Word that are still used despite being technologically inaccurate

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Was ripping some CDs last night and was asked by my housemate what I was doing. I said I was 'taping some CDs', which isn't technically true, but works better than 'ripping' which whilst appropriate in certain contexts, requires explanation to all but the unitiated.

It got me thinking about others; when on an IM, I still say 'speak to you later' even though that isn't true; 'write to you later' doesn't feel right.

Any more out there?

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:02 (twenty-three years ago)

And are there earlier examples from history?

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:03 (twenty-three years ago)

words should be abolished

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Same one really, but minidisc doesn't work as a verb, so I say taping anyway.

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:06 (twenty-three years ago)

You can 'make' tapes, CDs, minidiscs, whatever. I do relish minidiscing things though.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I 'burn' cds (lasers burn!) but some people 'cut' them (do lasers cut?). I don't think I 'make' them though - that sounds like you manufacture the actual disc. 'Recording' a cd sounds like you're making the music yourself and recording it. What about 'copying' or 'duplicating' (is this a problem if you're making more than a second copy?)

― toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I get mildly irritated when someone on television says at the end of their programme "Well, that's it for today...... see you next week"

THEY CAN'T SEE ME!! (can they?)

― C J (C J), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Wireless is a weird one - for years used by grandparents instead of 'radio', it's suddenly been reappropriated by the mobile telecoms industry.

― Madchen, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Radios are radios except on the final day of the English football season when they morph into 'transistor radios' which are listened to intently by the watching masses, apparently.

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:30 (twenty-three years ago)

The way I use the noun 'record' to describe CDs, songs on the radio etc bugs my girlfriend.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:56 (twenty-three years ago)

B-but Eyeball all those things are records aren't they? That's the opposite, a word which is falling out of use despite being techn(olog)ically accurate.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:01 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate it when people say 'such and such has just released a new CD'. It makes my SKIN CRAWL.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the majority of IT people use "bandwidth" inaccurately. But no one agrees with me.

― Sam (chirombo), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:30 (twenty-three years ago)

A blind man once said "Auf Wiedersehen!" to me as he left the elevator we were in. DO YOU SEE!? 'cause he didn't.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Dial and ring are still used, even though I haven't seen a telephone dial since the late 1980s and phones buzz and chirrup. Not technological, but sunrise is also not strictly accurate.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Presumably he should have said Aufwiederhören, but maybe he was also deaf.

― C J (C J), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Also the phrase "give me a bell" dates back to the days when the only communication between neighbouring villages was via church bells. Happily we have now invented the horse and the carrier pigeon.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:47 (twenty-three years ago)

i always refer to the 'pooters here at work as machines as if they were full of cogs and pulleys. maybe they are. powered by mice.

andy

― koogs, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Breadcrumbs and butterbeans!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:50 (twenty-three years ago)

HOOVER.

― Steve.n., Wednesday, 23 October 2002 11:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, to reiterate what Tim said - I don't understand why people think you can't use 'record' regardless of the medium.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 11:24 (twenty-three years ago)

(The Love Song of J. Edgar) 'Hoover' is a brand name that is used generically. And besides, what do _you_ use to clean your carpets with? I still use a vacuum cleaner, but is this too passe for words these days?

Hurrah for the MouseOrgan! We will fix it, we will clean it... Heave! Heave!

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 11:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Yay! Fan of Richard Kinky 'Big Dick' Friedman in the house.

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:25 (twenty-three years ago)

B-but Eyeball all those things are records aren't they? That's the opposite, a word which is falling out of use despite being techn(olog)ically accurate.

Well, that's what I say to her. But I think she has a point. Doesn't 'record' specifically mean vinyl, even if other formats are 'records' (truncation of 'recordings')? Isn't a bit like calling a 7 inch single a 'compact disc'? I have no idea, really. I have a feeling that people who are more than averagely into music use 'record' like I do, while the rest of society talks about buying CDs. This might be nonsense too.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:40 (twenty-three years ago)

rest of society?

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:43 (twenty-three years ago)

also, how did mate come to mean a friend rather than someone you have intercourse i.e. mate with?

― blueski, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:45 (twenty-three years ago)

One set includes people who are more concerned with music than the average person.

This creates by default another set, which contains those not included in the first. I have handily dubbed this second set 'the rest of society'.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Such people have excluded themselves from society surely? Is not the highest - indeed only - form of human interaction at least a bit about ILM?

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:49 (twenty-three years ago)

This is ILE. You should watch what you're saying.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Ulp yes we are renegades.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:52 (twenty-three years ago)

we're renegades?? In which case: I SAY WE ATTACK NOW!

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 12:58 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.ukcollectibles.co.uk/Images/now300699.jpg

Maybe I agree.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I was sewing a...

― Sofa King Alternative (Sofa King Alternative), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:58 (twenty-three years ago)

(oops)
...no you weren't, a machine was

― Sofa King Alternative (Sofa King Alternative), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Almost no one ever used 'records' to include cassettes either. I find that if I say that I have thousands of albums people assume I mean vinyl. How do I say this so that most people understand? Albums and singles seems a very good distinction (despite the blurring), so how else do I say this without specifying the format?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 19:11 (twenty-three years ago)

I say:

"I have a lot of music." - Includes lots of CDs and MP3s, could be confusing (sheet music?) but come on, really.

"They released a new album." - Everyone knows that means "group of recordings" these days... available on a variety of formats. Also works for "The new *** album is great," I think.

― Stuart, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 19:53 (twenty-three years ago)

"steam radio" - used to refer to old-time (Light Programme / Home Service) radio because of the general use of the word "steam" to evoke anything old-fashioned, and not because of how radio used to be transmitted!

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Thursday, 24 October 2002 02:56 (twenty-three years ago)

The turn pike: They got rid of those big logs blocking the roads a while ago. Now the just have yellow striped rods, and they are turned mechanically.

― A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 24 October 2002 03:07 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm guessing the verb 'to film' is becoming more and more outdated. friends of mine in college would freak out if people used this term when they were using videotape.

something that drives me nuts is 'log on to our web site' when it's used in regard to web sites that don't require registration.

people in my office use 'how's your bandwidth' as shorthand for 'what's your workload like' and it still doesn't sit quite right with me.

― maura (maura), Thursday, 24 October 2002 03:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Also visit our website....seems wrong to me. Look at is fine though

― Sofa King Alternative (Sofa King Alternative), Thursday, 24 October 2002 10:45 (twenty-three years ago)

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