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I get it and rated it +, but you're right. Of course, it is specific to a person that many younger people may not have had any experience with. It's kind of sad that the lexicon is diminishing in terms of older expressions and so many have to do with history or literature (or both). And so many are just so vivid in analogy. So many give us great insight into culture, especially idiomatic expressions. Can all of that be said of all the 'new' words? I don't know. I do know that many of the 'new' words have to do with technology, maybe dialogue from movies. I know this happens to all languages in all cultures. Anyone have an opinion? I have to think on this.
Another things we've noticed and discussed on the "I can't take it anymore" thread is how some of the younger generation mangles older expressions, especially when they don't seem to understand them. A common one is saying "a hard road to hoe" instead of "a hard row to hoe". They've probably never actually seen or touched a hoe and don't understand that a "row" refers to agriculture. Or "for all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes".
My personal favorite is Pre-Madonna for "prima donna". I just shook my head on that one.
I have a book that my daughter gave me called "Do you speak Retro?" It's about idioms and expressions Americans use that younger people may not understand. In the beginning pages was a good example: "Going postal." It doesn't seem that long ago that the Post Office employee workplace shootings all over the country were making the news, but it was the 1980s. People like my daughter, born in 1991, have heard the expression but have no idea how it started.
And then there are lines people quote from movies and books. When my daughter was a teenager, she came home one day from her boyfriend's house and told me she just watched the funniest movie that her bf's father had in his collection: "Blazing Saddles". She said, "Mom, all my life you've been saying these dumb things, like 'Mongo only pawn in game of life' and I had no idea where you got them from. Now I know."
"Pre-Madonna" - that's a new one for me. Shows how much well known personalities can influence language. Ex. - "borked", a new word in our vocabulary based on what happened during the hearings for Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork.
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Could mean pre-1981. Sounds sooooo much better than pre-Ronnie Reagan.
