What Are Some Words / Phrases That Have Died Out?

Please and thank-you. I'm so encouraged in these days of disappearing civility when someone, especially a teenager, actually utters these beautiful and magical words.
 

Don't sweat the small things??

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... (which could apply to a lot of situations)
 
Son-of -a-gun
Rats!
Jeepers Creepers
Doggone
Whoops-a-Daisy
Heavens to Murgatroid
Dad Gummit, Dag Nab It
I'll be hornswoggled
Holy Moley!
Drat!
Howyadoin?
What's up Doc?
Can't get there from here... (Maine)
Willy Nilly
 
I'm old fashioned, I use whatever one, from whatever era, that suits the purpose best. I like coooool especially.
Can't think of a better word to sum up it's meaning. Somehow sophistication, savoir faire, poise seems a lot more outdated than just plain cool. It's a great short descriptive, why not use it?

Mostly I still use ones from my youth but also still use some from my grandparents era. I'm yet to find a term that encompasses 'fair dinkum' or 'true blue' better in less syllables. Those terms convey far deeper meaning than simply true. They imply a deeper worthy character trait that merits respect when used as they were meant to be. 'coming the raw prawn' is somehow more to my liking than 'trying to connive something for nothing.' I still love 'flim flam' too, it's a little like 'spin', another fave, but different enough to be used where appropriate.

Some newer ones are brilliant too and I incorporate them just as shamelessly. Like clusterf**k. How apt is that? How perfectly it summarises a complex set of circumstances into one solitary word. It has far more gravitas than mere 'farce.' or 'comedy of errors.'
The less confronting clusterfuffle may be used by the shy to convey the same meaning.

Those words which are apt and useful will and should remain part of the language as long as they still apply, and regardless of the era they sprang from. The ones which are just faddish or for which meaning changes will fade of their own accord.

Unlike many, English is a living language, constantly evolving but we should choose to use those words we wish to use, not just those in fashion.
Hell, we still quote Shakespeare yet are embarrassed to say 'groovy' or something because it 'dates' us?? Why?
 
After 44 years of my arrival in australia, some people, still call me a "Wog". Other (Australians) call me "Witty" as i have a good command of english language, comming to Oz with not more than a few words, that i learned from movies.

Now;, I allways take a joke, a "micky" of spelling and pronanciation. i remember the time, playing cards and saying "I got four asses"
Never mind.
I also remeber the times, When "Guy' meant happy", and "brazilian' meant coffee.
a few years ago, a trendy word with australian youth was "awsome' Everything was bloody "awsome' and then there was :
"apsolutelly" everything was confirmed as: absolutelly", Then came "cool" whats new.
I do appoligise, if my spelling is not correct, but you will know what I'm trying to say.

Funny enough, old one but good one, of Oz slang:The other day, a guy stated about his mate:
The poor bastard was so crook, he couldn't punch his way out of brown paper bag!"
 
Wouldn't worry about the 'wog' tag BB, it's not personal, just about everybody copped that or 'pommy bastard'. I've been called a 'skip' a few times and find it kind of funny. I worked with a lot of new immigrants years ago and found the ones who fitted in first and best were the ones who could return the 'compliments' in kind, and treated the casual insult as a term of acceptance. If we didn't like 'em we yelled or were really polite, only friends got casual insults.

Guess you've been here long enough to know 'we're a Weird Mob' read that?


We don't hear 'crook' much now do we? I used to like "crook as Rookwood". (translated for non OZ cits: "as sick as the biggest cemetery in Sydney.")

Wouldn't worry about spelling either, it's not a competition, just a place to natter.

... and you're forgiven for embarrassing me about using 'absolutely' and 'awesome'... 2 of my old faves.
 
Forgiven!!!
But mate, it is a weird country. Yes it is.
I remember poor bastard from Europe, bringing a TV set... heasked me to change the plug to AU, 3 pin plug.
So I didand while he was buying the stubbies(beer) for the sevice, i opened the set and turned the transformer around the tube, for 180 degrees.
When he returned with 3 long necks of DA, I told him the shit has "upside dovn ' picture for Europe. I send him back to get 3 more DA-s and I fixed the problem.:)
Now, on topic, in Australia, there is an expresion " BASTARD"it might be an insult in some cases, depending on situation.
But there is as well:
A good bastard
a poorbastard
a miserable bastard
a kind of a good bastard
a WOG bastard
a nice bastard
a sick bastard
a coocky bastard

shall we continue, we have to write a book..
Soooo, all the nice bastards repy, please
 
Diwundrin said:
Hell, we still quote Shakespeare yet are embarrassed to say 'groovy' or something because it 'dates' us?? Why?
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One theory is that Shakespeare is far enough in the past to make it fashionable, but "groovy" is too close - all it does it mark us as being a bit old. :(

I remember when Monty Python first appeared on American TV and we were all instantly addicted to it, one of the first things we had to do was to translate a lot of the words they used. It was British English, not American English, and anyone who tells you they're the same is a right pommy bastard. ;)

Often they'd say something in a skit, and we knew it was funny, but there wasn't that instant recognition of just how funny. After the first year or so we spoke enough Python to be able to handle most of their references.

babyboomer said:
... a coocky bastard ...
Click to expand...

And here's my idea of humor ...

cookie-monster.jpg
 
Far out man
Three sheets in the wind
Up and down like a whores drawers
As nervous as a whore in church
 
SifuPhil said:
Okay, so "died out" may not have been the best choice of words.

What are some words or phrases that you used to use back in the day that are now extinct? Of course a word never entirely disappears unless we stop using it, but what I'm looking for here is the kind of word that a younger person will roll their eyes upon hearing, IF they recognize it at all.

"Cool" is one that I've used seemingly forever but receives those looks when I use it. Had I as a child used today's equivalent, "bitchin'", I would have had my face roundly slapped.

So, what are YOUR words?
Click to expand...

Both my g'kids use "cool" often, and so do their friends. So we may be rushing cool just a bit.

I will consider it a major accomplishment when "like" is no longer used 15 times in a sentence. We're not nearly there on that one so maybe in another yr or so...and with any luck, it will lose appeal. The word drives me nuts!!!!

Also..HAD A BLAST....where exactly do you go or what do you do to HAVE A BLAST? Just going to a high school basketball game falls under the "blast" description by some I know. I laugh to myself when I hear it and I hear it all the time!!! GEEZ!!!!
Wouldn't "we had a really great time" work better? It sure sounds better! Now that I've vented a bit, I'm off to bed to read.
Have a good day/evening and hope it's a good one for you.
 
One I'm not sorry to notice is fading away is " 'n she goes, she goes...." used by 'bogans' to indicate that they are about to quote what someone said. I'm hesitant to post this in case it encourages anyone to ever use it again... aaaaagh
 
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