11T13:51:00Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Dial: Enter or Input > Hang up: Disconnect or Terminate > Type: Input, Key or Punch > Roll down: Lower or Open > > Operate, ride, pilot, control and manipulate are all commonly used. Operate, especially, is common in technical and training manuals and in legal settings. Terminate the phone? Key a letter? Those phrase are not in common use already, like ‘back up’ is for ‘rewind’. Some people do lower and open their car windows, I know, but typically they open the door. And I know I will never pilot or operate up to the store to pick up a few things for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/16 "2011-06-11T13:53:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But this is a good example of the OP’s question. “Clicker” has fallen out of favor, even though it was extremely common back in the 60s. I was born in 1981 and I never heard anyone refer to a remote a clicker. OK, I guess I may have heard it on TV once or twice, but that’s because TV writers are old. Of course “clickers” were never common. I never knew anybody who had a remote control TV until the late 70s, and those were either panels attached via cable or ultrasonic. I have never known anyone who ever owned a “clicker” remote control. The only experience I have of them is from old TV and movies. So the device in question was rare, and the word was never used IRL by most people, so it is hardly surprising it failed to catch on. That is in contrast to uses like “dialing” a phone, “rolling down” a window or “rewinding” a tape, which are all things that everybody did every day. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/17 "2011-06-11T13:57:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > TV remote controls are commonly called “clickers”. Why? Because back in the 1960s they operated by making a loud metallic clicking noise which a microphone on the TV recognized & responded to. Wow, seriously? I’ve never heard of this type of remote control (I’m in my 30s). It’s kind of scary that I had no idea this existed. But I’m with Justin. Only Grandpas call it a “clicker.” ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/18 "2011-06-11T14:16:17Z")
> [@j66](#): > > Terminate the phone? > Key a letter? You terminate the connection obviously, not the phone. Just as you hang up the phone, you don’t hang up the connection. If you want to talk about the phone, then you disconnect it. And yes, of course you [key in a letter](http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22key+in%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=Ack&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=%22key+in+your+password%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=7c9d59a3af05bed9&biw=1024&bih=415) or series of letters, or you press it or punch it. When was the last time you were asked to “Type any key”? > [@](#): > > Those phrase are not in common use already, like ‘back up’ is for ‘rewind’. They certainly are. > [@](#): > > Some people do lower and open their car windows, I know, but typically they open the door. They also open files, open envelopes, open state fairs and open their inbox. What is your point? > [@](#): > > And I know I will never pilot or operate up to the store to pick up a few things for dinner. No, nor will you ever be charged with being drunk while in driving of a motor vehicle. Aside from showing what we all knew, that all English verbs can not be substituted in all clauses, what is your point? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/19 "2011-06-11T14:27:46Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Wow, seriously? I’ve never heard of this type of remote control (I’m in my 30s). It’s kind of scary that I had no idea this existed. Here I was feeling a young 41 until I got to this quote, now I feel ancient. They were so simple. Little box with a button that when depressed pushed against a curved piece of spring steel, causing it to make more of a snapping sound than a clicking sound. The parent’s of my childhood friend had one of these TV’s. We would spend hours investigating what things would make a sound that would switch the TV. Dry firing my cap gun worked, but not his. Whacking different things together would do it, and if you got it just right you could do it with the snap of your fingers. All this was done less out of technological curiosity and more as a means to torment my friend’s older brother who would kick us off the TV. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093/20 "2011-06-11T14:31:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > TV remote controls are commonly called “clickers”. Why? Because back in the 1960s they operated by making a loud metallic clicking noise which a microphone on the TV recognized & responded to. those audible remotes would have been called ‘bingers’ for the chimes they used. i think ‘clicker’ was from the electronic remotes with the sound from the plastic spring back of the button. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rewind-fall-from-use/585093.md?page=2)