Since we all love to play with words . . . let’s dazzle each other, okay?
Remember writing on your hands in school? Oh, you still do . . . (Image courtesy of Pixabay)
Think of words and phrases from the past which have a totally new/different meaning in the present.
For instance, the word stream. Something we used to fish from–now we watch or listen to.
Or, text. Or, post. Get it?
Now it’s your turn . . . and, Go!
Smash. As in “Smash the like button.” If I were to smash it the way I would have 20 years ago, my poor computer would be in a bad way. 😎
Oh . . . that’s a good one, Brenda. And one I wouldn’t have thought of.
Thanks for playing this morning. And have a smashing good day!
Smash has another modern meaning. It is what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes.
Good morning, Alan . . . no, I hadn’t heard that one. But I think I’m about 25 years behind the times most days.
Brenda, if you want, you can just have a good day today . . . ahem, without all the smashing. Gulp. 🙂
These aren’t words, but phases we still use that no longer apply: roll down the window of a car and dial a number on a cell phone
Also “hang up” a phone.
Yes, “hang up” doesn’t work very well today, right? Although, some of us oldsters still use it. And we still say, “he hung up on me”, but it’s not a literal meaning these days. I’ve heard, when a cell phone is being used, He cut off the call, which makes more sense today.
When making a call, I still say, “Dial the number.”
I do sometimes, too, Michelle. But most of the time I say “input” the number.
Phrases count, Patricia! I wonder how many 5th graders would give us a look if asked to “roll down” the car window.
Have a good Friday!
Ping: “a sharp, high-pitched somewhat musical sound.”
Ping: Packet Internet Groper, “computer network management system software or utility software used to test the network communication between two devices.”
Debbie, you learned me. I did not know what the PING stood for in today’s world. “Packet Internet Groper”…hmm, sounds kind of creepy, right?
Thanks for pinging in this morning. 🙂
A troll was an ugly creature that sat under a bridge and harassed you. Now a troll is someone who posts or comments online to deliberately provoke an argument or emotional reaction.
A cloud is something that holds water. Now it’s also an online repository for your data.
And then there are a few gaming terms. A boss is the tough villain you fight at the end of a level or a game. A bug is something that’s wrong with the game’s program. An Easter Egg is a type of secret hidden within a game by the developers that’s there as an amusing aside rather than part of the gameplay or story.
These are great, Michelle!
I’d never heard of Easter Egg. I’m not much into gaming, but I’ve got a passel of grandkids who are. They probably know.
And that brings up the term gaming. Games have been around since forever ago, but I think gaming means something different today, with the internet/digital application.
Thanks for word gaming with us this morning!
I “pumped” my own gas this morning. Man, I had to squeeze hard.
According to the Huston Home Journal and Mr. AI on Google:
“The first gas pumps were invented in the 1880s, but the first practical models were in use by 1910. These early pumps were manual, and customers would have to pump a handle back and forth to fill a glass globe with gas. The gas would then run through a hose into the car by gravity. Early pumps had marks on the globe to indicate how much gas had been pumped.”
So what you’re saying, Mr. Steve, is now we’re supposed to say, I have to stop and squeeze gas on the way out of town?
That’d raise a few eyebrows.
Thanks for playing with us this morning, my friend.
Goat. Cloud. Chill. Woke.
Great, Kay! Hadn’t thought of those, particularly “woke”. What a morph that one has gone through.
And how about download, upload, copy and paste?
If we were to use these in a sentence 50 years ago, no one would understand.
🙂
Pulp slang has some of those words.
“Mug” — a face, or an unsavory character. Now it’s just something we drink out of.
Good morning, James! I bet you’ve got a whole list of those handy.
Thanks for bringing your mug along and joining in with us… 🙂
How about “delete,” “abort,” “escape” and “scroll”? All co-opted for computer use.
Yes! Now, Elaine, use all of those in the same sentence, please… 🙂
And another one just occurred to me: firewall. Boy howdy, we could do this all day, right?
Have a great one!
Licking:
“If you don’t behave, you rapscallion, I’m going to give you a good licking!”
Good one, J. And rapscallion! There’s a fun word, although I don’t think it means something different these days. Once a rapscallion, always a rapscallion I guess.
Thanks for playing!
My mother, on some occasions, would call me a “rapscallion,” and on others, a “gilly-gitsaweel.” I’m unsure of the etymology and even less sure of the spelling of the latter term. There’s always the possibility that it is not-of-this-planet.
Doctored. Used to indicated an altered photo, or recording , usually in a deceptive way.
Another good one, Robert! Nowadays it doesn’t refer to Kildare or Welby, right?
And, in the same vein, photoshop.
Have a great one!