The E.R. for Endangered Words and Phrases

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fzappa13

Well-known member
It is the nature of language that it changes to accommodate the cultures and peoples that use it. Words and phrases come and go at the whim of public acceptance and usage. I would like to offer a place where words and phrases that are in danger of extinction might find some temporary help in forestalling their eventual fate. To wit; The E.R. for Endangered Words and Phrases. This effort was inspired by recent events here at TOL which brought to mind a phrase offered by Spiro T. Agnew when confronted by an increasingly hostile press and constituency that has fallen into disuse since then. I offer the first of what I hope will be a long line of triage for the wounded and terminal of the Lingua Franca.



Nattering Nabobs of Negativism
 
patrick jane

patrick jane

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fzappa13 said:
It is the nature of language that it changes to accommodate the cultures and peoples that use it. Words and phrases come and go at the whim of public acceptance and usage. I would like to offer a place where words and phrases that are in danger of extinction might find some temporary help in forestalling their eventual fate. To wit; The E.R. for Endangered Words and Phrases. This effort was inspired by recent events here at TOL which brought to mind a phrase offered by Spiro T. Agnew when confronted by an increasingly hostile press and constituency that has fallen into disuse since then. I offer the first of what I hope will be a long line of triage for the wounded and terminal of the Lingua Franca.



Nattering Nabobs of Negativism
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I love older phrases and words and researching their origins or finding exactly what they mean. There's a show on History channel that does that.
 
patrick jane

patrick jane

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fzappa13 said:
Nice catch ... while we are on the subject of bindlestiffs, hobo is probably on the way out too. Speaking of language, they had their own written Esperanto. Glyphs ... sorta.
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and tramp or vagabond. Hobos were known for working, not just being bums living on the government dime.
 
F

fzappa13

Well-known member
patrick jane said:
and tramp or vagabond. Hobos were known for working, not just being bums living on the government dime.
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Exactly. One of the more famous methods of revenue generation for them was scissor sharpening. Woody Guthry pretty much wrote the soundtrack for their plight ... if one might indeed call it a plight. Beats jumping out of a sky scraper on Wall Street.
 
patrick jane

patrick jane

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fzappa13 said:
Exactly. One of the more famous methods of revenue generation for them was scissor sharpening. Woody Guthry pretty much wrote the soundtrack for their plight ... if one might indeed call it a plight. Beats jumping out of a sky scraper on Wall Street.
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I need to listen to Woody. Is that Arloe's Dad ?
 
F

fzappa13

Well-known member
The Great Depression saw both our monetary system and body politic captured by international bankers and a really nasty, sustained weather pattern. I guess the experience necessitated its own lexicon.
 
Brother Vinny

Brother Vinny

Active member
I think what's interesting are words that hang around in the lexicon even after they've become obsolete. We still use "dial" for making a phone call, even though some kids today haven't seen a rotary phone. And phones still "ring", even though phones with bells on them have become scarce as well.
 
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