this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2024
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Inspired by something I said last night when complaining about an achievement at work and the only way I could think to describe it was "pure frippery."

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Last week a coworker described a restaurant as being "kitty-corner" from our office. Took me forever to figure out what they meant

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I occasionally hear "catty-corner" too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I was always under the impression that was a similar expression to 'dog-eared', i.e. a bit beaten up. But maybe I'm conflating it with another phrase

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Dog-eared means that a corner got folded down (making a diagonal) on a page as a bookmark. A dog-eared book isn't necessarily beat-up beyond the damage to the corners of pages. Catty-cornered or kitty-cornered is adjacent to something on the diagonal, i.e. not orthogonally next to it like up, down, left, or right. So there is an argument to be made for a loose (coincidental) connection between those ideas, but I don't think they come from the same roots.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I'm my area it's said "caddy corner", or you might hear the random old euphemistic "caddy-wampus" which means either "diagonal to reference position" or "all fucked up!"

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I used the phrase "tilting at windmills" when discussing current politics and got looked at like an insane person.

No one reads anymore, apparently.

[–] ArtVandelay 1 points 2 weeks ago

Aww I loved that book when we read it in school

[–] whaleross 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Heh. Back in my youth in the 1990s I used dated slang ironically and now it is part of my daily vocabulary. Neither myself or anybody else can tell if it is ironic or not. Now I'm just a middle aged man speaking in a weird capitol city dialect in the second largest city, which by the locals is a crime on its own.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

That's shits tubular, yo!

[–] Rhynoplaz 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yesterday I learned the word Steez from my son in high school.

Still not completely sure what it means, but I believe it's something between a dork and a douche.

[–] JesusSon 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

So back in the 90s "steez" was your overall style. Like "this dude's steez is off the chain." But it's not just style but also hutzpha, so "check this steez yo, fresh shells smoking a blunt on the street"

Idk what it means today but this old head used to have steez but then I got old and now I just sneeze rimshot I'll be here all night folks.

Long post just to ask, is that still what it means?

Edit: forgot a part

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I’ll be here all night folks.

In your bed, snoring, right?

PunchlineBecause you are old

[–] JesusSon 2 points 2 weeks ago

Nothing good happens after 8pm anyways

[–] Rhynoplaz 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I think it does still mean that, but, not in a good way.

The 90s celebrated Steez (which I personally never heard of back then) then it's definition today is essentially "The 90s called and they want their style back."

Definitely explains why he had to borrow some of my clothes for it. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[–] JesusSon 3 points 2 weeks ago

Ha, isn't that how it always goes? Like dope, if my dad called me a dope it was because I was being stupid. If I called you dope it was because you were cool.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You know my steez

True indeed

Say it loud

Black and proud

Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate

Do it now!

[–] JesusSon 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Are you the raw sugar cane, nutrasweet, never equal? If you were in Binzito or your mother's Buick Regal would you get up like Chino shouting power to the people?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yes, the first cut should be the deepest
To penetrate beyond the muscle wall's inner regions

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I've heard steeze in snowboard / Park rat culture. Though it's a bit dated it means like, style/vibe/look

[–] kaklerbitmap 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't personally think it's wierd, but my partner told me I sounded like an old for using the word "flummoxed"

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Kayday 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Today you may be a youth, but you will be an old someday.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I only recently realized that I am doomed to become that which I loathe: an old white man.

[–] Taniwha420 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

My parents emigrated from Aus/NZ just before I was born, so I inherited a bunch of weird down-under, outdated vocabulary.

"What are you fossicking around in the pantry for?" "Did you find a few skerrigs of chocolate?" "I need to use the dunny." "That guy in car dealership was apoplectic."

Lots of other turns of phrase, but - with the possible exception of "dunny" are legit words.

EDIT: OK. A few others, I still use 'blasted' as an adjective. If my kids do something ridiculous, "Jesus wept, child," sometimes comes out of my mouth. Then a bunch of, "running around like a sprayed blowfly," or, "wandering around like a lost soul."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm a cultural Kiwi and don't recognize half of these.

In the case of dunny, I was trained on calling it the loo.

[–] Taniwha420 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Fossicking and skerrig are related to mining activities, so may be more localized to areas were the gold rush was big. I confirmed they're actual words.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

TIL there was an Australian gold rush.

[–] Taniwha420 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, in between the gold rush in San Fransisco, and the gold rush in British Columbia.

[–] aimizo 2 points 2 weeks ago

My kids and I use dunny now because of Bluey.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

apoplectic

Legitimately one of my favourite words.

[–] cheese_greater 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Peripatetic = walking person. By "use" i mean read and looked it up im dictionary

[–] SpaceNoodle 7 points 2 weeks ago

No fair if you're a nurse

[–] sunbrrnslapper 6 points 2 weeks ago

I used rigamarole in an email to a colleague today. And I regularly use kerfuffle.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

One of my new favorites when trying to decide if something is worth doing - “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

[–] HootinNHollerin 1 points 2 weeks ago

That’s gotta be very old

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Shit of a beast

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

I use the phrase "wide-awake nightmare" kind of a lot.

At least I know where I picked it up from, the Screaming Skull episode of MST3k.

[–] CookieOfFortune 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

To use the word cozy as a verb. To coze or to be cozed.

[–] jve 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Cozy is already a verb

verb

INFORMAL

  1. give (someone) a feeling of comfort or complacency.

    "she cozied him, pretending to find him irresistibly attractive"

[–] CookieOfFortune 3 points 2 weeks ago

Sure but that’s not coze or cozed.

[–] jordanlund 4 points 2 weeks ago

Dropped a Tom Swifty on my wife... the other day.

"They want me to check in at the hospital..."

"She said admittedly."

I got "the look".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

'Spasmodic'. A boy walked in the sidewalk and he showed signs of having cerebral palsy.. Somehow that word popped up and it surprised me how topical that word was and that I don't realize how I know the word.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

jimmanuel centennial carter