what vim!
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 08:14 (two years ago) link
People don't use 'penultimate' anymore? What? I've got to admit some of the words being suggested here are making me if I don't move in completely different circles.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 08:47 (two years ago) link
... make me wonder.... ffs.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 08:49 (two years ago) link
I agree with Tom D: the concept of words that people no longer use is definitely valid, but I'm surprised by many entries here. 'Lascivious' is another example, I use it whenever appropriate. It's in probably the most famous B&S song. I don't see it as archaic at all.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:22 (two years ago) link
“vim” is frequently used in Ghanaian Pidgin English. was hearing it a lot in the songs I was listening to, thinking it was a local slang word, and only found out much later that it was actually a word in standard English
― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:23 (two years ago) link
Vim is yet another word that I would still use now.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:26 (two years ago) link
those are fair comments. i still stand by 'swami' being an excellent example of a once common word that is not only not used any more but that i think people would actively search for an alternative for if they were, say, editing a book that contained it.
i think mostly the flavour of thing i'm looking for in this thread is words that refer to habits that are no longer maintained by many (i.e. religious ritual) or words referring to the natural world, or outdated remedies/techniques - that were once incredibly common.
i.e. mercurochrome.
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:32 (two years ago) link
or 'rill'.
Not exactly common perhaps but this footnote in 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' tickled me:
Budzak, Crim Tartary, Circassia, and Mingrelia, are the modern appellations of those savage countries.
― In the wastelands of Birmingham and Manchester, massages are back (ledge), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:41 (two years ago) link
That's the other thing, a lot of these words were never in common usage.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:42 (two years ago) link
Suet, creosote and chillblains, I'll give you!
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:43 (two years ago) link
... a line from a very weird love song.
girl I’m gonna make you suet
― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 09:57 (two years ago) link
Tracer: thus vespers, evensong, Whitsuntide, etc?
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 10:03 (two years ago) link
lol (xp)
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 10:05 (two years ago) link
"camera tricks"
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 10:23 (two years ago) link
great ones!
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 10:33 (two years ago) link
The wireless.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 10:40 (two years ago) link
People don't use 'penultimate' anymore?
I use it almost daily lol.
I know a lot of people who use it incorrectly to mean "the best", which is kind of hilarious ("it's really really ultimate!")
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 15:28 (two years ago) link
Ecological
― Hongro Hongro Hippies (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 15:33 (two years ago) link
Not wanting to be the wet blanket, but the many of the words cited here were never particularly common.
wireless
that's a good one!
― What's It All About, Althea? (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:05 (two years ago) link
https://www.sababacuisine.com/uploads/1/3/2/8/132807060/s607480734560611379_p98_i1_w409.jpeg
― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:09 (two years ago) link
gnarly
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:53 (two years ago) link
cowabunga
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:55 (two years ago) link
"wireless" is surely at least seen in print/on the screen constantly right? even if ppl just say "wifi." "the wireless adapter..." "select the wireless network..." "wireless data transfer requires that both devices are set to...."
― Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 24 June 2021 11:41 (two years ago) link
I don't seem to see 'dyspeptic' anymore. I remember first coming across it in some 1960s-era profile of Andrew Loog Oldham "...and swears like a dyspeptic drill sergeant".
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 24 June 2021 11:50 (two years ago) link
I think Tom D. was specifically referring to the (mainly British?) usage of “wireless” as a noun meaning radio set or receiver.
― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:13 (two years ago) link
I was.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:15 (two years ago) link
makes sense!
has "fortune-teller" disappeared from common usage? just had a thought about how common it used to be in song lyrics.
― Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:58 (two years ago) link
(i know fortune-telling still thrives, just can't remember what it's typically called these days)
― Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 24 June 2021 13:01 (two years ago) link
In the 80s it seemed like every eastern guru in American media was called a swami. Haven't heard that term used sincePretty sure swami is still around as a term. Maybe there are fewer enlightened master/mistresses around these days.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 24 June 2021 13:07 (two years ago) link
broadband
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Thursday, 24 June 2021 13:21 (two years ago) link
"sparkling soft drinks" is definitely one
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, 24 June 2021 13:43 (two years ago) link
catarrh
My young kids are bilingual (Polish-English) because of their mom, and since "katar" is the common Polish term we all call it that when we're speaking English. Better than "snot" and I appreciate the old-timey-ness.
― Sam Weller, Thursday, 24 June 2021 15:05 (two years ago) link
"hella"
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 24 June 2021 15:09 (two years ago) link
“mega”
― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Thursday, 24 June 2021 15:18 (two years ago) link
makes sense!has "fortune-teller" disappeared from common usage? just had a thought about how common it used to be in song lyrics.
― ten man poland chasing this means hamsik feasts (breastcrawl), Thursday, 24 June 2021 16:39 (two years ago) link
"hella" is said probably 750,000x per day in Oakland
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 24 June 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link
Kinda cheating to cite trendy slang words here. But if we are, I'd add "bitchin".
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Thursday, 24 June 2021 16:58 (two years ago) link
Obviously people still say "purposely" so it doesn't technically count for this thread, but more and more I feel like I hear people using "purposefully" in contexts where they would've used "purposely" in the past
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Thursday, 24 June 2021 18:27 (two years ago) link
'othering' - I don't despise this word but it's sure having a moment
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 24 June 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link
wait wrong thread
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 24 June 2021 18:47 (two years ago) link
"Behoof," which I just read in a court opinion.
― carl agatha, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:37 (two years ago) link
It pops up in Eric Church's "Desperate Man," from a couple years ago, but the song is a kind of throwback 70s-ish rock thing so that would make sense.
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:43 (two years ago) link
Leonard Cohen used "behoove" in a TV interview a few years ago, but I guess he's not using the word anymore.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 25 June 2021 01:40 (two years ago) link
In my recollection “behoove” was briefly trendy in the 1980s. I’m almost certain that Shelley Long said it on ‘Cheers’ and Madeline Kahn definitely said it on her short-lived sitcom. You almost have to be an ‘80s person to confidently drop that word.
― Josefa, Friday, 25 June 2021 01:59 (two years ago) link
Well, he was talking about Rebecca De Mornay at the time.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 25 June 2021 02:04 (two years ago) link
You almost have to be an ‘80s person to confidently drop that word.
nah, just word-nerdy
― What's It All About, Althea? (Aimless), Friday, 25 June 2021 02:11 (two years ago) link
I don’t hear “erstwhile” as much as I used to
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 25 June 2021 02:23 (two years ago) link
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, June 24, 2021 9:41 AM (ten hours ago)
probably underestimating actually -- population of approximately 400,000 people, granted a significant percentage speak a language other than English most of the time -- let's say that's 15% -- and let's say that 1% of the population are infants who don't yet possess the ability to form words -- let's also estimate about 14% of the population are sufficiently elderly so they have never had the word "hella" in their vocabulary. That still leaves 70% of the population or 280,000 people ... no way, is hella said less than 3 times a day. Also, you should factor in people who aren't Oakland residents but happen to be in Oakland. These individuals are more likely to be younger people (say between the ages of 14 and 40) and thus more "hella prevalent"
― sarahell, Friday, 25 June 2021 03:10 (two years ago) link