Terms that you don't hear young people use these days

[yorkie]

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.)

Guys is considered general neutral these days (as is actor). The use of guys is very common but no-one says gals.

 

[Galvanize]

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?

Ironically I first heard the term “dear” to describe price tags by someone in
my class at School. He did live with his Grandmother so maybe he picked up the term from her.

“I prefer McDonalds…Burger king is nice but it’s too dear.”


One term I use that very few people, young (or old) seem to…
“The Pictures” when referring to the Cinema!

 

[DelayRepay]

One term I use that very few people, young (or old) seem to…
“The Pictures” when referring to the Cinema!

The movies (and a movie) are words you don't hear a lot nowadays either.

My grandad used to listen to the wireless. Now I mainly hear that word used to describe certain earphones!

Back to the original example, I don't think I've described something as 'dear' for a long time. I'd say expensive. If someone else said dear I'd know what they meant, which is the important thing.

 

[Dr Day]

movies (and a movie) are words you don't hear a lot nowadays either.

Weird I was just about to post the opposite

Even "film" seems to have been replaced by "movie" - probably countless of other Americanisms though which come up every time one of this type of thread appears

 

[ABB125]

Weird I was just about to post the opposite

Even "film" seems to have been replaced by "movie" - probably countless of other Americanisms though which come up every time one of this type of thread appears

On a similar theme, "season" seems to have replaced "series" when referring to television programmes of a recurring nature. Although admittedly "series" could lead to confusion as to whether you're referring to one set of episodes, or the programme as a whole (which also has an Americanism, "show".

I don't think many younger people would use "imbibe" to describe partaking in alcoholic beverage?

 

[DelayRepay]

I don't think many younger people would use "imbibe" to describe partaking in alcoholic beverage?

I'll be honest, I don't think many old people would use that word either!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jul 2022 ==

Has anyone been to a discotheque recently?

 

[ABB125]

I'll be honest, I don't think many old people would use that word either!

That's a fair point!

 

[westv]

Do people still go to "the pictures"?

 

[306024]

"Sling yer hook" seems less common nowadays.

I am not sure I've ever heard anyone say that!

Pronounced without the ‘h’, common enough in East London where I grew up. Very polite way of telling someone to ‘go away’.

 

[ABB125]

Pronounced without the ‘h’, common enough in East London where I grew up. Very polite way of telling someone to ‘go away’.

If that's considered polite, what's the impolite version?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

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 guess one thing with 'guys' when used to address a mixed-sex group of people is that we don't really have many alternatives. In the USA I've heard, 'Hi folks' but the word 'folks' is really used much in the UK. Of the other alternatives, 'Hi everyone' sounds a bit formal these days. You have 'hi people' which would probably work, but seems to be very unusual.

Other words you rarely hear amongst younger people: 'whom' and 'fewer'.

 

[ABB125]

Other words you rarely hear amongst younger people: 'whom' and 'fewer'.

"Whom" comes up quite a bit in my speech; "fewer" less so, but I still use it occasionally. Again, I'll happily admit that I'm not a typical member of my generation regarding language use!

 

[Bletchleyite]

One that's gone round in a circle a bit is "oh my days" which is something your Nan said but also young people seem to say it now.

 

[alxndr]

I travel north of the border a fair bit; I hadn’t actually noticed but I’ll keep an ear out!

It's definitely more common. I don't think I'd heard "outwith" at all until I moved up here, but now see it on signs fairly regularly. To veer slightly back on topic it was only the other week that a colleague in their early twenties used it verbally.

I don't think I've heard "odd" used to indicate a rough number by many other young people (e.g. "there must be fifty-odd bolts in that").

"Comfy" seems to be increasingly more common than "comfortable" now. It seems rare that anyone bothers to say the full word, certainly I can't imagine many people asking "Are you sitting comfortably?"

 

[DustyBin]

One that's gone round in a circle a bit is "oh my days" which is something your Nan said but also young people seem to say it now.

Must be a regional thing (as I suspect many of these things are)!

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's definitely more common. I don't think I'd heard "outwith" at all until I moved up here, but now see it on signs fairly regularly. To veer slightly back on topic it was only the other week that a colleague in their early twenties used it verbally.

Scots do seem to use considerably more "long" or archaic words generally. Another one is "wherewithal" which is only really seen in formal writing in English. And for some reason such words seem to sound amazing in a Scots accent.

 

[ABB125]

Scots do seem to use considerably more "long" or archaic words generally. Another one is "wherewithal" which is only really seen in formal writing in English. And for some reason such words seem to sound amazing in a Scots accent.

Now that's one I don't think I've ever used!

 

[Purple Train]

On a similar theme, "season" seems to have replaced "series" when referring to television programmes of a recurring nature. Although admittedly "series" could lead to confusion as to whether you're referring to one set of episodes, or the programme as a whole (which also has an Americanism, "show".

I don't think many younger people would use "imbibe" to describe partaking in alcoholic beverage?

Ugh, don't get me started!
I agree with your last point though.

I guess one thing with 'guys' when used to address a mixed-sex group of people is that we don't really have many alternatives. In the USA I've heard, 'Hi folks' but the word 'folks' is really used much in the UK. Of the other alternatives, 'Hi everyone' sounds a bit formal these days. You have 'hi people' which would probably work, but seems to be very unusual.

Other words you rarely hear amongst younger people: 'whom' and 'fewer'.

The use of "less" instead of "fewer" grates particularly, in a similar manner to the phrases "I'm good", "You did good", etc. It's as if we need to do away with using different words to mean (roughly) the same thing depending on their context within a sentence. It's too difficult for a generation raised on FIFA and Call of Duty.

As with @ABB125, I shall happily admit that I am not a typical member of the forum regarding language use, nor indeed, regarding what I think is "normal" (it's partially hyperbole, as I don't know that many "normal" young people, and what "normal" young people I do know have my perceptions of them diluted somewhat by quite a selective memory. It's partially the fact that I don't know many people full stop. And it's partially the fact that I have been a curmudgeonly old man since primary school). But my main concern, partially prompted by this thread, is that the English language is moving into a phase where it's increasingly less designed to be spoken. New phrases seem to be coined on how easily they can be abbreviated and written on a keyboard. I will freely admit that I'm probably a) exaggerating and b) wrong, but it seems to me a dreadful indictment of how little correct grammar matters to the modern world, and the new generations, that children now seem to be taught how to use electronic devices before they can read and write. Excuses can be made that it does teach them how to read and write, but, in my opinion, that doesn't address the fundamental issue: the phone or computer that is the modern child's model toy is not suited to reading and writing in a traditional sense. Everything is about typing quickly to get your elbows in before everyone else's on "group chat", and most things online are written to capture the attention quickly and present everything in small bites. Naturally, this is permeating through to the spoken and the physical. Part of it is the use of a diverse range of sources, with their own dialectal quirks available for the masses to read and slip into their turn of phrase at the tapping of their thumbs. I don't think that that's a bad thing, but, nevertheless, I agree with what William Shakespeare nearly said - "by the tapping of their thumbs, something wicked this way comes." As the nature of phone text is so different from speech, the latter is becoming almost archaic, and, where, previously, hard and fast rules were taught, they are being forgotten - such as the issues surrounding the use of "less" and "good" where other words should be substituted.
That turned into a bit of an essay/rant - so I'd be interested to learn: does anyone agree with me? Or have I lost/bored you all? Or was I just flying into an unnecessary passion and overly conservative (small c, no political undertones intended) mindset?

 

[ABB125]

"Shall" is another which doesn't seem used much by younger people. The only context I can recall it being used in is "shall we go?" or similar, rather than "thou shallt herewith begone"-esque phrasing

 

[prod_pep]

Do people still go to "the pictures"?

This term is alive and well in our family - I use it myself - but I very, very rarely hear anyone else using it. Usually it's 'cinema' or the dreaded 'movies'.

'Shall' used in its traditional first and third person sense is definitely dying out, as in 'I shall and you will'.

'Wherewithal', on the other hand, is still in common usage in England and Wales as well as Scotland, although perhaps less so in written English and amongst the youngest speakers.

 

[Gloster]

Do people still go to "the pictures"?

Or the ‘flicks’. Although that was probably a decade or so too old for me when I was young.

 

[Busaholic]

Guys is considered general neutral these days (as is actor). The use of guys is very common but no-one says gals.

I worked with a Canadian woman in the mid 70s - she used the word guys as an all-encompassing one, the first time I'd come across this. Interestingly, the singular form still only seems to apply to males, though.

 

[MikeWM]

I guess one thing with 'guys' when used to address a mixed-sex group of people is that we don't really have many alternatives. In the USA I've heard, 'Hi folks' but the word 'folks' is really used much in the UK. Of the other alternatives, 'Hi everyone' sounds a bit formal these days. You have 'hi people' which would probably work, but seems to be very unusual.

I often use 'Hi folks' to start emails, but I don't see many other people doing so. In person I think I often say 'Hi guys' for a group of people, and am pleased to see that this is apparently 'ok' even if some of the group are female

I use 'forthwith' quite a bit, but that seems quite unusual.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I worked with a Canadian woman in the mid 70s - she used the word guys as an all-encompassing one, the first time I'd come across this. Interestingly, the singular form still only seems to apply to males, though.

Yep, I think that's correct. In the singular, 'guy' tends to only refer to a male. In the plural, it's more commonly used to refer to male groups, but can refer to either sex. And then when used to address people in the plural (IIRC the grammatical vocative case), it can equally be either sex.

 

[adrock1976]

In the North East Region (particularly around Newcastle), does any of the younger generation use the phrase "why aye", or was this around the time of Jimmy Nail's character Oz in Auf Weidershien Pet when it seemed to be common?

In the last few years when I have been on various seaside trips to Whitley Bay, when passing through Newcastle etc, I have never heard anyone use that phrase.

 

[ABB125]

use 'forthwith' quite a bit, but that seems quite unusual

That conjures up images of the British Navy in the early 1800s for me...
I think it can be added to the list of words never used by young people (with the exception of Jacob Rees-Mogg's children... )

 

[Purple Train]

"Whom."

 

[DynamicSpirit]

'Shall' used in its traditional first and third person sense is definitely dying out, as in 'I shall and you will'.

Does anyone say 'I shall' for the future tense now?

I have a very old 'Teach Yourself French' book, which, in its explanation of the future tense, gives the English as I/we shall and you/he/they will. I recall in the 1970s reading that as a child and feeling puzzled by it, because even then, we would all say 'I will', whereas 'I shall' was only really used for emphasis and sounded a little archaic.

 

[MikeWM]

That conjures up images of the British Navy in the early 1800s for me...
I think it can be added to the list of words never used by young people (with the exception of Jacob Rees-Mogg's children... )

Interestingly, a quick search on here shows that I only seem to have used it once before in a post on these forums, though the search throws up 200-and-change results, so clearly other people do use the word too.

 

[ABB125]

Interestingly, a quick search on here shows that I only seem to have used it once before in a post on these forums, though the search throws up 200-and-change results, so clearly other people do use the word too.

Good idea! Turns out I've used it once, here in this somewhat related thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-to-the-english-language.217571/#post-5141790