Archaic words are making a comeback, thanks to hipsters' love of all things old. The Washington Post's wonkblog has an article examining how hipsters may be bringing back vintage language, and the effects it is having on modern culture. This may be a passing fad, as hipsters themselves are now making jokes about bespoke water; if they're not careful the charming anachronism may go mainstream and become unfit for hipster irony.
BTW, this submission was inspired by a comment thread here about craft/artisanal beers. Apparently, the old words are not just re-entering the hipsters' language but getting co-opted by marketers hoping to woo the hipster pocketbook. Some linguistic shift may result.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday October 30 2015, @12:33PM
However, the examples cited are not vintage words, they are all in my active vocabulary, and used fairly regularly. ("whilst", "amongst"??!?!? I use those every freaking day!) Perhaps language education standards have slipped in the last few decades, and these people think they're special just because they're better than their peers.
The vintage word that I do my best to keep alive is "yclept", and that is indeed marked "Arch." in the dictionary.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 30 2015, @01:34PM
That's a good one, as in, "a user 'yclept' FatPhil."
My favorite, thanks to H.P. Lovecraft, is "croodle."
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday October 30 2015, @02:21PM
It could be because you've been alive since those words were commonly used : P
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday October 30 2015, @03:10PM
However, I'll add that in the UK, most of the example words are not considered unusual at all, it's not just me. Imagine if there was an article in The Reg about this - how the UK Hipster scene was starting to use archaic terms like "fall" (rather than "autumn"). Americans would rightly laugh their balls off at such silliness.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 30 2015, @10:41PM
That meaning of "fall" has, for as long as I can remember, been in common use in America. Examples:
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/fall-fashion/ [cosmopolitan.com]
http://www.vogue.com/12680368/top-trends-fall-2015-fashion-shows/ [vogue.com]
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/hair/g5455/fall-2015-hair-trends/ [harpersbazaar.com]
http://www.elle.com/fashion/trend-reports/news/g26017/the-complete-fall-2015-trend-guide/ [elle.com]
http://www.registrar.psu.edu/academic_calendar/Fall15.cfm [psu.edu]
"Bespoke" I just became aware of perhaps five years ago. In proletarian circles, we would often say "tailor-made", "custom-made" or just "custom"; to tart up an automobile is to "customize" it:
http://selvedgeyard.com/2009/11/22/ultimate-rock-n-roll-on-wheels-the-1970s-van-customization-craze/ [selvedgeyard.com]
http://mrkustom.com/blog/get-your-custom-led-door-projector/ [mrkustom.com]