Times are changing, and language is also changing day by day. People’s attention is always focused on the endless new vocabulary, but often ignore the old sayings engraved with historical imprints. Come to think of it, whenever we sit in a car and ask someone to “wind up” the window, we’re actually asking them to simply push an electronic button. In today’s cars, electronically controlled windows have long replaced the manual crank handle; however, the idea of ”rolling” the glass window down and “rolling” up has always been on people’s lips. So, did the progress of the times change the connotation of language, or did the language of the past preserve the imprint of history?
In fact, we use such language every day, and the actual meaning is very different from its original meaning, such as “dashboard” ① (car dashboard), “paraphernalia” ② (carry equipment) and “tenterhooks” ③ ) such vocabulary. Interestingly, these words that are “frequently used” in daily life often have nothing to do with today’s original meaning. The reason, we do not know, that is the question given to us by history. However, the example of “rolling the window” is a completely different situation. These old words that stay in people’s lives have been put on new clothes of the times with the passage of time, but they have not changed their appearance, so that the old people remember the old times, and the new people experience the new era. If the post-80s are asked by a child “what is the B-side (the back of the tape)”, will they also sigh that time flies and youth passes by?
Vinyl records, sound grooves, DJs and more
If you’ve ever screamed at the Beatles for their rock and roll passion during their hottest days, then vinyl records should be no stranger to you. However, vinyl records once “sparkled” in the era, but you don’t necessarily have a clear concept. For the previous generation, vinyl records (LP Records), like TV sets, were a new thing that changed people’s lives, and it was amazing. This vinyl-based record appeared in the 1950s and became a must-buy item in the 1960s and 1970s. However, with the advent of CDs, vinyl records gradually disappeared by the mid-1980s, leaving only a small number of collectors or lovers of lo-fi music. But while the vinyl record faded from the stage of life, the language about it remained. For someone who is chattering and chattering, people say “sounding like a broken record”; for someone who sticks to the rules, people say “stuck in a groove” ) and so on, it is still in use today.
The emergence of CDs replaced the records of the past. However, the single-sided disc initially made people uncomfortable. Once upon a time, even the most backward vinyl records had a front and back (A-side/B-side), whereas CDs only had one side. Back then, labels, entertainment companies, and artists were used to putting potential hits on the A-side; DJs tended to have their own way when it came time to play. They would choose the more niche B-side to broadcast, and for this reason, even The Righteous Brothers, which was a smash hit in the United States at the time, sang for the film “Ghost Love”. The single “Unchained Melody” often didn’t get a chance on the radio, so it just climbed to the bottom of the charts. With the passage of time, “flipside” for records has long ceased to exist, but in today’s various software, it is still frequently used by people. Similarly, today’s “DJ” is no longer the “DJ” of the past: it used to refer to the disc jockey on the radio, and now it refers more to the pop music presenter on the radio.
Perhaps for the previous generation, in their 20s, records must be a precious collection. The emotions in the beautiful time are imprinted in the fine lines of the record. At the end of the 1970s, when the record gradually became lonely, the British Police Band once had a hit single “Can’t Stand Losing You” (Can’t Stand Losing You), the lead singer Sting’s singing revealed a touch of sadness: “I see you’ve sent my letters back / And my records and they’re all scratched.” (You returned all my letters / And those old scratched records.) Even in 2011, Australian singer Gotye (Gaultier)’s lead single The song “Somebody That I Used to Know” also sings this memory of the old days: “You didn’t have to stoop so low / Have your friends collect your records and then change your number.” ( No need to be sad / no need to let friends take those old records / no need to change phone numbers.)
For someone born in the ’85s, “packing records” when packing may sound foreign. In today’s information age where digital files are flying at the speed of light, the post-85s generation may be more familiar with “Store music downloads in the Cloud account”. However, the beauty in the memory carried by “an old record” is forever engraved in the language.
TV, movies, computers?
Perhaps the most used phrase in the 1930s and 1940s when parents warned their children to watch less TV was “Getting square eyes”. Since Baird, the inventor of television, demonstrated the broadcasting and reception of television to the world for the first time in 1926, for more than 40 years, the television screen has been approximately square, and the length and width are not much different. Over the years, parents have given such admonitions to their TV-obsessed children. Interestingly, such admonitions are still used to this day, seemingly oblivious to the fact that today’s televisions have evolved into rectangles, not the squares of earlier days. In 1985, Japan’s Sony Corporation’s high-definition TV began a trial broadcast: the new TV screen has as many as 1125 scan lines, and the image quality has been improved by 100%; the screen aspect ratio has been changed from the traditional 9:12 to 9:16, enhancing the the viewer’s sense of presence. Widescreen TVs have gradually replaced the traditional screen that was once boxy.
While the TV screen is quietly changing, the movie screen has also undergone a change. Traditional movie screens use crystal lens screens made of silver, but today’s screens have long been the protagonists of high-tech materials. But despite this, the word “silver screen” is still the spoken word, even the American entertainment media giant “Variety” is no exception, still using “silver screen” to refer to the screen, the traditional The big screen seems to have never been forgotten in people’s hearts.
The screen has been updated and the language has remained the same. Today, things like VCRs and videotapes have relegated to memory, but people still say “I’ve recorded the show”. “Film” used to refer exclusively to films played in the form of film on the big screen in cinemas, emphasizing its broadcast channel and medium; but today, many TV channels (channels) call themselves “movie channels” and broadcast all day long. Produce films and broadcast digital video through television, presenting “movies” that were once only available on cinema screens. In today’s Internet era, “movies” no longer have to be watched in theaters. There are a lot of resources on the Internet that people can download at will. With just a click of the mouse, trendy blockbusters will be collected.
Hanging up the phone, plugging in the disk to
talk unpleasantly, causing the other party to be furious, and then “slamming the phone down”, or “hanging up right in my ear”… If you have experienced it, it may sound a little nostalgic. Today, people still use this expression, but they are unaware that the old “phone” has evolved into a “mobile phone”, the so-called “hang up the phone” and “don’t hang up the phone” ( hang on) has long since lost its practical significance. Similarly, “dial the number” is no longer in line with today’s reality, because the word “dial” originally means “turntable”, and the so-called “dial the number” refers to putting your finger in the groove of the dial. Arc rotary dial.
Whenever a girl expects her beloved to call her, she always describes herself as “waiting by the phone” (stands by the phone), and picks up the handset from time to time to check whether the line is smooth. Do you remember such days? Although the use of landline phones in the home has become increasingly rare, such a statement still hangs on the lips. Everyone has a mobile phone today. In fact, there is no “keeping the phone in hand” for a long time. There is only “keeping the phone in hand”.
The rapid development of computer technology has also made the once-familiar modem “di-di” dialing a thing of the past. There are, however, some elements that, although gone, still leave their indelible mark today. You can open the word processor Word and observe the third icon from the left, which is a pattern of a 3.5-inch disk (floppies), which means “save”. The icon has never changed, but the disk that was once disappeared today. Similarly, when the system is busy, the mouse will turn into a glass bottle hourglass pattern (hourglass), which means “waiting”. People are accustomed to it, but they have never thought about such a timing tool as an hourglass, which has long become a historical relic.
To send an email (E-mail), there are always two options, one “cc” (carbon copy; carbon copy), and the other “bcc” (blind carbon copy; blind carbon copy), which is one of the old typists. terms used between. In the past, typists used a typewriter to type on paper. If they needed to send the document to another person other than the target person at the same time, they needed to make another copy, which was called “copy”. The carbon paper used, the raw material It is mainly carbon, so the whole process is called “carbon copy”, or cc for short. If the file needs to be BCC, the content of the copy should be hidden in the form of a password, so that the entire file is in a “blind” (blind) state to ensure the confidentiality of the content. So the whole action is also called “blind carbon copy”, or bcc for short.
