Common phrases which are disappearing during my lifetime

TerryWalstrom

Many common phrases I've used all my life have been made obsolete by technology advancements.

1. "Roll up the window" (car windows don't roll up any longer with a hand crank.)

2. "Hold your horses." (How about "hold your horsepower"? 　

3. "Like a broken record." (Lp's skipped)

4. "Rewind". Videos and cassettes are extinct.

5. "Don't touch that dial." From the pre-remote control era of TV.

6. "Hang up (the phone)". Remember black, bulky telephones with those cradles?

7. "Running out of steam" Good Lord! Only Geoff Leonard will know what this means!

8. "Dial that number." Old fashioned telephones once again.

9. "Kodak moment." This may hang around a bit longer due to a resurgence in interest in Polaroid cameras.

10. "Drop a dime" on somebody. (To snitch to police using a payphone from the 1950's).

11. "On the flip side." Another LP or 78 rpm record reference. 45's with an A /B side.

12. "I've been through the wringer." Washing machines of my grandmother's era had hand-cranked rollers called wringers used to squeeze water out of washed clothes before drying by hanging the items outside on long clotheslines using clothespins.

13. "Nothing to write home about." (Remember cursive? Snail mail?)

14. "Close, but no cigar." Carnivals at Fairs instead of a cheap teddy bear whose stitching barely lasts to the end of the day, cigars were the prizes. When someone playing the game almost won but didn't (because of course they didn't) the carnival attendant would taunt, "close, but no cigar." 15. Counter-clockwise. (Kids today can't tell time using an analog clock.) Can you think of any others?

stillin

"Walk a mile in his shoes" nobody walks any more.

"Pot calling the kettle black" everybody microwaves everything.

"Stabbed me in the back" we all have assault rifles now

"Barking up the wrong tree"...huh?

"A penny saved is a penny earned" keep the change

_Morpheus

Interesting thoughts terry... what is also interesting is that some of those are still in wide usage and not going away. The entomology may be lost on the younger generation but the common usage remains. Examples:

”hang up the phone”- still very very common. Although kids dont really know where it came from its still a very common phrase for ending a call. Kids will even say “you hang up first”

“Drop a dime” still very common, even used in modern songs, to describe snitching. Im in my mid 40’s and pay phones have been gone at least half my life. Even when they were around they cost .25, not a dime, however that common usage is still prevalent.

“Rewind”- still universal as well. Why? Be ause evem though videos are digital devices like tivo and other dvrs (digital vedo recorders) use a “rewind” button to go back on action. That phrase isnt going anywhere either, although again the origin is likely lost on anyone under 30

i think your post speaks a lot to the evolution of language and common usage of words. We offen say things that have an understood or common meaning wothout understanding where it came from. We live in a unique time with technology driving so many innovations that we are, in a very real way, seeing phrases become outmoded from a practical standpoint but stay around because of common usage.

_Morpheus

@stillin- “barking up the wrong tree” refers to hunting dogs tracking an animal and, litterally, “barking up the wrong tree”. Some animals climb up a tree and then jump to another, confusing a tracking animal.

scratchme1010

Considering all the poor quality that we get all the time:

"If ain't broken don't fix it". (Hear that, Microsoft).

millie210

Handle with kid gloves

(Gloves used to be made of young goat - very soft leather)

A stitch in time saves nine

(Does anyone sew/repair clothing still?)

Put that on the back burner

(another microwave casualty, who uses all the burners on a stove now?)

Hot off the press

(Digital printing and instant communication make this one self explanatory)

stillin

Morph, I know about dogs barking up the wrong tree but you and I are the only ones.

how about "loving Heavenly Father." Pretty abstract concept anymore, especially if you don't know who your father is.

"dodging the bullet" still relevant

truth_b_known

I still say "Groovy like a record."

BluesBrother

Ah, we still use the phrases.....

"Wind the window up", even though they are push button.

"What does that speed dial say" ... and (this will be lost on Americans)

"Turn the telly over " i.e. push the remote channel selector to see another t v programme

TD

"Barking up the wrong tree"...huh?

It's an idiom with a rural origin.

Dogs chase squirrels, chipmunks, etc. up trees; the rodent then jumps to another tree, leaving the dog barking up at the empty tree.

The tableau makes a humorous metaphor for a person pursuing a false line of reasoning.

--And not just in English either. ,,Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum" means pretty much the same thing.

Common phrases which are disappearing during my lifetime

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