Words that have stopped being used or changed meaning

[ronde]

My favorites are pussy and dick.

In the 16th century, pussy was a term of endearment for women. In the 17th century it was used to politely describe a woman's genitalia. In the 19th century it picked up another meaning, that being the name applied to an effeminate man. It started the 20th century as vulgar slang, but ended up being at least somewhat acceptable when the feminist movement embraced the word as a symbol of the power of womanhood, as in the popular T-shirt slogan, "I have the pussy so I make the rules".

Dick started out as the name "Rikharthu" in old German and eventually became the name "Richard" in English. Because all documents were written by hand at that time, names were often shortened to names that rhymed with the original, and "Dick" was one of those shortened versions of Richard. In the 17th century, "dick" was used to refer to a person of unsavory character or a person without morals. In the 19th century, "dick" was the name of a British Army riding crop, and the transfer of the term to mean the penis probably resulted from the carrying method used by the military. The crop was carried upright and was stiff.

Dick is also interesting because it's become a verb as well as a noun. One can "dick things up" as well as "not know dick".

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hack. Everything is a hack. The best way to stack your dishes is a hack. Ironing shirts from the inside is a genius life hack.

It. Makes. No. Sense!

It started out as computer lingo I think. Then, since computers were once trendy, it spread.

 

[gunhilltrain]

"Foamer" in the US, "gricer" in the UK.

Also "railfan' in the U.S. and believe 'trainspotter" in the U.K. "Vestibule fever" is what the former get; i.e.,, the excitement of entering the vestibule of a passenger train.

 

[alohadave]

It started out as computer lingo I think. Then, since computers were once trendy, it spread.

It had a dual meaning of trying to break into a system you don't have access to, and to make the computer do something through clever manipulation.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm a boomer, and never once used "like" the way it became overused in about 1998, as a substitute for the word "said".

"Like, far out, man" is a totally different usage entirely, only used when off one's face, listening to Pink Floyd on headphones.

Maybe it was used earlier in the U.S.? Also, my memory is not what it used to be. "Man," in the sense of"hey man" (hey fella) or "man, this bus is slow" seems always popular. Originally a jazz-man/musician usage? I'm not sure. "Dude" has been a around a long time. Originally from the Old West? Also surfer/Valley slang latter? (The San Fernando one.)

 

[gunhilltrain]

It had a dual meaning of trying to break into a system you don't have access to, and to make the computer do something through clever manipulation.

I know, but now it applies to the simplest things.

That's so weird to me. "Passed" reads to me like some kind of denial, or a television evangelist huxter. A person died, a person is dead. Why throw a veil over it? It's very American, I think.

The avoidance of thoughts of death - or the softening of it - is very American. Notice how graveyards became cemeteries and then memorial parks. Euphemisms are replaced with new euphemisms.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I know, but now it applies to the simplest things.

The first 'life hacks' might be clever, but yeah, now it includes listicles of ideas only worthy of Viz Top Twips. Avoid the embarrassment of shouting out the wrong name in bed by having flings only with girls who have the same name as your wife.

The avoidance of thoughts of death - or the softening of it - is very American. Notice how graveyards became cemeteries and then memorial parks. Euphemisms are replaced with new euphemisms.

Passed away I've heard for years - not just from Americans - and sometimes 'passing on' to mean the actual dying bit, but the new one on me is using just 'passed' by itself, which confused me no end when a cousin told me their sibling had passed. Passed their driving test (UK newsworthy announcement, not for an American nearly 50)? Got another degree? Oh, killed themselves. Great.

I understand the need for euphemism especially when it's someone very close to you, but clarity really matters, folks!

In English usage it's only a graveyard if it's around a church, otherwise it's a cemetery. I've not heard memorial park to mean either, only a park with a memorial in it. Yet.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Personally, I feel that 'lame' is a word I'd only ever use to describe horses and never people and on that basis feel like it should still be okay. As always with offense thought, its more about how the person you're talking to feels.

But you do hear someone saying, "That's a pretty lame excuse."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'm a boomer, and never once used "like" the way it became overused in about 1998, as a substitute for the word "said".

"Like, far out, man" is a totally different usage entirely, only used when off one's face, listening to Pink Floyd on headphones.

As part of the overlooked Gen Y (Microserfs?) , I assure you that people were saying "I was like: I don't believe it!, and he was like, yeah, so I was like, you bastard..." and the like (!) back in the 80s. Mostly on EastEnders and other overdramatic shows. It's actually quite clever as a device to make clear that the speaker is giving an impression of what happened, rather than reporting precise words.

'like' as a filler had a bad rep by the same time. Probably young kids copying their parents listening to Pink Floyd...

 

[Kumquatqueen]

But you do hear someone saying, "That's a pretty lame excuse."

That's more along the original meaning. It's "that shirt is so lame/gay" that bothers me a bit/quite a bit.

But 'spazz' is unique in being a word that really cuts to the quick, I haven't heard used in earnest in over 20 years, but is still used commonly on the other side of the Atlantic - to the extent that an wheelchair company decided to make a model called the Spazz, and then wondered why none sold in Europe...

 

[ElectricBlue]

As part of the overlooked Gen Y (Microserfs?) , I assure you that people were saying "I was like: I don't believe it!, and he was like, yeah, so I was like, you bastard..." and the like (!) back in the 80s. Mostly on EastEnders and other overdramatic shows. It's actually quite clever as a device to make clear that the speaker is giving an impression of what happened, rather than reporting precise words.

'like' as a filler had a bad rep by the same time. Probably young kids copying their parents listening to Pink Floyd...

That long ago? I became more aware of it when my kids were teenagers, in the noughties. They've grown out of it now, thank God, having picked up a broader vocabulary. Up until then I'd not registered it much, except for tedious valley girls in bad tv shows.

They were definitely not around in my stoned days, not even a glimmer in my eye .

 

[Trionyx]

‘Like’ is the modern equivalent of ‘you know.’ Many people use ‘like’ to stall for time while they try to come up with the correct word/idea just as people of previous times used ‘you know.’ Both terms can induce a sensation similar to hearing fingernails scraping on a blackboard.
What’s a blackboard? Oh, go look it up.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

That long ago? I became more aware of it when my kids were teenagers, in the noughties. They've grown out of it now, thank God, having picked up a broader vocabulary. Up until then I'd not registered it much, except for tedious valley girls in bad tv shows.

They were definitely not around in my stoned days, not even a glimmer in my eye .

You may have been too stoned to notice...

I think it was a very London/urban working-class thing in the 70s and earlier. Sure it pops up in The Professionals. I think Buffy and valley girls (so 90s) were the first I noticed of Americans doing it.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Our niece, who's like, just 21, is like, saying like all the time.

 

[Duleigh]

"Foamer" in the US, "gricer" in the UK.

Foamer was what the train crews called what those of us on the ground with scanners and cameras called Rail Fans. I prefer the term Ferroequinologist.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Foamer was what the train crews called what those of us on the ground with scanners and cameras called Rail Fans. I prefer the term Ferroequinologist.

Those of you on the ground being what most Brits refer to as anoraks, from their preferred attire and identity confirmed by fondness for weak lemon drink.

Trainspotters (a less pejorative term than anorak) would distinguish between true spotters/gricers and track-bashers, who prefer to travel new routes and care less about engines.

I have a hobby of going into the bookshops at heritage railway stations and asking if they have any books about railways. They gesture expansively at the mad lady. I say no, I don't want books about trains, I want to know about railways. Track. Destinations. Even signalling. Once they realise that yes, it is odd that 99% of their stock is about trains only, and generally only the engines, they usually track down something interesting from a dusty corner and charge roughly thruppence for it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

What have I created?

Em

 

[ElectricBlue]

What have I created?

Em

A monster, as always.

 

[EmilyMiller]

A monster, as always.

But it’s not a nice friendly tentacle monater.



Em

 

[Duleigh]

What have I created?

Your threads tend to do this

I have a hobby of going into the bookshops at heritage railway stations and asking if they have any books about railways. They gesture expansively at the mad lady. I say no, I don't want books about trains, I want to know about railways. Track. Destinations. Even signalling. Once they realise that yes, it is odd that 99% of their stock is about trains only, and generally only the engines

That's odd, it's the other way around at the places I've been to here stateside. Only the larger places like the Colorado Railroad Museum have a bookstore and their books feature entire railroads. That's where I fell in love with a writer named Lucius Beebe. His stories and photographs of traveling by rail throughout the United States in the 1920s through the 1960s really captured the flavor of the railroads at the time.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Your threads tend to do this

“It’s not me, it’s you”

I get the message .

Em

 

[Duleigh]

“It’s not me, it’s you”

I get the message .

Em

I'm just saying that your threads tend to get the creative juices flowing... titillate the muse... feed the plotbunnies

 

[charitybimbo]

Boner used to be slang for a mistake.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Boner used to be slang for a mistake.

Sometimes they are, depending on the situation. Like during dinner with the in-laws.

 

[MrPixel]

Foamer was what the train crews called what those of us on the ground with scanners and cameras called Rail Fans. I prefer the term Ferroequinologist.

The etymology of "foamer": it is traceable to an acquaintance, a top manager for Southern Pacific working in the San Francisco HQ. While I wasn't part of this particular conversation in 1974, mutual friends were. When they informed him of the just-announced Freedom Train tour , his reaction was something to the effect of "Oh, God. There'll be a foamer behind every signal box," obviously inferring that the steam engine fanatics of the day who would likely descend on "the property" would be foaming-at-the-mouth rabid crazies.

The quotation was subsequently published in a regional railfan newsletter with a counterculture undercurrent (SF, remember) and took off from there.