New words for old things

[MerryMarigold]

I've just been looking at swimwear and spotted the 'monokini' on quite a few sites, which is .... wait for it....a swimsuit.

I mean... why? Is it supposed to sound more glamorous?

Any other new, irritating words to describe something which has had a perfectly good name for a long time?

Style this makes me 🙄
How would you style this skirt? = What top goes with this skirt?

This drives me bonkers, it's swap OVER or just swap!

Yes. I think you are missing the joke.

"Let's cheers to that"

NO, it's let's TOAST to that !

Not quite the same thing, but I wince when politicians/broadcasters/journalists use a fancier word rather than a straightforward one - and end up saying something they presumably didn't intend.
For example, in the UK a fulsome apology is not the same as a full apology.
And reticent does not mean reluctant. ("X was reticent to come forward..." Ugh.)

Someone mentioned on another thread earlier having an ‘appliance garage’ in their kitchen. I had to Google it.

It means a cupboard you keep the toaster in. Turns out I have had an ‘appliance garage’ for years and didn’t know!

Over priced Tshirts are called shirts by the young uns now🙄

A curated ear always makes me laugh, err no, don't you mean multiple piercings? 🙄

When did people start "watching on" from the sidelines, or "continuing on" with something?
How did we oldies manage by just "watching" or "continuing" with things?

Lenses
Gifted
Wild swimming

Eugh

Non alcoholic hard seltzer aka fizzy pop

A "staycation" used to mean taking time off work but staying at home in order to get jobs done around the house and garden, such as painting & decorating, laying a patio etc.

It seems recently that "staycation" has changed its meaning to a holiday away from home that is not taken abroad. That used simply to be called "a holiday". Going abroad for a holiday used to be called "a foreign holiday".

It's interesting to see how language changes and evolves.

It's not just about being asked to do something though. I can't be arsed to get dressed, I can't be arsed to go out tonight, I can't be arsed to go shopping. It means 'can't be bothered' and I think it comes from the idea that you should 'get off your arse and do something'. Only you don't want to get off your arse!

"Swap out" has a precise meaning in IT. It's not a new term, but its meaning and usage has apparently started to overlap with "swap" or ""swap over".
It comes up a lot in Pedants' Corner threads. (I'd never heard it tbf, either in its original meaning, or its new one)

I agree with wild swimming. I have also seen wild camping on here. Wtf is that?

Swimming in a river etc is just....swimming. Why the 'wild'? To make it sound more dangerous? It sounds stupid.

Don't get me started on 'tummy time' or 'sensory play' (and other variations). Ugh.

We used to use staycation to mean using your own home like a hotel base but going out every day of your holiday from work on different day trips!

I don't think that's the reason they do it. It's usually because the manufacturer can't get the product officially endorsed with the Vegan logo because it is made to a vegan recipe but in a factory that handles dairy etc. it's a good way too for allergy sufferers to know it might not be safe for them to eat if there is a possibility of cross contamination.

Do we really think that if we labelled carrots vegan people wouldn't eat them? 😂

Repurpose. I'm going to repurpose this dining chair into a footstool.
No, you're going to turn it into a footstool!

Purpose. I'm just going to purpose this old teapot to grow a dahlia.
No, you're going to use the old teapot to grow a dahlia.

It makes me want to bounce the aforementioned items purposefully off heads.

What amuses me is when the kids come in using them words and each and everytime I answer similar to 'The 80's called, they want their words changed back' and it drives them bananas.

Its like nothing can be simple anymore, everything has to have some kind of further meaning or something.

Wellness = health, doing healthy things. It’s literally the same meaning!!

If someone is on a wellness journey they’re probably eating some vegetables and doing yoga. We don’t need a new word for it!

Townhouse = a house. I have no idea what adding the word town to it is doing. Esp when used with the location eg a Brighton townhouse. Oh so not a house that’s in Brighton but somehow out of town then?

Actually the word monokini has been around since the 1960s, though it’s been applied to a number of bathing costumes including just the bottom part of a bikini. Agreed it’s a pretty pointless word, but it’s not new.

I don't mean that you are literally asked, but that no-one could possibly ask you to do such a thing as you're too tired.

I don't really consider 'arse' a verb, or 'arsed' a word, though I suppose we also have 'arse about'.

In the US, "townhouse" almost universally means what in the UK is generally known as a terraced house. Maybe the US meaning has migrated across the pond?

You can’t say foreign in relation to other countries. Racist. Implies said countries aren’t doing things properly like we do them back home. Or something.

Townhouses have 3 floors. Building upwards as there’s no room in town to spread width wise.

I thought a townhouse was one of those with a garage/kitchen on ground floor, then a living room/bedroom on first floor and remaining bedrooms on top floor? As opposed to teeace that has no integrated garage (we own a Victorian terrace with cellar, two normal floors and converted attic for example)