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29 Outdated Words And Phrases Some Older Folks Use That Puzzle Millennials And Gen Zers In This Online Group
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are having a conversation with someone and they use a word or a phrase that you haven’t heard of and have no idea what it means? There are some people who like to use more colorful language and revive words that are no longer used or have changed their meaning throughout time. If you still feel lost when you hear some archaic word or phrase, you are not alone as one Reddit user, @SunRevolutionary8315, asked other people online “What is an outdated word or phrase an older family member uses that makes your brain hurt?” Soon people started sharing sayings their parents, grandparents and other older relatives use in their everyday language and trying to explain the meaning behind these words. So if you’re also looking for ways to expand your vocabulary, the post with more than 34k upvotes is a great source of knowledge.
Do you know someone in your family who also likes to puzzle you with outdated language? Don’t forget to share it in the comments down below!
More Info: Reddit
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#2
My late father (born in '33) used to say he'd been "d**ked by the dangling dong of destiny" when something went wrong that was out of his control.
spirit wolf 3 years ago
I will be adopting this phrase, going into effect immediately. Thank you!
#3
When I was a kid and we had a slow start to our day my mother would say “we’re off like a herd of turtles” still makes me smile
#4
There was an older gentleman, about 70, that I used to work with that looked at me and said “His butter done slid off his biscuit” referring to another coworker acting crazy. I’m in southern Kentucky.
#5
My grandpa likes to use the phrase "not my monkey, not my circus"
to everyone asking if he's Polish, we're Latino. He says it in both Spanish and English, "no es mi circo, no son mis monos". I didn't realize until writing it out that he flips the order in English.
#6
answers the phone
“Yellow!”
Sky Render 3 years ago (edited)
Better than the early 2000s, when the standard phone greeting was "WHAZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!?"...
#7
Went into a speed shop the other day and overheard the shop owner talking to someone on the phone. Man was 60+ and said un-ironically "Catch ya on the flip side Daddio" to end the conversation he was having.
#9
You can call me anything you like except late for dinner!
I use this all the time and my wife tells me that’s something only old men say
#11
My nana says “That really turns me on” about ANYTHING. Good ice cream, a movie, music, doesn’t matter.
#12
"Davenport" to mean couch. Apparently, it was a name-brand couch back in the day.
#13
My mom was not a fan of colorful language, I can't recall ever hearing an f-bomb escape her lips. But if she was mad at someone, she would say "They can just go piss up a rope!" I still don't know WTF she meant.
#14
My dad used to say “That’ll put lead in your pencil”.
Tiny Dancer 3 years ago
That's got to be right up there with, "That'll put hair on your chest!", which always bugged me seeing as I was a chick, lol.
#15
My mother used to say "he's got his wobbly boots on" whenever she saw someone drunk.
#16
When you put something in your mouth it's really hot and react.
Que grandma "well it wasn't cooked on a f*****k sewing machine"
Daniel Pacheco 3 years ago
wonder if your grandma has latino roots? Sewing machines and to-saw, in castellano & spanish is 'máquina cosedora' / 'coser' (which is very simmilar to 'cocer' /to cook
#18
When talking about drinking, my dad says "I got plowed the other night" rather than "I got drunk the other night"
#19
I have a friend, about 15 years older than me, who constantly says s**t like "bump uglies".
#20
My mom is 71, she says things are cool. But she pronounces it like kewel, or kyoul.
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
She’s only five years older than I am and one of my faves is “cool beans”
#21
"The devil's been beatin' his wife"- when the sun is out but it's still raining. I heard this a lot growing up but apparently some people have never heard of it?
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
There's a very old English proverb that goes something like, If it rains while the sun is shining, the devil is beating his wife with a leg of mutton. It's so weird I've never forgotten it.
tuzdayschild 3 years ago
I have heard this my whole life. I don't know why she doesn't leave him.
Erla Zwingle 3 years ago
In Venice, Italy, where I live, when it rains while the sun is shining they say that the nuns are falling in love.
Chad Crocker 3 years ago
In the South is was a little song we sang as kids during a Sun shower. The devil was spitting fire from hell (the sun) and his wife was crying (the rain)
Beck(formerly Becca/Gizmo sq) 3 years ago
I am from the south and i have never heard tgis little nugget😄
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Donkey boi 3 years ago
In my family and local town, it was always called 'a monkey's wedding'.
Jasmine Hufflepuff Henderson 3 years ago
I'm from Texas and this is definitely something I say and also hear a lot.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
In some parts of the Netherlands we say "There's a fun fair in hell."
MellonCollie 3 years ago
Echt waar? Nooit gehoord! Grappig hoe dat per streek kan verschillen :-)
Load More Replies... Midge biscuit 3 years ago
Whenever it was sunny but raining, my parents used to always refer to it as "a monkeys birthday."
Emmydearest 3 years ago
In Italy we say: "the devil is getting married" or "the witches are combing their hair"
Bamamom2boys 3 years ago
I have said this all my life! My grandmother used to say it. People look at me like I've lost my mind. BTW, I'm from Alabama.
CultOfBambi 3 years ago
In South Africa when it rains & the sun shines at the same time it's called a monkey's wedding.
GFSTaylor 3 years ago
In England, if it is cloudy but with a little patch of clear sky, people would say "there's enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers." It was an optimistic saying, pointing out that the sky might be clearing up so we'd get some sunshine. I would hear it on days out in the 70's, from my parents who were born between the wars.
Tonya Wallace 3 years ago
I'm from north Mississippi and yeah, a very common phrase. We were told as children that if you stick a needle in the ground while it's happening, you can hear her screaming. (it doesn't work)
Thisweirdpanda 3 years ago (edited)
an afrikaans one that means something similar " jakkals trou met wolf se vrou". Direct translation : Fox marries wolf's wife
Marie-Helene Briere 3 years ago
I'm french-canadian and i say that too. I have no idea where my mom heard it but we still use it. In french it's Le diable bat sa femme.
April Caron 3 years ago
When it was raining, but the sun was shining… my grandmother used to say, “The devil’s at play.”
#22
My grandma would say “bull feathers” instead of bulls**t
#23
My older relatives in Michigan (all passed away now) used to say Geez-O-Pete instead of Jesus Christ, I guess so as not to blaspheme? Who f**king knows?
#24
My dad still talks about "The Japs!" Like he fought in world war 2. But he's too young and also not American.
#25
I hate when old people ask “can you whack this off for me”
For $20 anything is possible tho
Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago
"technically, sir, if I whacked it off for you, it wouldn't be called whacking off..."
#27
50/50 chance my mom is gonna say “and we’re off like a dirty shirt” when leaving an establishment.
I kinda like it though
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
My favorite is “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” I like it so much that I had a Swedish person tell me how to say it, so now I say (this is a transliteration since I have now idea how it it would be spelled in Swedish) the upper-case letters are said in a higher tone than the lower-case ones (apparently this matters) “Lo-TOOS spreng-A det-TA EES-glass stahnd...or, in the language of my people, Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
#28
grandpa: says narcist instead of narcissist. apparently back in the day that was normal
grandma: if wishes were fishes we’d have a big fry
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
"If wishes were Porsches, beggars would drive" ---- my mom having twisted "If wishes were horses".
#29
My mom says she’s “gotta go tink tink” instead of to the bathroom.
What do you think ?
Green Cabochon 3 years ago
"If it was a snake it woulda bit you," when it takes a minute to notice something. My grandma always said it and now my mom does.
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Oh Lord I can hear my grandmother saying that! Thank you!
Load More Replies...
A Head 3 years ago
Had a math professor in college - very nice older Texan woman - who, when talking about someone of...lesser intelligence, would say "He wouldn't now how to pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel!"
Vicky Z 3 years ago
I have a question!! How do the older women in your country refer to menstruation? I've heard so many different versions and the most weird are "she has her clothes" (don't even know what that even means) and the classic "the Russians are coming" which I never liked as an expression.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Older women in the Netherlands do not speak much about menstruation. I've heard "Being on the rag." (which seems to have it's origin from the time where women had to sew the pads themselves) and "Waving the red flag."
Load More Replies...
Ivana 3 years ago
Drinking the Kool Aid. Heard a co-worker say it recently and I was like, "You know most of them just got straight cyanide because they didn't have enough kool-aid." My co-workers all looked at me like I was nuts. The person who said "drinking the kool-aid" asked what I was talking about. None of them knew it was a reference to Jim Jones. Always find it neat that we can adapt sayings that will become more popular and longer lasting that what the saying references. Like letting the cat out of the bag, looking a gift horse in the mouth, dead ringer, saved by the bell, etc.
lazy panda 3 years ago
For some reason, my dad has always said "it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra on the dark side of the moon." We live in North Dakota so when that phrase was uttered, we knew it was COLD cold.
Truth Monster 3 years ago
A relative of mine would not stop calling her sandals "thongs". She announced to a group once she needed to "put on her thongs!" before we left her house.
Helen Haley 3 years ago
i don't know where you're from in the US, but i've heard of them referred to as thongs or flip flops interchangabely. It seems to be regional.
Load More Replies...
Pat Bond 3 years ago
Generational sayings. They are no more annoying than the youth of today always putting in a completely unnecessary "Like" in a sentence or starting a sentence with "So".
Green Cabochon 3 years ago
Ooh does this mean I'm still a youth?? I'm so used to being called an Elder Millennial.
Load More Replies...
More Thinking Needed 3 years ago
At least back then people spoke in complete sentences that were grammatically correct.
Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago
I know someone who has favourite saying when she is hungry, "I could eat the crutch off a low flying duck".
Dodo 3 years ago
I always heard 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse' but an Australian soap opera once taught me an alternative: 'eat a horse, chase the rider'.
Load More Replies...
Goth mouse (they/them) 3 years ago
My grandad is from Lancashire and says ‘ey up’ and ‘ey up, duck’ all the time 😄 also a few older people i know call me duckie or duck which is sweet 🦆
GFSTaylor 3 years ago
'Duck' is still used in parts of Lancashire. In Glasgow, it's 'hen'. In Sheffield, everyone can be addressed as 'love' but in Cornwall, it's 'my lovely'.
Load More Replies...
Panda-riffic 3 years ago
Ask my coworker how he's doing and he would say, "finer than frog's hair".
John Montgomery 3 years ago
The main one I can think of I only really ever heard from my grandad, but he always called my grandmother "Mata". Pronounced mate with a long "a"added to the end.
Kristin Ingersoll 3 years ago
I had a friend who, instead of saying "For the love of god!" would say, "For the love of corn!" It made me giggle.
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 3 years ago
How dare they use the language they've always used! They need to jump on your trends instead! One of the biggest reason people come jump with new stupid things to say is that they want to be different from old people. So they can then complain, I guess.
Aroace tiger (any pronouns) 3 years ago
My Spanish teacher says "the speed of a thousand gazelles"
Tami 3 years ago
My mom has always said, "Deader than a popcorn fart" to refer to a place that's quiet with no activity. That always sounded weird to me, so I finally googled it, and the saying is actually, "DRIER than a popcorn fart", which has nothing to do with activity. I haven't the heart to tell her...
Tami 3 years ago
I was a quiet child, and dad would say, "She wouldn't say s**t if she had a mouth full of it." Decades later I came up with a funny come-back: "Yeah, I guess that's why mom's cooking never improved." Never had the courage to say it though, and anyways mom was a pretty good cook.
OhForSmegSake 3 years ago
If someone is being annoying or a bit of a dickhead in my family they were told to "Go soak ya head"
TheDivineMsM 3 years ago
My grandpa never cursed. If he wanted to say a bad word he'd say, "oh shickelgroober"
Jackie Porter 3 years ago
My mum calls her cupboard that has all her spare towels, sheets, xmas decorations etc her 'glory hole'
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
My grandmother for some reason hated the term "I wonder" She'd say don't wonder 'till bird s build bests up your ass then you can wonder how they go the sticks there. Never knew why she hated this term. The one term that really drives me nuts is when your talking to someone and they say "WHATEVER" in an offhanded manner!
Heather Menard 3 years ago
Tin foil. Can you tell me where I can find tin foil. People look at me funny
ilikeplants 3 years ago
Long in the tooth (very old). Knee-high to a grasshopper (very young).
Steve Ramaekers 3 years ago
Slower than molasses, dumber than a doorpost, not the brightest bulb in the bunch, shake a leg, move it or lose it
Финикс Дэ Лионь 3 years ago
I got a couple... "wish in one hand, s**t in another and tell me which one fills up first." "Not the brightest crayon in the box." It's raining cats and dogs. Up s**t creek without a paddle.
Melissa Peck 3 years ago
I had a friend that said "whatever turns your biscuits" for "whatever makes you happy". Always cracked me up.
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
I used to hear: "You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in!"
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
My mom always says "Pin a rose on your nose" and it means well, aren't you special? She also uses the phrase "the bees knees" way too often. Born in 1947.
Steven Cook 3 years ago
I'm 51 and use some 70s slang like Right On, Swell, Solid, etc... My 16 yo son has discovered 80s slang like gnarly and rad
Melissa Peck 3 years ago
Make sure he knows about fer sher, and gag me (with a spoon).
Load More Replies...
memyselfandI 3 years ago
My grandpa had tons of these… flip flops were Japanese motorcycle riding boots, pencils were wu-wus, both my grandma and grandpa would say “I’ll go see a man about a horse” for going to the bathroom. “If it doesn’t come out right, make like a mathematician and work it out with a pencil” was the next part of that.
Kiwii Stone 3 years ago
I think this is one of those articles that needs renaming. Only about 10 of them weren't obvious what they meant so "make your brain hurt" isn't a great descriptor
Green Cabochon 3 years ago
"If it was a snake it woulda bit you," when it takes a minute to notice something. My grandma always said it and now my mom does.
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Oh Lord I can hear my grandmother saying that! Thank you!
Load More Replies... A Head 3 years ago
Had a math professor in college - very nice older Texan woman - who, when talking about someone of...lesser intelligence, would say "He wouldn't now how to pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel!"
Vicky Z 3 years ago
I have a question!! How do the older women in your country refer to menstruation? I've heard so many different versions and the most weird are "she has her clothes" (don't even know what that even means) and the classic "the Russians are coming" which I never liked as an expression.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Older women in the Netherlands do not speak much about menstruation. I've heard "Being on the rag." (which seems to have it's origin from the time where women had to sew the pads themselves) and "Waving the red flag."
Load More Replies... Ivana 3 years ago
Drinking the Kool Aid. Heard a co-worker say it recently and I was like, "You know most of them just got straight cyanide because they didn't have enough kool-aid." My co-workers all looked at me like I was nuts. The person who said "drinking the kool-aid" asked what I was talking about. None of them knew it was a reference to Jim Jones. Always find it neat that we can adapt sayings that will become more popular and longer lasting that what the saying references. Like letting the cat out of the bag, looking a gift horse in the mouth, dead ringer, saved by the bell, etc.
lazy panda 3 years ago
For some reason, my dad has always said "it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra on the dark side of the moon." We live in North Dakota so when that phrase was uttered, we knew it was COLD cold.
Truth Monster 3 years ago
A relative of mine would not stop calling her sandals "thongs". She announced to a group once she needed to "put on her thongs!" before we left her house.
Helen Haley 3 years ago
i don't know where you're from in the US, but i've heard of them referred to as thongs or flip flops interchangabely. It seems to be regional.
Load More Replies... Pat Bond 3 years ago
Generational sayings. They are no more annoying than the youth of today always putting in a completely unnecessary "Like" in a sentence or starting a sentence with "So".
Green Cabochon 3 years ago
Ooh does this mean I'm still a youth?? I'm so used to being called an Elder Millennial.
Load More Replies... More Thinking Needed 3 years ago
At least back then people spoke in complete sentences that were grammatically correct.
Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago
I know someone who has favourite saying when she is hungry, "I could eat the crutch off a low flying duck".
Dodo 3 years ago
I always heard 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse' but an Australian soap opera once taught me an alternative: 'eat a horse, chase the rider'.
Load More Replies... Goth mouse (they/them) 3 years ago
My grandad is from Lancashire and says ‘ey up’ and ‘ey up, duck’ all the time 😄 also a few older people i know call me duckie or duck which is sweet 🦆
GFSTaylor 3 years ago
'Duck' is still used in parts of Lancashire. In Glasgow, it's 'hen'. In Sheffield, everyone can be addressed as 'love' but in Cornwall, it's 'my lovely'.
Load More Replies... Panda-riffic 3 years ago
Ask my coworker how he's doing and he would say, "finer than frog's hair".
John Montgomery 3 years ago
The main one I can think of I only really ever heard from my grandad, but he always called my grandmother "Mata". Pronounced mate with a long "a"added to the end.
Kristin Ingersoll 3 years ago
I had a friend who, instead of saying "For the love of god!" would say, "For the love of corn!" It made me giggle.
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 3 years ago
How dare they use the language they've always used! They need to jump on your trends instead! One of the biggest reason people come jump with new stupid things to say is that they want to be different from old people. So they can then complain, I guess.
Aroace tiger (any pronouns) 3 years ago
My Spanish teacher says "the speed of a thousand gazelles"
Tami 3 years ago
My mom has always said, "Deader than a popcorn fart" to refer to a place that's quiet with no activity. That always sounded weird to me, so I finally googled it, and the saying is actually, "DRIER than a popcorn fart", which has nothing to do with activity. I haven't the heart to tell her...
Tami 3 years ago
I was a quiet child, and dad would say, "She wouldn't say s**t if she had a mouth full of it." Decades later I came up with a funny come-back: "Yeah, I guess that's why mom's cooking never improved." Never had the courage to say it though, and anyways mom was a pretty good cook.
OhForSmegSake 3 years ago
If someone is being annoying or a bit of a dickhead in my family they were told to "Go soak ya head"
TheDivineMsM 3 years ago
My grandpa never cursed. If he wanted to say a bad word he'd say, "oh shickelgroober"
Jackie Porter 3 years ago
My mum calls her cupboard that has all her spare towels, sheets, xmas decorations etc her 'glory hole'
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
My grandmother for some reason hated the term "I wonder" She'd say don't wonder 'till bird s build bests up your ass then you can wonder how they go the sticks there. Never knew why she hated this term. The one term that really drives me nuts is when your talking to someone and they say "WHATEVER" in an offhanded manner!
Heather Menard 3 years ago
Tin foil. Can you tell me where I can find tin foil. People look at me funny
ilikeplants 3 years ago
Long in the tooth (very old). Knee-high to a grasshopper (very young).
Steve Ramaekers 3 years ago
Slower than molasses, dumber than a doorpost, not the brightest bulb in the bunch, shake a leg, move it or lose it
Финикс Дэ Лионь 3 years ago
I got a couple... "wish in one hand, s**t in another and tell me which one fills up first." "Not the brightest crayon in the box." It's raining cats and dogs. Up s**t creek without a paddle.
Melissa Peck 3 years ago
I had a friend that said "whatever turns your biscuits" for "whatever makes you happy". Always cracked me up.
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
I used to hear: "You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in!"
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
My mom always says "Pin a rose on your nose" and it means well, aren't you special? She also uses the phrase "the bees knees" way too often. Born in 1947.
Steven Cook 3 years ago
I'm 51 and use some 70s slang like Right On, Swell, Solid, etc... My 16 yo son has discovered 80s slang like gnarly and rad
Melissa Peck 3 years ago
Make sure he knows about fer sher, and gag me (with a spoon).
Load More Replies... memyselfandI 3 years ago
My grandpa had tons of these… flip flops were Japanese motorcycle riding boots, pencils were wu-wus, both my grandma and grandpa would say “I’ll go see a man about a horse” for going to the bathroom. “If it doesn’t come out right, make like a mathematician and work it out with a pencil” was the next part of that.
Kiwii Stone 3 years ago
I think this is one of those articles that needs renaming. Only about 10 of them weren't obvious what they meant so "make your brain hurt" isn't a great descriptor
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