Ten Common Phrases That Could Soon Be History

Earlier this week Oxford University Press declared "unfriend" its word of the year. This got me thinking... now that we are entering an era of media reforestation what common phrases could soon be history? Here's 10 that I came up with. You may disagree but I believe all of these have faded or will be gone soon. (All images are from Flickr via Creative Commons and are credited.)

Comments

[Louise]

I like these! I'm not sure if the expressions will vanish, we still talk about "hanging up" the phone.

[Mel Poluck]

Good news from the UK Liz Phillips - the term 'mix tape' is still in fact used in trendy young-ish muso circles! It's one of those phrases, like many of them, which has transferred itself to the new technology even if it is not 100% semantically true.Steve Rubel: why is 'excuse me do you know the correct time' possibly threatened with extinction? The time is shown as a default on our mobile phones; laptops, notebooks, iPhones; PDAs; PCs, Macs etc. . .which so many of us carry around all the time - and sometimes more than one of those devices at a time. What might be a more interesting point here though, is why was the word 'correct' ever even inserted into this phrase?

[Cheryl]

Wow these make me feel old. Another question going the way of the 8-track (yes I had one at one time!) "Do you have a pen I could borrow?"

[Steve Rubel]

@Mel you answered the question. There's no need to ask for the correct time if it's everywhere.

[Jamie]

#Mel Poluck, I think you answer your own question. Why would we "ask" for the time when we carry so many devices that tell us?!?

[axle]

How many school kids know what a cassette tape looks like? Anybody tried to buy a cassette player lately?

[kt]

the reason he talked about the time, was becasue people used to have to wind their watches and clock. now, everything is digital.

[Raphael Hythloday]

The reason "correct" is in the phrase regarding time is because everyone's time is different, even on their digital devices. Right now I'm looking at my blackberry which shows 2:51, the phone shows 2:50, and the computer shows 2:49. Do you have the correct time? Or is that close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades?

[paulina]

What about "Put the needle on the record"...

[Jen Corbett]

love it :) I'm sure there's dozens more

[(``-_-´´) BUGabundo]

Vinil is still hot, and remains selling very well.and amateur radio will last for much longer, as long as there is free radio spectrum

[Ashley]

Personally, I confuse people my age when I say things like that. Maybe I'm just not the norm, at twenty.

[Susan Alcorn]

My husband drives me crazy when he talks about turning on the "HiFi" (stands for "high fidelity," which preceded Stereo).

[Connie Parker]

Talk about obsolete terminology: what about "bcc" (Blind Carbon Copy)...? Former office workers, like me, know what bcc means, but others don't; and when sending e-mails, it's nonsensical.

[Elisabeth Blom]

What about: "Let's stop at the next gas station to fill up the tank"

[Isabela]

Well, here in Brazil, for cultural-historic reasons, orality still prevails over literacy, so I think people will still keep stopping and asking for directions for a long time.

[Jane]

Try this--my students don't know what I'm saying if I say I want a Xerox of a document. Poor Xerox.

[Susan]

As to the bcc comment -- even cc is outdated, who still uses carbon paper to make a carbon copy? (for that matter our students may not even know what carbon paper is) We went from cc (carbon copy), to xc (xerox copy), to pc (photocopy), and now just c (copy). I guess you could make an argument for cc to stand for computer copy.

[Tiffany]

How about the dial up on old computers. Do you remember how annoying that sound was as the internet loaded and the dial toned screeched for thirty seconds?

[Shell gas gift card]

Try this--my students don't know what I'm saying if I say I want a Xerox of a document. Poor Xerox.