Words that have stopped being used or changed meaning

[EmilyMiller]

This is inspired by the come / cum thread posted by @Zenith77.

I was amazed that cum was viewed as a recent interloper by many of the - shall we say - more venerable AH denizens. Another obvious example is gay, though I’m not sure that many people still alive would have used the non-homosexual meaning.

What other words does someone like me in their mid-twenties think mean X when they used to mean Y? Or what word used to be used for A and now has been supplanted by B?

Em

 

[NoTalentHack]

“Queer” is similar to “gay.” When I was a kid, it was still used regularly to indicate something that was odd or peculiar. If something had been tainted, sometimes someone would say that it had been “queered.” That usage was more common than its usage as a slur, although we did play “smear the queer,” a game where one person carried a football and the rest of us tried to tackle him, in elementary school before any of us knew what it really meant.

And, of course, even in the current era, there’s still an argument raging between groups that want to reclaim the word from its usage as a slur and use it to tweak the noses of those who would oppress them, while others want to bury it. But that’s been going on for decades.

 

[Zenith77]

Forsooth, the brabble of erstwhile jargogle thusly zwodders the trumpery and cockalorum.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Forsooth, the brabble of erstwhile jargogle thusly zwodders the trumpery and cockalorum.

Has WTF changed its meaning at all?

Em

 

[Zenith77]

Has WTF changed its meaning at all?

Em

I read an article suggesting that the age of 'WTF?!' commences exactly on June 16th, 2015. By sheer coincidence, in a wholly unrelated way, this is the date that Trump announced his candidacy for president.

ETA: the definition of 'trumpery', as employed above, is 'showy but worthless'. Again, sheer coincidence.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I read an article suggesting that the age of 'WTF?!' commences exactly on June 16th, 2015. By sheer coincidence, in a wholly unrelated way, this is the date that Trump announced his candidacy for president.

ETA: the definition of 'trumpery', as employed above, is 'showy but worthless'. Again, sheer coincidence.

Sounded more like Chaucer than Shakespeare.

Em

 

[NoTalentHack]

Ah, I have another one: "literally." While the figurative literal, the usage of the word as an intensifier rather than to say "this is a thing that really happened," has been kicking around forever, the sudden shift towards its usage as intensifier over the last 10-15 years is new. It pissed me off for a long time, if I'm honest; there's no word in the English language that can be used in exactly the same way, and the dilution of the word makes for poorer, and less clear communication. But I've long argued against linguistic prescriptivism, so I try to hold my tongue these days.

I did use it as a point of bonding between the FMC and MMC in Meat Market, though. Fuck the figurative literal. Figuratively.

 

[EmilyMiller]

It’s not on topic, but irregardless? WTF?

Em

 

[NoTalentHack]

It’s not on topic, but irregardless? WTF?

Em

I can answer this from a linguistic standpoint: Irregardless is a result of people mashing together "regardless" (obviously) and "irrespective." It's a relatively recent addition to the language, with the first documented uses being only a bit more than a century old.

"Normalcy" is a relatively new one, too. "Normality" was the accepted version of the word, although "normalcy" did appear in some dictionaries going back as far as the 1850s. Warren Harding used it as part of his campaign slogan "return to normalcy," which was mocked by critics for the use of what they felt was a malapropism. Harding won 60% of the vote, and now "normalcy" appears to be the more often used version.

 

[NotWise]

"Panty" comes to mind. Diminutive of pants, it used to refer to a boy's trowsers. Women in the US started wearing pants during the 1930's, and they made women's underwear that closed in the crotch for the first time. Not sure, but it may have been the manufacturers who co-opted the term.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

When I was a kid (just before the dinosaurs died out) everyone was always going out back behind the barn to smoke a fag. I always thought they were taking a smoke but maybe I had that wrong?

 

[djrip]

When I was a kid (just before the dinosaurs died out) everyone was always going out back behind the barn to smoke a fag. I always thought they were taking a smoke but maybe I had that wrong?

When we visited London first thing out of the tube some girl comes up and says "can I trade you one of my British fags for an American one?"

 

[Kumquatqueen]

When I was a kid (just before the dinosaurs died out) everyone was always going out back behind the barn to smoke a fag. I always thought they were taking a smoke but maybe I had that wrong?

Brits still smoke fags, meaning cigarettes. Well, they still call them fags - smoking has plummeted.
And asking someone for one is still called 'bumming a fag'.

When in a foreign country, don't ask the American who speaks the local language, "Fancy helping me bum a fag?" Gestures work much better.

It's much less common nowadays, but some Brits will still "have faggots for tea", ie a type of large meatballs for their evening meal.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

One I've noticed recently: Americans using 'underwear' to mean panties/underpants but not meaning a bra or other top-half underclothing.

"He removed her bra and then her underwear" sounds bizarre to me, but it seems to be a new norm.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's a phrase, not a word: "body count." (I'll mention it in an upcoming story.) Now it refers to the number of sexual partners a person has had - or will admit it. It replaced the slightly earlier "notch count."

But the real significance - an yeah, I'm old enough to remember this - is that "body count" was used by the American Army in Vietnam. It referred to the number of dead enemies, and often included civilians who got in the way.

It never referred to American casualties. Those were invariably far less, although in the long run the U.S. lost anyway.

 

[PandemicReader8]

I went on a kick where I read everything i could get my hands on by Raymond Chandler. It was a crazy course in derogitory terms I'd never heard.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The incomprehensible millennial use of the word "like" as a substitute for the word "said" or the word "is". "She's like doing something", or "He's, like, let's go skating."

I remember over-hearing a conversation on the bus once (well, a monologue) from a teenager trying to explain something to her friends, and every third word was "like", as if her friends had to guess what word she actually meant. I thought, honey, you need to learn more words. After ten minutes even her mates gave up on her, because there wasn't a single coherent sentence. She, like, simply could not, like, communicate.

 

[djrip]

The incomprehensible millennial use of the word "like" as a substitute for the word "said" or the word "is". "She's like doing something", or "He's, like, let's go skating."

I remember over-hearing a conversation on the bus once (well, a monologue) from a teenager trying to explain something to her friends, and every third word was "like", as if her friends had to guess what word she actually meant. I thought, honey, you need to learn more words. After ten minutes even her mates gave up on her, because there wasn't a single coherent sentence. She, like, simply could not, like, communicate.

I'll have you know that's, like, Gen X usage, man.

 

[Rustyoznail]

When I was a kid (just before the dinosaurs died out) everyone was always going out back behind the barn to smoke a fag. I always thought they were taking a smoke but maybe I had that wrong?

We used to have these to help kids emulate their heros. Oh, such a gay time we had.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'll have you know that's, like, Gen X usage, man.

Which lot wear man buns and beards?

I get confused - my son has done both. The man-bun looked a bit dodgy, but he does the beard okay - it's not one of those thick hipster ones, though.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I went on a kick where I read everything i could get my hands on by Raymond Chandler. It was a crazy course in derogitory terms I'd never heard.

I had a similar experience, reading everything by Arthur Hailey when I was a teenager. Never knew there were so many groups middle-aged white men could identify to discriminate against differently.

In my lifetime, various disability-related slurs have gone from in normal use by teachers (in the 1980s) to totally unused by most Brits - but a couple of them still seem to be widely accepted in America by otherwise right-on people - 'spaz' and 'lame' used to mean idiotic and crap, in particular.

 

[EmilyMiller]

In my lifetime, various disability-related slurs have gone from in normal use by teachers (in the 1980s) to totally unused by most Brits - but a couple of them still seem to be widely accepted in America by otherwise right-on people - 'spaz' and 'lame' used to mean idiotic and crap, in particular.

That’s really odd. I don’t use spaz, but I say lame all the time. Never made the connection, how dumb am I?

It feels totally disconnected from a disability.

Em

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I can answer this from a linguistic standpoint: Irregardless is a result of people mashing together "regardless" (obviously) and "irrespective." It's a relatively recent addition to the language, with the first documented uses being only a bit more than a century old.

"Normalcy" is a relatively new one, too. "Normality" was the accepted version of the word, although "normalcy" did appear in some dictionaries going back as far as the 1850s. Warren Harding used it as part of his campaign slogan "return to normalcy," which was mocked by critics for the use of what they felt was a malapropism. Harding won 60% of the vote, and now "normalcy" appears to be the more often used version.

It’s not on topic, but irregardless? WTF?

Em

A lady I worked with used irregardless in almost every sentence. For me, it was like nails on a blackboard. But no one ever corrected her.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It feels totally disconnected from a disability.

That's the point those with a disability make - everyday language rendering them invisible. Like in the UK, it's a very hot button here in Australia, trying to make people think inclusively. Sure, it gets taken to extremes, where perfectly useful words get filtered.

But then, Americans seem to use "passed" a lot, as a euphemism for "died", so it's very much country cultural.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's the point those with a disability make - everyday language rendering them invisible. Like in the UK, it's a very hot button here in Australia, trying to make people think inclusively. Sure, it gets taken to extremes, where perfectly useful words get filtered.

But then, Americans seem to use "passed" a lot, as a euphemism for "died", so it's very much country cultural.

In many ways the country is set up well for the disabled. Very few buildings with no ramped access etc. I’ve noticed in London that this is less common.

I didn’t mean that it was right to use the word, or that it is actually remote from a disability. Just that it feels that way - it’s morphed into a different meaning.

Em