Quaint sayings that no longer have meaning

[Ed]

As an author I'm very aware technology has changed radically, yet many still write as if it was 1950. So when are we going to change? To illustrate, I'm reading a book where a character pulls out a cell phone (are they still even called that?) and "dials" a number and later "hangs up".

Umm - we neither dial numbers nor do we hang up... and we haven't for probably 30 years :^)

Anyone care? Any other examples?

[A.R.]

A rose by any other name? Doesn't the technology and jargon fit the era and setting? I write a series of mystery/suspense novels. My characters started out still having landlines and cell phones. As the stories continued, they updated. Once upon a time, there were "dead spots" in cell phone coverage. Now their iphones no longer have that problem. It takes a great deal of editing to bring a story from the 1990's to the present.

(Oh. By the bye, careful with that "quaint" stuff. It can be a bit condescending.)

I'll just ring off now.
Catch you on the flip side if you've got your ears on.

[Lady Echo]

If they aren't called cell phones, what do you call them? Seriously? Without resorting to using the specific name (i.e. iPhone), and, perhaps unintentionally endorsing one product over the other, what terminology works for you? And although perhaps the meaning of "dial" has changed a bit, it still works...as does "hanging up."

[Dwayne]

Ed wrote: "Umm - we neither dial numbers nor do we hang up... "

I just checked. Most dictionaries still list a definition of "dial" as "Call (a telephone number) by turning a disk with numbered holes or pressing a set of buttons..." That's from the Oxford dictionary. Merriam-Webster's is similar. One definition Merriam-Webster lists for "hang up" is to "break a telephone connection". So, it seems that those words are still being used properly. What would you propose as alternates?

[Ed]

Hmmm, then the dictionaries haven't caught up either.

One can't actually physically dial or hang up a cordless phone, let alone a smartphone or mobile (as they are referred to in the UK).

It probably would be more accurate to say "call" and "disconnect" or invent a new phrase like 'punch in" or "punch out".

All in fun...

[Dwayne]

Ed wrote: "Hmmm, then the dictionaries haven't caught up either."

Well, what are you waiting for? Go rewrite them!

[Alicia]

Ed wrote: "As an author I'm very aware technology has changed radically, yet many still write as if it was 1950. So when are we going to change? To illustrate, I'm reading a book where a character pulls out a..."

One of the things that helps is to fix a story firmly in time, and then use the words from that time period. My debut novel occurs in 2005-2006 - and you are subtly reminded of that. I locked in the technology for the phones at the time - and keep it consistent.

[Effie]

My debut novel begins in 1955 and runs through 1999. I had to keep checking technology dates, as well as idioms that began in different eras.

[Grace]

Personally, I think I'd be a bit more annoyed if all these actions were described with perfect technical accuracy, thus:
"I got out my iPhone 4s, found 'Lynne' in 'contacts', and tapped the green phone icon... When we finished talking, a simple touch terminated the call."

I mean, there's a certain type of character that a narrative like that would suit, but a lot of people--and thus most characters--do use 'outdated' terms for present-day things, so in most cases it's only realistic for authors to do that as well.

[Effie]

True! I still say albums!

[T.K.]

I just "terminate" the call. Although, I have my protagonist talk with Siri all the time to place calls.

[D.B.]

Answering machines post-2000.

[Belle]

And we "film" something with our phones.

[Linda]

I still say 'tape' when I 'record' on my dvd recorder.

[G.G.]

D.B. wrote: "Answering machines post-2000."

?? I know you mean that now it's voice mail... but hey, we still use an answering machine home and it was bought in the 2003 or 2004. So I guess it depends on the situation.

[T.L.]

In our house we still watch videos, even though they're DVDs!?
(similar to Linda)

[T.L.]

But in asking the question, "is it OK to use the name iPod in my novel" I've discovered even these are passe. Apparently a lot of people just listen to music on their phones. :-/

Half a pound of t'uppeny rice...not even last century!?
But I still "put my t'uppence worth in" to conversations ;-p

There's a whole host of sayings still in use today from centuries ago. If we actually broke them down we'd realise just how out of date they are.
But we still understand their meaning and apply it to the modern world.

Hey.
In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking...Anything goes!

[Michael]

As I read the posts here, it occurs to me that the point is this: Technology changes faster than language. We continue to use familiar (i.e. "quaint") terms to describe new concepts and technologies.

[Davyne]

How about something that "sounds like a broken record?" I actually caught myself saying that the other day to a teenager... I followed up with "Do you even know what that is?" Their answer: "Duh. Vinyl is so IN right now."

Who knew?

[Grace]

I feel like 'sounds like a broken record' is such a familiar phrase it's kind of disconnected from actual records now. Though it is cool to see vinyl making a comeback :)

[D.B.]

Linda wrote: "I still say 'tape' when I 'record' on my dvd recorder."
Also guilty. I get a lot of criticism over that one.

[T.L.]

DVD recorder? What's that?? ;-p

[Loretta]

Lady Echo wrote: "If they aren't called cell phones, what do you call them? Seriously? Without resorting to using the specific name (i.e. iPhone), and, perhaps unintentionally endorsing one product over the other, w..."

Lol, cell phones? In the UK, we call them mobiles. :)

[Jan]

There was an interesting discussion about this on another forum. I didn't want to 'date' my Headmaster story, and he's an American living in the UK, so I ended up with him saying, “Those of you who are no longer looking directly at me, but into their laps, are probably typing my name into the Google search engine of whatever electronic device is taking up your attention... " But I suppose 'Google' will eventually become outdated.
I think the main thing is to stay consistent with the era of your story.

[Jan]

What gets me is the old proverbs/sayings that have become mangled and now make no sense. I often hear people saying, 'the proof is in the pudding' when it should be 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating.'

[Grace]

Oh, so that's what that proverb means... I heard a while ago that 'blood is thicker than water' was originally 'the blood of the oath is thicker than the water of the womb', which is a complete reversal of what it's supposed to mean today. Thought that was a bit interesting--language changes in strange ways :)

[A.R.]

We might be missing the point here. Dated technology and cultural terms and words are great for setting time and place. Why worry unless they're used out of era? In my latest story had an old lawman use the term "walkie-talkie" for the lapel mic communicator. Mangled proverbs are another matter, but not in dialog. Use the changing language, but research your World War II story so that you don't mention flying over the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

[Jan]

Grace wrote: "Oh, so that's what that proverb means... I heard a while ago that 'blood is thicker than water' was originally 'the blood of the oath is thicker than the water of the womb', which is a complete rev..."

That's interesting. I wonder how many others there are. Perhaps we have the beginning of a book :)

[V.W.]

According to Wikipedia:

The equivalent proverb in German (originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser), first appeared in a different form in the medieval German beast epic Reinhart Fuchs (c. 1180; English: Reynard the Fox) by Heinrich der Glîchezære. The XIII-century Heidelberg manuscript reads in part, "ouch hoerich sagen, das suppebluot von wazzer niht verdirbet" (lines 265-266). In English we read, "I also hear it said, kin-blood is not spoiled by water."

In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate observed in Troy Book, "For naturally blood will be of kind / Drawn-to blood, where he may it find."

By 1670, the modern version was included in John Ray's collected Proverbs,[1] and later appeared in Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering (1815): "Weel — Blud's [sic] thicker than water — she's welcome to the cheeses."[2] and in English reformer Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days (1857).