What words have disappeared from the language recently.?

Question

Every year a bunch of new words creep into the English language. Eg. blog, iPod, jihad, imam etc. What words were in use say 30 or 40 years ago but are now obsolete or gone?

Answer 1

I never hear anyone say Golly! or Gee Whilakers! like on the old re-runs of "Leave it to Beaver."

When I was a kid, we always had to call an adult Mr. or Mrs. or Miss, now I always hear kids call them by the first name.

Also, schwinn bikes use to be the ultimate in cool. Atari's games, rock-em sock-em robots, Pac-man.

American Bandstand, "I want my MTV" = when MTV actually played music videos & had VJ's.

I haven't heard the term "going steady" in years.

Answer 2

What I've really noticed is the almost complete disappearance within the last few decades of the correct singulars and plurals of words taken from Latin or Greek. Words like: bacterium/bacteria; criterion/criteria; phenomenon/phenomena; alumna/alumnae.

These words used to be used only by well-educated people, who usually studied Latin and Greek in school, and had no trouble with the endings.

As these words started to be used by everyone (who doesn't talk about bacteria today?), people got confused. In English, we are not used to the singular being longer than the plural, or to such weird endings in general. So now we tend to get "one bacteria, a thousand bacteria"; "this phenomena; those phenomena".

One word that disappeared very recently is "biceps" as a singular. "Biceps" is the name of the muscle. There is also a "triceps" and a "quadriceps". I don't know if the other two have had the "s" dropped in the singular as well, because you don't see them mentioned in novels or on T.V. But we definitely have moved to saying "one bicep; two biceps".

Answer 3

I think it kind of goes with things that are obsolete. For instance, not many people use the word "telegram" anymore, because there are no more telegrams. My third grade students aren't real sure what a vinyl record is because they've never seen one and don't know what a record player is. Most people under the age of thirty-five don't know what an "eight track" is, either!

My, I'm getting OLD!

Answer 4

Journalism

Answer 5

Words starting with H where the H is silent:
honest, hour,horrible, hospital, host, hotel, human, humour

These words all used to be pronounced with a silent H. Now people emphasise the H except perhaps with honest and hour.

Answer 6

BOANTHROPY - A type of insanity in which a man thinks he is an ox.
CHANTEPLEURE - To sing and weep at the same time.
DIBBLE - To drink like a duck, lifting up the head after each sip.
EOSOPHOBIA - Fear of dawn.
EUGERIA - Normal and happy old age.
EUNEIROPHRENIA - Peace of mind after a pleasant dream.
EYESERVICE - Work done only when the boss is watching.
FELLOWFEEL - To crawl into the skin of another person so as to share his feelings, to empathise with.
GROAK - To watch people silently while they are eating, hoping they will ask you to join them. ***

Answer 7

well i don't think words ever really go away.. they just aren't used as often anymore.. even slang sticks around somethimes. haha there are people in my class who still use slang from the '20s like "bunk" haha

Answer 8

get jiggy with it, cat's pajamas, cat's meow, saddle shoes, cupie (AS IN CUPID) doll, peachy keen, gay (meant happy - hasn't disappeared, just took on a different connotation sadly). I know I have many more in my 60-year-old head, but it getting late, so I will send these in.

Answer 9

********* - to be stingy or miserly
Loam - dirt or soil
Antidisestablishmentarianism - an establishment against the establishment

Answer 10

Please
Thank you
Your welcome
Excuse me

Rare to hear these words anywhere today.