What is an archaic word you'd like to see come back into common usage?

[Liberal Veteran]

For me, I kinda like "sistren" (the opposite of "brethren").

[elshiva]

1. Rabbit-sucker. It was an insult in Shakespeare's day.

[knitter4democracy]

80. It didn't refer to rabbits.

;)

[IDemo]

2. "Problem", but most people would have an "issue" with that

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Or "learning opportunities".

:puke:

[Left Is Write]

31. Or "challenge."

(cheers to my fellow Idaho Democrat)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

4. Knave.

I love that word. It means devil.
Duckie

[My Good Babushka]

5. Rake, rakehellish

maybe saucebox.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. I kind of like "betwixt"

[knitter4democracy]

81. I use that all the time.

My mentor prof in college hated it, but it's just so much easier to say and write.

[Chan790]

7. Liberal.

Because that's what I am. I'm not a progressive, I'm a liberal.

[Left Is Write]

32. I hear that's akin to a swear word these days.

Or maybe it's closer to "leper."

[FloridaJudy]

8. "swive"

Because the f-word is so overused. Doesn't "GWB is a swiving swine" sound wonderfully pungent?

[Liberal Veteran]

10. Forsooth! I heartily agree.

[Kutjara]

9. Flibbertygibbet.

I'd much rather be called a flibbertygibbet than "hyperactive" or "ADD." It sounds so much more rakish and louche.

[Left Is Write]

33. A will-o-the-wisp? A clown?

[Kutjara]

36. Those too, but more generally...

...any person who flits about, unable to focus on one activity or career. It also carries connotations of untrustworthiness and flightiness.

[Arugula Latte]

65. That was a "Sound of Music" reference

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

:)

[Kutjara]

71. Ahh, I'd forgotten about that.

Part of my lifelong struggle to banish "The Sound of Music" from my mind. ;)

[Arugula Latte]

72. Even the goatherd marionette yodel song?

:rofl:

[Kutjara]

74. Yodel-ay yodel-ay...

...yodel-ay-he-hoo!

Crap! Now I'll have that in my head for the rest of the night.

[Arugula Latte]

75. I think I've doomed myself, too.

Sorry 'bout that...

:banghead:

[skygazer]

11. Hooligan

Not THAT old but no longer used much and it's such a great word.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Freedom.

[Liberal Veteran]

14. Oh, please. That's just another word for "nothing left to lose".

:D

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. That word is "surrender".

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. strumpet

[FloridaJudy]

17. "dollymop" is a good one too.

[TroglodyteScholar]

45. Hah! That was the first word that popped into my head! n/t

[Release The Hounds]

15. Cat's pajamas

[Liberal Veteran]

16. I'm pretty sure I left them by the bee's knees

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Careful

Don't let 'em get too close to the snake's hips.



:scared:

[nuxvomica]

25. I used that in a post a few weeks ago. Is that archaic?

I often use antique expressions but generally one's that are still readily understood. I used "make hay" in another post earlier today. Maybe this explains why people sometimes don't "get" me. I should probably use more "withit" terms, like those favored by lounge "hepcats".
:shrug:

[Orrex]

18. "yclept"

and "yclad," while we're at it.


It would also be cool to see "Hwaet" come back in style.

[MrScorpio]

19. Doth...

Dope!

[reyd reid reed]

21. Zounds!

Verily, 'gardyloo' has a certain flair, wouldn't you agree?

[Liberal Veteran]

23. I like zounds, but gardyloo sounds like something involving George Michael.

:D

[reyd reid reed]

26. It's a warning cry

"Gardyloo! The cistern's caving in and thy sistren doth stand atop! I beseech thee to fetch her anon, before calamity befalls her!"

Okay...that was a stretch.

[madeline_con]

68. Bravo!

:applause:

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. That Abba song?

:thumbsdown:

[WolverineDG]

78. Just don't stand under an open window

when someone says it. You might get, um, a surprise :o

dg

[AlCzervik]

22. Forthwith.

[BlooInBloo]

24. "forasmuch" and "methinks" are two of my favs....

I also like that archaic letter that's now rendered "ye" as in "ye olde tavern".

[jobycom]

29. Wind, for flatulence. It would add new dimensions to a couple of pop songs.

Patrick Swayze, Bette Middler, for instance.

[Aristus]

30. "Whence" and "whither".

Whence means "from where" and whither means "where to?" It would be cool to have these in common usage again.

edit: spelling.

[Left Is Write]

34. Just make sure no one says "from whence." That would be irksome.

[Aristus]

61. I'm a big fan of "Guys And Dolls", but I have to supress a cringe when

the dolls sing "Take Back Your Mink" with the lyric "from whence it came..." Oh man, that's bad!

[AccessGranted]

35. flabbergasted, befuddled and tomfoolery

love those.

[Left Is Write]

37. Those are archaic?

Oops. I've been using them.

[AccessGranted]

40. That's okay

Nothing wrong with a little colorful language.

[Left Is Write]

41. Tomfoolery is an especially fun word.

[Cabcere]

38. Sackbut.

:D Although "trombone" is a pretty cool word, "sackbut" just has a certain quasi-naughty ring to it. :P

[Left Is Write]

39. Hey! Check out this fun list....

http://phrontistery.info/archaic.html

[femmocrat]

57. Thank you! those are wonderful!

:D

[krispos42]

42. By Jove

irritate the fundies :-)

[Lethe]

43. fisticuffs

i still use it

[reyd reid reed]

44. Oooh...another one....

'slattern'

[bluesbassman]

46. Sluggard. Because lazy has lost it's punch.

And 'cuz slugs are just so damn cute!

[Lethe]

49. slugs are cute

they crawl into my kitchen every night for some reason.

i pick em up and put em back outside.

[reyd reid reed]

51. Ugh

I can't stand 'em. But as long as they stay outside, I'm okay with 'em.

Cute?

:scared:

[Lethe]

73. lemme 'splain

if you are really high on some good weed, watch a slug locomote its way across the floor. It's kind of trippy cause nothing is moving on it's body, it looks like it's gliding across the floor, leaving a nice little slime trail.

But, when the slug detects you, it will lift it's head up towards you, and the antennae will move and retract, etc. It's cute in it's own little way. Also, I put peas down sometimes, and they will move over towards them and eat them.

I guess that wasnt a good explanation of why i find them cute, but anyways.... :shrug:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

47. bitchin', trippy, far out, get bent,

[Tuesday Afternoon]

48. breeches

Breeches (pronounced <ˈbritʃɪz>) are an item of male clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. The breeching of a young boy, at an age somewhere between six and eight, was a landmark in his childhood.

The spelling britches reflects a common pronunciation, and is often used in casual speech to mean trousers or "pants". Breeks is a Scots or northern English spelling and pronunciation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches

[madinmaryland]

50. cuckold.

:hide:

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

52. Forsooth!

[Lil Missy]

53. wax and wane

[ashling]

54. Where I come from, a sistren is where you keep the rainwater

:rofl:

[lost-in-nj]

55. Wench

I like the costumes!!!


:)

lost

[Liberal Veteran]

60. That would be cool. "Hi, my name is Mindy and I'll be your bar wench tonight"

:D

[Lethe]

76. i fuckin' tried it dude, i got slapped

apparently the local bartenders don't like that shit.

damn, so touchy nowadays....

[femmocrat]

56. Hornswoggle

It's the first word that came to mind....

[femmocrat]

58. Gallimaufry:

a medley or jumble. I see that one in X-word puzzles occasionally.

[Mendocino]

59. Cattywampus

[LiberalEsto]

62. Please, thank you

and you're welcome - that last one is so much better than "No Problem"

[pokerfan]

63. daffadowndilly

[Arugula Latte]

64. Gams (for legs)

Okay, maybe not exactly archaic, but kinda old-timey, nonetheless.

[Deja Q]

66. Popinjay, jackanapes, fowlpest, adumbate

:D

[callous taoboy]

67. "Whilst." Used it in an e-mail to some snotty co-workers and smiled.

[madeline_con]

69. swain

[argyl]

70. How about "dame" for woman? In the 40's B&W noir flicks with a guy like Bogie referring to

a woman as a dame,not in the medieval English usage. It really fits that era in America.

Why it was such a popular term then and literally faded into oblivion has always been a bit of a puzzle to me. It never struck me as derogatory,just a slang term.

[cemaphonic]

77. Demimonde

[Midlodemocrat]

79. Tomfoolery and shenanigans.

[knitter4democracy]

82. My favorite word: zarf.

It's a handleless cup, like those coffee cups from the coffeeshop. I think they should call them zarfs.

[terrya]

83. "bloviate"

That was such a fun word. :-)

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

84. Wastrel

As in George W. Bush is the epitome of the word wastrel............ :)

[KamaAina]

85. Poltroon

OxyMoron Rush once attempted to revive it as a synonym for "gay". :puke:

Ironically, it means, roughly, "sniveling coward". So, I can say "Rush is a poltroon" and not be wrong. :evilgrin:

[Zavulon]

86. Rapscallion.

That word just cracks me up.

[Sanity Claws]

87. Moxie

"She's got moxie" is so much better than "she's got balls." I have not found balls and courage to be synonomous.

[RainDog]

88. wyrd

the past and future play with our fates. so says Beowulf.

[Sentath]

89. pled

pleaded is such lazy BS

[Sentath]

90. I'm kicking

Till someone adds to the list, I refuse to have killed this thread.

[Westegg]

91. "Thence," and "Gloriosky, Zero!"

[Unvanguard]

92. "usward"

Like "downward" or "upward": toward us.

Edit: Also, "thrice."

[Blue_Tires]

93. Right-On!

i'm not of that generation, but i use it now...

[underpants]

94. nipplelicious

[Tommy_Carcetti]

95. Yonder

As in, "Way down yonder in the holler"

[BlueJazz]

96. Tarry: To pause or wait. "We'll tarry here for awhile.