Grammar: Outdated Slang 5

Oh, goody!

When did wigwams become tepees? When did programming become coding? When did real ale become craft beer? When did groups become bands, a Tannoy become a PA and corduroy become cord? When did we drop terrible imitations of Irish and Scottish accents ("Ah hae me doots!") When did we stop saying:

lackadaisical (As if you were about to say “Oh, lack-a-day!”)
quidlet for pound (80s)
cuddle
far-out (60s)
Golly gumdrops, goody gumdrops
mull it over de luxe
interface
do one’s bit (40s)
folkweave
mature, immature
boss shot, bosh shot (Failed first attempt.)
undergird
grass roots (Popular in the Labour Party 60s and 70s.)
nervous wreckOh noes!

Bah! for “Bye!”
local yokels
xxx rules OK
spacey, spaced out, space cadet
synergy, cluster (management jargon)wimp (80s)
shopping precinct
effectively

clunky (80s)
queer as a coot
situpon
Twitter – the “micro-blogging” app...
snub
moonbat
hissy fit (They’re still having them.)
in a very real sense
self-sufficient
old dear
ungetatable
morrising about
the occult (1890s to 1970s.)
the Masses
tasteless
atrocious (Peaked 1802.)
disgruntled (Peaked 40s.)

pertinent (60s)
virile (60s)
rufty tufty
coign of vantage
spoilt child
butch (70s, 80s.)
ladida
zeitgeist, zeitgeisty (Early 70s.)

rock anthem
workstation (We carried on working at desks, we just put computers on them.)
nick off with for steal
aforementioned
pillock (From 1974.)
ruddy for bloody
wp for word processor/ing
recherché, rechauffé

having the chat, the coffee etc.
brown as a berry (Which berry?)
in a very real sense (It got laughed off the stage.)
frigid (Became "pre-orgasmic".)
verbal diarrhoea (Early 80s.)
apparently
way out (60s)
apropos (Peaked 1900.)

as per usual (Peaked 1922, common in the 70s.)
calibre
crimper for hairdresser
debby (A lot of very “debby” girls, ie debutantes.)
DTP (Desktop publishing, 80s.)
ego boost (50s.)
flack (Press agent or publicist.)
from the desk of… (Laughed out of court.)

...and doing X in the process
gunge
grot, grotty (1960)
het up (Mid-30s)
in the lap of the gods (30s)
in this day and age (1850)
juncture, at this juncture (Declined since  1810)
KO’d (knocked out)

pi-jaw (30s, 40s. Means “platitudinous lecture”.)
plough through (40s)
Well, quite.
Scusee! (For “excuse me”, from Italian “scusi”.)
shamanistic (80s)
slave mentality
smarmy (70s)
bolshy (From the Bolsheviks who started the Russian Revolution.)
Grue! For bleurgh, eeew etc (Peaked 1971.)


offhand
subbhumans (1970)
thicko (90s)
thought process (From 1870.
umpty (He was a bit umpty about it.)
underway (90s)
warped mind (40s)
wazzock (You daft wazzock! Early 80s.)

buggerlugs (Early 80s. Disparaging term for "someone whose name I've forgotten or couldn't be bothered to pick up in the first place".)

garbage in, garbage out; gunge in, gunge out; GIGO.  (Those who now all have tablets and smartphones used this phrase to disparage computers from the early 60s.)

make the running (This discreet term for "women chasing men" peaked in the 70s.)

miscegenation (Rise from 1860s, now recovering from 80s slump.)


Shove it!
Triff! Brill!
Me neither.
He has no hinterland.
I’m not a feminist, but... (70s)
That’s easy for YOU to say!
Why don’t you move to Russia?
One more for luck!
Would you believe? (60s)
You so and so!
You’re not wrong!
Look slippy! (40s)
Just what the doctor ordered!
You’ve got a dirty mind!
Promises, promises.
It’s all gone horribly wrong.

Ah, bless!
I’m only here for the beer. (1973)
It just isn’t done. (50s)
it was classic X.
I must say!
It was a doddle! (70s)
I’ll be with you in a brace of shakes.
You must have a warped mind. (40s)

And why not?
Let me put my thinking cap on... (1840s.)
Good move! Why fight it?
Hear, hear!
You should eat to live, not live to eat.
We are what we eat.
I’ll give you a bell. (Meaning “I shall contact you by telephone.”)
You look a bit washed out. (Clothes became colour-fast.)
Deal with it.
Bring it on!
Chacun a son gout.
Nuff said! (Peaked 1915.)
Orft we jolly well go!
You what? Do what? Oh, what?

Rise above!
Bring back National Service! (This one is still being wheeled out in the context of "kids today".)
Don’t put me in a box. (Early 80s.)
He’s got a finger in many pies.
I haven’t the foggiest.
I was literally crawling up the walls.
I don’t go for… (1970)
I’m not big on… (From 1965.)

It gives me gyp. (40s)
Lafe is lake thet (Life is like that. Was it a quotation? 30s, 40s.)
Life is a bowl of cherries. Take the money and run. (60s)
They are having none of it.
What brought THAT on?
What’s that when it’s at home?
What was that supposed to be?
Having fun?
You're no fun!(People were so kind and polite in the 60s.)


Mustn’t grumble.
It must have been "meant".
These things are sent to try us.
It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.

People became more bolshy, and began to say:
That’s a pain.
That’s a right pain.
What a pain!

Hell, said the Duchess! (Alleged first line of a story by a child trying to be shocking. It goes on: "I'm pregnant! Who done it?")


Facebook and Twitter are evil. (These days Twitter is "this Hell site" and Facebook is "full of pictures of babies in hairbands".)

You soppy date! You need your head read. (Elsie and Doris Waters – reference to phrenology already about 100 years out of date.)

He’s a lovely/beautiful mover. (Probably from football commentary.)

Don’t kill yourself! (Meaning “Make an effort, but don’t overdo it”. Probably said to someone doing a task in a lackadaisical way.)

Oh, dry up! (From the Charles Atlas bodybuilding ad “dry up and blow away”?)

It’s the xxx, stupid! (Campaign slogan from 1992.)

When did “old stamping grounds” become “old stomping grounds”? When did "champing at the bit" has become "chomping at the bit"?) When did planning permission become planning consent?

"Tracky bottoms" and "choochy" won't be missed.

More here, and links to the rest.