once-common words people don’t use anymore

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.

... make me wonder.... ffs.

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.

“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

Vim is yet another word that I would still use now.

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i think mostly the flavour of thing i'm looking for in this thread is words that refer to habits that are no longer maintained by many (i.e. religious ritual) or words referring to the natural world, or outdated remedies/techniques - that were once incredibly common.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.

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.

That's the other thing, a lot of these words were never in common usage.

Suet, creosote and chillblains, I'll give you!

... a line from a very weird love song.

girl I’m gonna make you suet

Tracer: thus vespers, evensong, Whitsuntide, etc?

lol (xp)

"camera tricks"

great ones!

The wireless.

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!")

Ecological

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!

https://www.sababacuisine.com/uploads/1/3/2/8/132807060/s607480734560611379_p98_i1_w409.jpeg

gnarly

cowabunga

"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...."

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".

I think Tom D. was specifically referring to the (mainly British?) usage of “wireless” as a noun meaning radio set or receiver.

I was.

makes sense!

has "fortune-teller" disappeared from common usage? just had a thought about how common it used to be in song lyrics.

(i know fortune-telling still thrives, just can't remember what it's typically called these days)

In the 80s it seemed like every eastern guru in American media was called a swami. Haven't heard that term used since

Pretty sure swami is still around as a term. Maybe there are fewer enlightened master/mistresses around these days.

broadband

"sparkling soft drinks" is definitely one

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.

"hella"

“mega”

makes sense!

has "fortune-teller" disappeared from common usage? just had a thought about how common it used to be in song lyrics.

"hella" is said probably 750,000x per day in Oakland

Kinda cheating to cite trendy slang words here. But if we are, I'd add "bitchin".

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

'othering' - I don't despise this word but it's sure having a moment

wait wrong thread

"Behoof," which I just read in a court opinion.

has "fortune-teller" disappeared from common usage? just had a thought about how common it used to be in song lyrics.

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.

Leonard Cohen used "behoove" in a TV interview a few years ago, but I guess he's not using the word anymore.

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.

Well, he was talking about Rebecca De Mornay at the time.

You almost have to be an ‘80s person to confidently drop that word.

nah, just word-nerdy

I don’t hear “erstwhile” as much as I used to

"hella" is said probably 750,000x per day in Oakland

― 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"

in summary, I would posit, that "hella" is said closer to 75 million times per day in Oakland.