U is for Up your nose with a rubber hose.

or Part Two of Twenty Words and Phrases that Show Your Age

Yesterday, I mentioned a link from Dictionary.com that listed 20 words or phrases that are considered dated. I discussed my opinions on ten from the list yesterday and today I will give my opinions on the other 10.

1. Up your nose with a rubber hose: This phrase comes from the sitcom, Welcome Back Kotter, a popular TV show in the 1970s. One of the characters would use this phrase as an insult. I never liked the saying the first time and I am glad that it's outdated now.

2. Pigpen, you got your ears on?: This is something you would say on a CB radio. CB radios were really trendy in the late 1970s and used for communication between truckers mostly. These too have been replaced by several iterations of technology and I'm not sure how many people today would understand that phrase if they heard it.

3. Walkman: A Walkman was a portable tape player that came out in 1979 and became very popular. But technology has evolved light years away from it. Yep, this is an word that shows your age.

4. Fotomat: A Fotomat was a place where you dropped off your film to be developed. This is definitely an old word because people using film to take a picture are few and far between these days.

5. Goodnight, John-Boy: This was the last line in most episodes of the heartwarming TV series, The Waltons. The show aired for a decade starting in 1971. I'm not sure how many people today have seen the Waltons so I've got to believe this is a dated phrase.

6. The thrill of victory (and the agony of defeat): This was one of the opening lines to the TV show, The Wide World of Sports that ran from 1961-1998. The list authors said that we have 24/7 sports watching available now and the the phrase is no longer relevant. I think it was a great phrase and should still be around.

7. Just one more thing: I didn't even know that this was a special phrase. Apparently on the TV show, Colombo, Detective Colombo used it a lot. So did Steve Jobs later. I have no opinion on this one except sometimes it is a useful thing to say.

8. Mood ring: Mood rings were popular in the 1970s. It was a ring that changed colors depending on your body temperature. Body temperature was supposedly an indication of emotions or moods and different temperatures produced different colors. Thus, you could supposedly tell someone's mood by looking at the color of the ring. This is an old fad, but I think it is a fun thing to remember.

9. Pet Rock™: Pet rocks were also a fad in the mid 1970's when people bought rocks to be their pets. The marketing genius, Gary Dahl, behind the fad became a millionaire from it. The fad only lasted 6 months, but it does come up then and again in discussions about how people will buy anything. Today, it is a trend to paint rocks with positive messages on them and leave them random places for people to find. Occasionally, I hear these kindness rocks compared to pet rocks.

10. Rolodex: a Roladex is a turning paper address file that very few people use any more. Most contact information is located on a person's computer or smart device these days. I will grant you that Rolodex is an old term.

Once again I had my Millennial son look at the list and tell me what he thought about the words. He said the The thrill of victory (and the agony of defeat) was the only one he heard used regularly. I found that interesting and not what I would have predicted.

So what do these words and phrases say to you?

T is for Twenty words that show your age

or T is for Ten Words Today and Ten More Tomorrow

While on Dictionary.com this link caught my eye, Words (and Phrases) That Will Show Your Age. Of course, I clicked on it to see what they considered old. Some I agreed with and some I didn't. Half of the list is below with my comments. I'll share the other half tomorrow.  See what you think.*

1. Making whoopee: This comes from a 1920s Eddie Cantor song and means having sex. Although I've heard this phrase a lot, it seems old even to me. 

2. Wet-blanket: This means put a damper on things and comes from putting out a fire with a wet blanket. It's been used since the 1800's and still seems relevant to me today.

3. Little black book: And while I understand that most people, especially the younger ones, don't carry an address book or the little black book version of one that list potential dates, this is a phrase that I still hear used and most people understand it.

4. VCR and videotape: This is definitely old technology, but it is still around. Who knows?  The Millennials may understand it someday when VHS tapes come back like vinyl records have. (Note to self. Need to get the VHS family movies transferred onto DVD's or whatever the latest technology is.)

5. Long-distance call: This is probably a phrase that does show you are older if you use it. Extra charges for calling out of your area code are a thing of the past. Texting, Skyping, Face Timing, etc. are probably used more than phone calls in the younger group.

6. Davenport and Chesterfield: These are both names for sofas derived from Davenport who commissioned the first leather sofa and Chesterfield a furniture maker. They were popular in the early and mid 1900's. I have never heard of a sofa called a Chesterfield, but I have heard of a Davenport and always wondered where that name came from. I agree with the article. These are probably old terms and becoming obsolete.

7. How’s tricks?:This phrase was used in the 1950's and 1960's by men asking women how they were. The phrase probably had origins from men who were managing women turning tricks. I still hear the phrase occasionally and didn't realize that it was a one way question. If this phrase is not becoming obsolete, I think it should be because of its origin.

8. “Dear John” letter: This phrase became popular in World War II when a girl would write to a serviceman and tell them their romance was over. The article suggest that John is an old fashioned name and maybe it should be updated with something like "Dear Lucas". I think that's just silly. Most people know the phrase and what it means and it is still used. However, they also suggest it could be replaced with an emoji. I don't like that idea but I will concede that emojis are taking the place of a lot of words and phrases these days.

9. Web surfing: They say this term was more prevalent when the internet was newer and we don't need a term for this any more. Slightly different meaning, but I would say that Googling would be a better substitute.

10. Fuddy-duddy: This one means stuffy and old fashioned. Maybe this is a bit out of date, but is it really that much worse than using Old Fart as they suggested as a more modern phase? Not in my mind.

You've heard my perspective on this list but I am a Baby Boomer, i.e. an older person. For a different perspective, I asked my Millennial son, Theo, what he thought of these words. He read them over and said the only one that he hears used regularly is Wet blanket. I don't know if he's representative of his age group, but I did find that interesting.

Tune in tomorrow for the other ten words and phrases that are considered old fashioned.

*Blogger and I aren't getting along again. I couldn't get rid of the white background in the time I had.