Words you don't hear much anymore.

[hugo_sam]

copper - as in police officer. not the shortened 'cop'

 

[Stella_Omega]

copper - as in police officer. not the shortened 'cop'

Did you read "The Milagro Beanfield War"?
someone's kid sings out;
"What are pennies made of? DIRTY COPPER!"

 

[Liar]

I don't often hear the word "Jew", used as a verb, nowadays.

Never heard of that. How is it used, gramatically? The same was as "to gay things up"?

 

[matriarch]

So many of these words depend on culture, place and environment. You here them in common usage in some places, rarely in others.

'tis the way of language.

~Senior Auntie~

~Hobbitland~

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Guerilla


Everyone is either a terrorist, a rebel or an insurgent these days. Some of them are clearly terrorists, as in people who attack civilian targets to inflict terror. But are there no guerillas anymore? They were big in the 80's and the early 90's.

Is this because nobody use the traditional guerilla tactics, or because the word was inconvenient when trying to demonize the enemy?

In purely Military parlance, most terrorist tactics are not guerilla tactics. Cuerilla tacts usually assume two traditional military forces, where one is predominant due to numbers or technology or both.

Terrorists tacts, IE randome bombing of or killing of civilians are not guerilla tactics.

An insurgency, may or may not conform. Really depends on the insurgency, how it is organized and how it fights.

You probably see the word used less often, because guerilla warfare is an accepted tactical way of engageing in asymetric warfare. It presupposes your oppostion is organized into at least a good semblence of a military force. As such, calling an enemy guerillas, confers upon them a legitimacy as a fighting force.

 

[Liar]

You probably see the word used less often, because guerilla warfare is an accepted tactical way of engageing in asymetric warfare. It presupposes your oppostion is organized into at least a good semblence of a military force. As such, calling an enemy guerillas, confers upon them a legitimacy as a fighting force.

Yes, but whatever the precise definition of the word is, groups that were called guerillas in the 90's, like the Tamils in Sri Lanka, are called other things today. Did they change tactics and structure, or did the world change rhetorics?

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Yes, but whatever the precise definition of the word is, groups that were called guerillas in the 90's, like the Tamils in Sri Lanka, are called other things today. Did they change tactics and structure, or did the world change rhetorics?

Last time I saw anything on the tigers they were still referred to as a gureilla army. Granted, it's been a while. Granted too, it was probably in some rather obscure, esoteric military publication.

I'm not a linguistic scholar, but along about 1970, the United States's Studies and Observation Group, comonly reffered to as SOG, began mounting a campaign in Vietnam to "out gureilla the guerillas". Several nations sent "observers" which were organized into highly deadly and successful counter gureilla forces. I believe there were some British SAS men, some austrailian special forces, a contingent of ROK marines, etc. as well as US Green Berets, Army rangers, Navy frogmen and marine Corps LRRPS.

After that conflict, guerilla tactics became a study course for several US and foerign Military forces. It's basically nothing more complex than small unit tactics with accompanying courses in operations behind enemy lines and programs to rcruit and train indiginous populations.

Point is, when the major military forces began to adopt, refine and study Guerilla tactics for application in the field, legitimacy was conferred upon the tactics and the doctrine. After a while, that legitimacy began to be conferred upon anyone called a guerilla force. At that point, it became expedient to find a less legit tag for the various insurrections going on around the globe.

I think, when people realized this, they began looking for less "legit" tags, such as insurgent, terroist, et al. Also, with the codefying of the doctrine, a lot of movements cases to be legitimate guerilla forces, even thoughthey employed some guerilla tactics.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Exactly. Remember the foundation and failing of language. Language is created by illiterate people. For the spoken word, that's okay. For the written word....well.....that's another thing completely.

What a very good point you have there. Much obliged for it.

I, too, miss "fervent." But possibly my favorite of all words is "redolent." Ahhh.

Shanglan

 

[NoJo]

Never heard of that. How is it used, gramatically? The same was as "to gay things up"?

It means to rip off.

 

[kendo1]

Still use it up here!
On the west coast, but they're crazy over there.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Hey man, if everyone went back to playing Atari's, the world would be a better place. 4 bit graphics and cheap midi's and sound effects...what more should we ask for?

*crosses self*

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Words I don't hear anymore:

Jeff, you look so slim.

Jeff, you look so young.

Jeff, I want you.

LOL!

 

[rgraham666]

Wankel rotary engine.

Disestablishmentarianism.

 

[Guest]

 

[logophile]

Wankel rotary engine.

Disestablishmentarianism.

I love disestablishmentarianism. I used to throw that one around in high school!

And to Jammies - ottoman is good.
I also love antimacassar. Like a giant doilie for the back of your sofa...

 

[lucky-E-leven]

soliloquy

 

[logophile]

soliloquy

My goodness, you're really pulling out all the stops tonight!

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Sickle Cell.

That popped into my mind because I was listening to some old Richard Pryor stuff today. It's from one of his jokes.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I also love antimacassar. Like a giant doilie for the back of your sofa...

Although slightly less delightful when one realizes that macassar was hair oil and an antimacassar a thing to keep the guests from dripping on the furniture.

"Whiteboyism." We laughed our way through a few hours looking up bizarre words in a friend's OED, and that one stuck with me.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Solace.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Solace.

Tranquility

 

[BlackShanglan]

Tranquility

Exquisite.

Riposte.

 

[Unsung Muse]

bowdlerize

 

[BlackShanglan]

bowdlerize

To be fair, Bowdler has been dead for more than a century. Perhaps it's time to let the poor man rest.

 

[Unsung Muse]

To be fair, Bowdler has been dead for more than a century. Perhaps it's time to let the poor man rest.

True! You sure don't hear it much anymore though...
definitely wasn't attempting to put it 'back' into use <lol>