Outdated Slang IV

Ecommerce will never work

When did people stop saying...

Any joy?
canalise (popular 40s to 1960, then steep decline)

cheerio (peaked 30s)

destructive/constructive (constructive peaked 20s to 50s. Constructive criticism has been popular since the 30s.)

Ecommerce will never work.

for yonks (early 70s)

from here on in

full of the joys of spring (peaked 1900)

give it up as a bad job (peaked 30s)

haemorrhage (funds etc)

I don’t think!

I’m afraid I don’t know anything about computers.

in any way, shape or form

in-crowd

india-rubber for rubber (india rubber was non-vulcanised and more “natural”, also thought to be more bouncy)

inscape

intuitive interface (They all are now – or are supposed to be.)

literature for brochures, leaflets, handouts, “information packs” etc

lover (the word “boyfriend” came back – and “lover” always sounded a bit self-conscious. Boyfriend has been steadily rising since the 60s.)

mindset (sharp rise from 70s)

moonbat (spike 1990)

neurotic (especially in the accusative - peaked early 50s)

on second thoughts… (or “on second thought”, as the Americans say)

push-pull technology

right/well out of order (70s)

same here

Schwing! (Probably 1980.)

This I must see.

tunny fish/tuna fish (because people might not know that tuna was a fish)

TV rots the brain.


jellyfish (now “jellies”)

umbrella (umbrella term, Dance Umbrella)

unpack (a concept)

up to you (now “down to”)

You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Thanks to NGram.

Part III here, and links to Parts I and II.

Inspirational Quotes No. 36

Try not to be puneengy. I wish I'd known that.

Do not be overly needy, do not stalk or bombard with phone calls or gifts, but do be warm and responsive and always interested in what interests your guy. (Amazon reviewer)

I think the closest word would be pushy? or maybe clingy? needy? LOL. How bout all of them rolled together: puneengy. (xanga.com)

Like most hysterics, her trump card is weakness. (Charlotte O’Sullivan, Independent 11/16/02)

A birthday is a painful marker of popularity in London. Of how far you've come in life. Would work colleagues find an invitation a bit needy? (Liz Hoggard ES Aug 7 08)

Marx was on to something more profound than he knew when he observed that the family contained within itself in embryo all the antagonisms that later develop on a wide scale within the society and state. (Shulamith Firestone)

The most important thing in life is having a child. Bob Edwards (Shulamith Firestone thought that in the future children would be produced in tanks and brought up in institutions. After she violated some rule her father never spoke to her again.)

[Childless] men are much more likely than women to feel isolated, depressed, angry and sad about it. (Giles Coren, Times, April 2013)

This worked for me many years ago. I had a small cassette recorder and taped the barrage as it happened. Later when she was in a calmer, happier mood I sat down and talked about what I saw as constant attack. When she started to protest I asked her to listen to herself and played the tape back. She paled because she hadn't realized how vitriolic she had been. She did a total transformation. (psychcentral.com)

Love is all you need. Though a roof over your head, food in your cupboard and accessible healthcare for all certainly helps. (@HeardinLondon )

Ignoring the social background to stress puts the burden of responsibility on vulnerable people to change themselves – to solve their own problems – and it condones the external conditions that lead to their suffering. It allows us to avoid the larger problems. (NS April 2013)

Novels, romcoms… can convince you that love is best when it's serendipitous. We're hooked on the meet cute: Reaching for the same book in the bookstore, bumping into each other on the bus. (jezebel.com)

Our mission was to snog boys. Sarah Beeny (She travelled around the world solo at the age of 17 and felt "lonely and seasick" most of the way. Wikipedia)

Inspirational Quotes No. 35 and links to the rest.