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In another thread I saw someone mention that hotels may be "dear" and it came across as very old fashioned to me; young people do not use the term "dear" to describe something that is expensive/costly/overpriced (at least they don't where I am) but it is certainly a term that my grandmothers used.
Does anyone have any examples of other terms which have similarly gone out of fashion?
A wonderfully offensive and completely needless attack on the attitude of young people today.
Many young people are very polite and will regularly use every one of these terms. I don’t deny that there is a subsection of youths who are like this and will simply use (insert choice of swear word) in place of any of these, but I certainly won’t stand for someone faulting the entire generation - of whom a small minority ruin the reputation (we hate it as much as you do trust me!)
A wonderfully offensive and completely needless attack on the attitude of young people today.
Many young people are very polite and will regularly use every one of these terms. I don’t deny that there is a subsection of youths who are like this and will simply use (insert choice of swear word) in place of any of these, but I certainly won’t stand for someone faulting the entire generation - of whom a small minority ruin the reputation (we hate it as much as you do trust me!)
A wonderfully offensive and completely needless attack on the attitude of young people today.
Many young people are very polite and will regularly use every one of these terms. I don’t deny that there is a subsection of youths who are like this and will simply use (insert choice of swear word) in place of any of these, but I certainly won’t stand for someone faulting the entire generation - of whom a small minority ruin the reputation (we hate it as much as you do trust me!)
Just wait until you are in your sixties with a stick. The only polite group of teenagers I have seen recently were a group of French language students.
A wonderfully offensive and completely needless attack on the attitude of young people today.
Many young people are very polite and will regularly use every one of these terms. I don’t deny that there is a subsection of youths who are like this and will simply use (insert choice of swear word) in place of any of these, but I certainly won’t stand for someone faulting the entire generation - of whom a small minority ruin the reputation (we hate it as much as you do trust me!)
That's a shame this is your experience. I must admit that there are many occasions when young people are grateful but don't say thank you at the time. Is it really worse now than it used to be?
Just wait until you are in your sixties with a stick. The only polite group of teenagers I have seen recently were a group of French language students.
Possibly true, though was it ever used by youngsters to describe current things? It tends to be used in other contexts e.g. analysing changes over whether something has remained "trendy" over time?
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Few people my age (20) will use the archaic terminology and phrasing which often enters my posts on here. For example, I don't think I've ever heard "thence" (and other similar vocabulary) used by my peers (apart from during Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, much of which is beyond what even I can easily comprehend!). I definitely use loads of other words (one might say, a "proliferation"...) on here, but am currently suffering a mind blank as to any recent examples.
In speech, I don't use such vocabulary as often, because a) it's less likely to be understood and b) it's more difficult to find the correct archaic words to use compared with writing, where you can edit what you've written (which cannot be done during speech!)
A wonderfully offensive and completely needless attack on the attitude of young people today.
Many young people are very polite and will regularly use every one of these terms. I don’t deny that there is a subsection of youths who are like this and will simply use (insert choice of swear word) in place of any of these, but I certainly won’t stand for someone faulting the entire generation - of whom a small minority ruin the reputation (we hate it as much as you do trust me!)
I will back you up here ...to a point.
i work in teams with predominantly young people...they are unfailingly polite to me. Especially a Senegalese youth who (for cultural reasons) treated me with near reverence because, as someone of my age, I was blessed with a lifetime of wisdom (he was sometimes right too). I was also impressed by him, and expect he will be in the Senegal government at sometime in the future! The British/Continental contingent however believed that a) I was likely to fall over because of my age (mid 60s) b) I didn't understand smart phones...whereas it was my British designed phone that was getting steadily more incompatible with the latest apps c) I would get tired if I walked too far...they discovered that I could 'keep up' with any of them.
Patronising mindsets can work both ways.
Few people my age (20) will use the archaic terminology and phrasing which often enters my posts on here. For example, I don't think I've ever heard "thence" (and other similar vocabulary) used by my peers (apart from during Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, much of which is beyond what even I can easily comprehend!). I definitely use loads of other words (one might say, a "proliferation"...) on here, but am currently suffering a mind blank as to any recent examples.
I think "thence" is a term that young people don't use at the time but may enter their vocabulary later; a bit like tea and coffee are rarely drunk by young people (yes there are always exceptions; I know a kid aged 13 who is literally a tea connoisseur and knows more about different tea types than probably any adult I know) but they grow into it lately. Certain things are not going out of fashion and are acquired later in life, and that goes for our vocabulary as well as our tastes.
I think "thence" is a term that young people don't use at the time but may enter their vocabulary later; a bit like tea and coffee are rarely drunk by young people (yes there are always exceptions; I know a kid aged 13 who is literally a tea connoisseur and knows more about different tea types than probably any adult I know) but they grow into it lately. Certain things are not going out of fashion and are acquired later in life, and that goes for our vocabulary as well as our tastes.
That's an interesting point. I don't drink tea of coffee, whereas my brothers do (older one errs towards coffee, younger towards tea, I think). Almost everyone else I know drinks coffee, not so sure about tea though. Perhaps propensity to use archaic language is inversely proportional to addiction to coffee...
Just wait until you are in your sixties with a stick. The only polite group of teenagers I have seen recently were a group of French language students.
I guess it's partly dependent on where you live and the circumstances in which you come across said groups. I'm in my seventies with a stick, without which I fall down, and am quite visibly frail, but on the whole I'd say I get politeness from all age groups, kindness too. I have an 'open' face, which possibly helps and I suppose I'm fairly well-known by sight in the town where I've lived for 34 years, which helps.
Young people today tend to abbreviate, use shorter words, and have almost adapted a “neo-English” which includes said abbreviations which are (to them) universally known, and generally includes less complex language.
I must admit I really do notice the difference in my own linguistic style when texting uni friends vs using the forum!
Texting is intrinsically a less formal method of communication though!
Also if you are already familiar with someone, you may write less formally for that reason.
There is also the wider audience to consider; a forum post is going to be read not just by the person(s) you are replying to but can be read by anyone.
I must admit the style of language used on this forum is indeed more formal than I would expect most of my generation to use!
A typical response from my generation might be something like:
Young people today tend to abbreviate, use shorter words, and have almost adapted a “neo-English” which includes said abbreviations which are (to them) universally known, and generally includes less complex language.
I must admit I really do notice the difference in my own linguistic style when texting uni friends vs using the forum!
Personally, I find it physical painful to write stuff like that (so I don't! ). Probably not helped by the fact that I'm unfamiliar with a decent proportion of these modern acronyms (along with other modern phraseology and terms. For example, "TERF" seems to come up every now and then, a term I'd never come across before university. I had to Google it ("trans-exclusionary radical feminist", in case anyone's wondering).
Another anathema amongst the younger generation (and to a lesser extent older generations) is incorrect (or missing entirely!) punctuation and grammar, which again is something I just can't do, with the exception of not putting a full stop at the end of the final paragraph of a body of text I'm writing informally. Like so
(Although really there should be an exclamation mark here!)
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I prefer "hello", for some reason "hi" doesn't sit comfortably with me and I genuinely don't think I've ever used it in speech (which is probably why I prefer "hello" in text, although it does occasionally sound a bit formal, in which case I may type "hi" instead); "morning" etc is my go-to informal greeting reciprocation...
I beg to differ (does that count?): deprecation is, whilst not exactly the most common term in my vocabulary, a reasonably frequent utterance (and typeance, if that's a word!) of mine
I occasionally use “outwith” and “herewith”; the former isn’t even recognised by my phone’s spell check! “Whence” is another one.
Oh and “perambulate” and it’s derivatives, although I doubt even my grandparents would have used that one and I tend to use it more for comedic value!
How about “good evening”? A little too formal perhaps for todays youth?
I disagree with the assertion that young people are generally impolite. As @duncanp has already pointed out, rudeness and a lack of consideration really isn’t restricted to a single age group. I got off the Metro an hour or so ago and there were two youths stood in the narrow alleyway by the station. As I approached they parted to let me through, I said “cheers boys” and they both replied “you’re welcome”. Part of me was waiting for a blow to the back of the head but it never came and I presume they just got on with their dealing or whatever they were up to…… I can’t fault their manners though!
I prefer "hello", for some reason "hi" doesn't sit comfortably with me and I genuinely don't think I've ever used it in speech (which is probably why I prefer "hello" in text, although it does occasionally sound a bit formal, in which case I may type "hi" instead); "morning" etc is my go-to informal greeting reciprocation...
I definitely know that I have never spoken the word ‘hi’ and I’m almost certain I’ve never used it in a text. Another word that I have never used is ‘guys’. When I was teaching I used to cringe when visitors like sports coaches came into school and greeted my Year 2 Class with ‘Hi guys’. Even animals and plants are referred to as ‘guys’ on some tv programmes these days.
I definitely know that I have never spoken the word ‘hi’ and I’m almost certain I’ve never used it in a text. Another word that I have never used is ‘guys’. When I was teaching I used to cringe when visitors like sports coaches came into school and greeted my Year 2 Class with ‘Hi guys’. Even animals and plants are referred to as ‘guys’ on some tv programmes these days.
It annoys me a bit and used to annoy my late mother (born 1926) a lot to hear someone say, ’Guys’, to a young group when there are obviously females in the group. (However, I don’t think it would be a good idea to say, ‘Guys ‘n Gals,’ considering just who used to use it is as a catchphrase.)
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