# Words we don't use any more **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818 "2000-04-08T14:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/1 "2000-04-08T14:44:00Z")
Okay, I watched a lot of cartoons when I was growing up. A lot of them were made way before I was born, so they had “archaic” terms. The “Mac” thread got me thinking about his. We don’t call people **Mac** any more. **Buddy** and **fellah** seem to be out-of-common-usage. **Hood**. Sure we use it for territory, but when was the last time you heard a _person_ refered to as a “hood”? (“He’s nothing but a two-bit _hood_!”) **Two bits**. Of course, what can you buy for two bits any more? Nobody said **groovy** in the 80s and early 90s. I liked to use it for the mild shock-value. I also used **hep** for the same reason. “Groovy” seems to be making a come-back. **The ginchiest** was not a word I heard growing up, but it’s fun to use now and then. **Hill of beans** and \*_dollars to doughnuts_ ## Others? Post 'em! Better yet, _use_ them, and see the reactions! “I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry Are you a turtle? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/2 "2000-04-08T14:56:00Z")
I use dollars to donuts all the time. But then, I have a very strange vocabulary. * * * I do not merely dance. I bewitch. I seduce. I enchant and I bewilder. Throw money. (Gee, Wally must have seen me dance!) ---
**Author:** ![brooklyn44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@brooklyn44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brooklyn44)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/3 "2000-04-08T15:15:00Z")
For the longest time, I used to echo Kermit the Frog with the greeting “Heigh ho.” Just the other day a younger colleague (who surely should have known Sesame Street characters) asked me if I was calling her a “ho’.” renee ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/4 "2000-04-08T15:21:00Z")
::Sigh:: Again, a number of the words there are words in my every day vocabulary. Buddy (Since when is that out of use???); Fella; Hood; Groovy; Ginchy (although, in this case I use it _because_ it _is_ unusual.) ::Sigh:: An anachronism at 23 years old… * * * _Eschew Obfuscation_ ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/5 "2000-04-08T15:26:00Z")
Forsooth, perchance “Lo”? Yea, me thinks. * * * Homepage: [http://www.bigfuckinboatwithbadassplanes.mil](http://www.bigfuckinboatwithbadassplanes.mil) Occupation: Swabbie Pounder, First Class Location: Anywhere you feckless landlubbers ain’t. Interests: Navy Chow, Port of Call, The Head, Air Superiority ICQ Number: CVN69 **– An UncleBeer Profile** “Avast and ahoy, landlubbers! Shore leave’s in August. Hide your women.” **– A WallySig** ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/6 "2000-04-08T16:00:00Z")
If you’re looking for entertaining facial expressions, greet your boss as “daddy-o”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/7 "2000-04-08T16:25:00Z")
“Cheese it, the cops!” ---
**Author:** ![purrplebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90ced4/32.png) [@purrplebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purrplebear)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/8 "2000-04-08T16:29:00Z")
Wow! My kind of thread! I use a lot of words that no one else seems to use anymore. Cool Beans! Neato keeno gregarious ( yep ! that’s me!) diatribe laconic (when was the last time you heard someone say this, not in a western novel) turgid (outside of romance novels, that is) plethora I’m sure there are more, but can’t think of them right now, except ones already mentioned. * * * You are more than a human being, you are a human becoming. Og Mandino That’s my name, not a description. I am neither purple nor a bear. Okay, so I’m purple.\ ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/9 "2000-04-09T05:25:00Z")
I always get weird looks when I use the word “album”, ie, “Did you get the new album from XYZ group?” Why did that word go away? A CD is still an album of songs, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/10 "2000-04-09T05:28:00Z")
Awesome. Fuckin’ A. Trippy. Dude. Or should I say, Duuuuuuuuuude. * * * You say “cheesy” like that’s a **BAD** thing. ---
**Author:** ![PauloPaulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@PauloPaulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PauloPaulo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/11 "2000-04-09T05:35:00Z")
Check out Mr. Burns on the Simpsons. My personal favorite is when he says (in reference to blocking out the sun): “It’ll be like taking candy from a baby…say, that sounds like a larf!” Then he proceedes to take Maggie’s lollypop. He uses a lot of words like that, some of which I think are made up. ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/12 "2000-04-09T05:58:00Z")
Since when is Buddy out of use? Fuckin A? I use that all the time! “Fuckin A! FUCKIN GOD DAMN A!” Only when I’m angry, though. Groovy, use it. awesome? Naw. And I must correct you on that Simpsons bit. “It’ll be like taking candy from a baby… say, that looks like a larf!” He looks through a telescope and sees Maggie with some candy. Smithers then proceeds to distract him with a box of chocolate from the Simpsons. Burns doesn’t take the candy until the end of that episode. Well, he TRIES to… * * * I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/13 "2000-04-08T21:53:00Z")
Some words I use that don’t seem to be commonplace: [list=1][li]keen[/li][li]wiggy[/li][li]wonky[/li][li]ungood[/li][li]widdershins[/li][li]mayhap[/li]peckish[/list=1] ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/14 "2000-04-08T22:15:00Z")
I’ve noticed that the ladies no longer wear frocks, fetching or otherwise. A pistol used to be a gat, a roscoe, a heater. Now it’s a gun. Feh! 23 skidoo. ---
**Author:** ![Diletante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Diletante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diletante)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/15 "2000-04-08T22:16:00Z")
Here’s some seriously over the hill words, not just trendy words that have fallen out of fashion. score (as in twenty) deasil (“clockwise”, presumably used before clocks were especially common) widdershins (counter-clockwise) afeared aged (we just say “old” now) Southron (not since they lost the war) mater & pater (got this one from Monty Burns) trousers (someone may disagree with this, but no human under the age of sixty doesn’t say “pants”) ## And if things keep going the way they are, there’s a whole group of words I see heading towards the graveyard: adverbs. One became great by expecting the possible, another by expecting the eternal, but he who expected the impossible became greater than all. -Kierkegaard ---
**Author:** ![Diletante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Diletante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diletante)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/16 "2000-04-08T22:18:00Z")
Argh, TheNerd stole my thunder and posted “widdershins” while I was compling my list. Oh well, at least I got “deasil” in. ---
**Author:** ![Shagrath\_Borgir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Shagrath\_Borgir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagrath_Borgir)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/17 "2000-04-08T22:23:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Surgoshan: > \*\* > And I must correct you on that Simpsons bit. > “It’ll be like taking candy from a baby… say, that looks like a larf!” > \*\* ## I believe it was, “that sounds like a lark”. 🙂 “Through twilight, darkness and moonrise My scarlet tears will run As stolen blood and whispered love Of fantasies undone” ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/18 "2000-04-08T22:30:00Z")
Well **gee willikers** this topic is just **dandy**. I think you’re **peachy** for posting it! * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank “Mom, he’s a neo Nazi! He’s a doctor also? Well…” - WallyM7 ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/19 "2000-04-08T22:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > that sounds like a lark I thought it was “larf,” too, and Burnsie was using an English pronunciation for “laugh” (like when Paul McCartney sang, “but I never sawr them at all” in _'Til There Was You_). ---
**Author:** ![Konrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@Konrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Konrad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818/20 "2000-04-08T22:58:00Z")
Velocitator Deceleratrix Ounce, pound, cubit, inch, thumb, hogshead, mile… oh wait some people still use those. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-dont-use-any-more/15818.md?page=2)