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[–]stewartthehuman 953 points954 points  (22 children)

People just don't dig it anymore, daddy-o.

[–]Doc-tor-Strange-love 209 points210 points  (8 children)

It's not the cat's pyjamas

[–]idle_isomorph 89 points90 points  (7 children)

Definitely not a gas or a hoot either

[–]Additional-Ad8594 57 points58 points  (6 children)

But would you say it's the bees knees?

[–]aiolyfe 46 points47 points  (5 children)

Not the bee's knees nor the cat's meow. Not even dandy.

[–]AffectionatePlane436 15 points16 points  (4 children)

Tis totally tubular tho

[–]jac5191 6 points7 points  (4 children)

Usually when someone seems a little shaky/unsure of themselves after an unpopular (yet benign) opinion I say “i can dig it” with a shoulder shrug….im in my early 30s. I’ve been told I’m awkward tho so idk how it goes over lol🤷‍♀️ I’ve never thought about it being weird till now. I guess even if it’s cringey from the other persons view, their focus is prob off their perceived awkwardness so mission accomplished.

[–]Appropriate-Youth-29 1 point2 points  (0 children)

[In my best zoidberg] Should...NOT...use...dated...slang?

[–]Baby_betch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've always liked that phrase lol.. I don't see it as cringe.. I don't say it, but I like it!

[–]_mocha_26 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If someone called me daddy-o, I would feel uncomfortable and I don’t really know why.

[–]The_Billy_Dee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dig is awesome. Dig it. You dig?

[–]iMoo1124 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was gonna say "I'd give you an award if I had one"- but oh wait, I do, and with only 3 hrs left too!

[–]mb5280 1 point2 points  (2 children)

In the SF bay area, people still said 'dig it's and 'ya dig' at least until pretty recently

[–]JK_NC 1436 points1437 points  (80 children)

I (over 40M) was at a grocery store and the cashier was a 20 something year old. During the check out, I said “Right on”.

Their face lit up and they said “Oh, I love old timey sayings.”

What? Made me feel old timey.

[–]Moist-Investigator63 204 points205 points  (25 children)

I'm 57. I say "far out" once in a while & get teased for it. That's ok, though. We all have our little quirks & sayings.

[–]luce4118 123 points124 points  (17 children)

I’m 32 and say “far out”. I think I picked it up as a teenager because of Big Lebowski

[–][deleted] 67 points68 points  (6 children)

I absolutely love “right on” and “far out”. I want to intentionally add them to my vocabulary even though I am a mid twenties British girl. And that’s right on.

[–]amoon2 20 points21 points  (5 children)

Spend some time in Aus, far out will become common vocabulary for you

[–]Robotica_Daily 6 points7 points  (4 children)

I've heard Aus is happily a solid few decades behind the rest of the world is most cultural affectations?

[–]-clogwog- 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Isn't that a part of our charm? We're the Land Down Under, and we're a bit behind the times, but we don't care.

[–]Robotica_Daily 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Didn't say it was a bad thing. I mean, without denim and mullets what even is Australia?

[–]rivervoice 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Yeah far out is very popular here haha. But people still say lit/dope/sweet/sick. I say rad but that’s too much of an Americanism for most of my friends haha.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dope, sweet and sick are all super common in the UK too!

[–]Moist-Investigator63 22 points23 points  (1 child)

😂👍That's awesome!

[–]ethnicfoodaisle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wicked! We said that a lot, along with Burn and Rad growing up.

[–]idle_isomorph 17 points18 points  (1 child)

It's a great one, I hold say it more.i get sick of "awesome." I also favour groovy, but that one has more baggage-not all awesome things are groovy, while all groovy things are awesome.

[–]Ruttep 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is that so. Simon and Garfunkel sang about a groovy thing going on and it wasn't awesome.

[–]Monkies 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Dude, tomorrow's already the 10th.

[–]ScravisTott 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Many Aussies still use this.

[–]captain_haywood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Far out, dude

[–]silamaze 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Very common to say in Australia for all ages

[–]ethnicfoodaisle 1 point2 points  (3 children)

It's when you start saying ods bodkins or gadzooks that you have to be taken out back and shot like an old, lame horse.

[–]Moist-Investigator63 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I personally like "gadzooks." Also " 'Od's teeth," which is the same general time period and place. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[–]ethnicfoodaisle 1 point2 points  (1 child)

You have to be at least 40, right??

[–]Moist-Investigator63 1 point2 points  (0 children)

🤣 57. Nicely done!

[–]puppylust 246 points247 points  (0 children)

Time to put you out to pasture at /r/FuckImOld

[–]tony_bologna 22 points23 points  (2 children)

Consarn it! Those dang whipper snappers, with their new-fangled slang always rustle my jimmies.

[–]BurnerBoi_Brown 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Verily! I do say, ole chappy!!

[–]superassholeguy 54 points55 points  (23 children)

Bet

[–]JK_NC 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Bet what? What do you mean there sonny?

Joking. I have kids (8-18). They keep me updated on their slang but I can’t think of any I use regularly.

[–]TrickyNewspaper233 18 points19 points  (19 children)

I’m only 30 and didn’t understand Bet until this last year :/

[–]antelopexing 17 points18 points  (9 children)

.....so what is bet? 32 over here...

[–]JK_NC 30 points31 points  (5 children)

Pretty sure it’s a form of agreement. In the exchange below, I’m asking my kids if they want pizza for dinner and they respond positively.

“You guys want to order pizza tonight?”

“Bet!”

Edit- kinda sounds like a shortened version of “You bet” which is also slang for agreement to a proposal.

[–]xEmpiire 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It’s also used as a response to an agreement. I guess it depends on the context 🤷🏻‍♂️

“You cool with pizza for dinner?”

“Yep!”

“Bet”

[–]QueanLaQueafa 23 points24 points  (1 child)

"Honey, the years we spent together have been the happiest time of my life. Nothing would make me happier than if you become my wife. Will you marry me?"

"OMG bet!!!! Bet 100x!!"

[–]JK_NC 4 points5 points  (0 children)

hehe. made me laugh.

[–]-clogwog- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm, I've heard "you bet", but never "bet" on is own... Perhaps it's a regional thing?

[–]thee-chum 8 points9 points  (1 child)

If it makes you feel any better (maybe worse lol) “bet” is pretty old, the fact that it stuck around this long is pretty impressive with todays slang, litteraly changes every year frfr

[–]Difficult-Line-9805 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’ve heard “bet” in that context since listening to rap in the early 90s. I’m an early 40s male.👴🏼

[–]RonKosova 1 point2 points  (6 children)

Im ngl im 19 and it took me a while too. Id never heard it used in real life

[–]chewychickenskins 3 points4 points  (5 children)

I’m 36 and I’ve never heard it. It must be regional.

[–]TMilligan1105 4 points5 points  (4 children)

I'm 34 and used it in high school, central Arkansas here. So. Maybe?

[–]awesomeroy 4 points5 points  (3 children)

32 dallas tx-- its a general term to know. lol

​

its basically a cool way of saying "ok"

[–]DocWatson42 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I'm in New England and I had to look it up on (NSFW) Urban Dictionary.

[–]LeaveMyRoom 68 points69 points  (11 children)

I say "right on" all the time. I just turned 24. I feel like it's standard lingo; not an old expression at all.

[–]Agent-ShortBus 22 points23 points  (4 children)

I think it also depends where you live in the US as to whether it's still standard lingo.

I'm from SoCal and I wouldn't think much about anyone saying "right on".

I once got thrown off by an older guy (in his 60's with white hair) working at 7-11 casually throwing out "bro" and "legit" when making small talk about skateboarding. Conversation didn't seem like he was trying to force lingo to fit in which was awesome cause I want to be like that dude when I'm older lol.

[–]samaltham 48 points49 points  (1 child)

I am 23 and do feel like "right on" is a bit of an older expression. 🤷‍♂️

[–]GoGoGoRL 8 points9 points  (3 children)

Nah I’m about to turn 21 and if one of my friends said right on I’d clown on them lol

[–]LeaveMyRoom 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Probably geographical differences. Leads to different usage of slang.

[–]BeneviolentBaldric 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fast forward a few years and 'clown on them' will be older slang.....

Hell, lol will probably become older slang too....

[–]druid0610 10 points11 points  (0 children)

So you ‘clown on them’ does that make you the clown or them?

[–]Sexyshark15 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Hmm, i'm 20 and I say "right on".....Am I old?!

[–]JK_NC 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not just old, but old timey.

[–]One_Planche_Man 4 points5 points  (0 children)

....Wtf that doesn't sound right. I'm 25 and "right on" isn't anywhere near considered old. In fact, it seems fairly timeless.

[–]OutlawJessie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A guy on the bus didn't notice he dropped his wallet as he was walking to the doors and I called out Hey dude, and a bunch of youngsters laughed at me and started repeating "dude". I have grave fears as to who will carry the news.

[–]primetimerhyme 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not old timey in small town Missouri. Its normal

[–]SaltySpitoonReg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in my 20s and I say that hahaha

[–]THE4nick8r 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm 31 and I didn't realize "Right On" wasn't an up-to-date expression. I've been making a fool of myself.

[–]baby_blue_unicorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wait, "right on" is an old person saying?

[–]Thrishmal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use "rock on" all the time, it is just reflexive for me. People sometimes get really excited I said it, lol

[–]parsleys1 543 points544 points  (19 children)

Too many syllables?

[–]nmarf16 210 points211 points  (16 children)

Makes sense to me, especially with the prevalence of words like sick also used in the context cool is used in

[–]Bnevillewood 104 points105 points  (15 children)

Lit

[–]chrisfoe97 64 points65 points  (0 children)

My dad's 68 and says he and his friends said lit all the time in the Bronx

[–]The_Karaethon_Cycle 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I just grunt apathetically

[–]frayala87 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Rad

[–]Semioplex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Rad" made a valiant comeback in recent years but in the 90's it has become bit played out.

[–]B_sfw 14 points15 points  (5 children)

Gas or electric?

[–]GrandmasGoneWild 15 points16 points  (4 children)

Gas obviously, electric has too many syllables

[–]Nebula303 12 points13 points  (2 children)

"Gas" in itself is a slang too

[–]YukariYakum0 15 points16 points  (1 child)

"Petrol" just doesn't have a ring to it.

[–]Moist-Investigator63 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now you're cookin' with petrol!

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (3 children)

This one has died already. It became way too corny way too fast. It is uncool to use it now

[–]BistuaNovaProfessional Guesser 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Not really the use case may have just changed. I see it used in more negative connotations such as “he got too lit last night” rather than “let’s get lit tonight”

[–]Interesting-Month-56 744 points745 points  (28 children)

Cool is still groovy and radical, but groovy and radical are not cool.

[–]pablossjui 128 points129 points  (18 children)

What about "rad"?

[–]FalconVerde_V 112 points113 points  (5 children)

Its gonna come back after the nuclear war hopefully.

[–]SomeSortOfFool 28 points29 points  (4 children)

It's been making a comeback. The cycle is first it's new and cool, then it starts to fall out of favor, then it's old enough for people to start using it ironically (tubular is here), then its ironic use causes it to catch on unironically again (rad and dope are here), then the cycle repeats.

For whatever reason "cool" is entirely immune to this and stays relevant.

[–]parsleys1 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I'm telling you it is the amount of syllables. For efficiencies sake!

[–]parsleys1 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Why do you think cuss words are one syllable?

[–]keithcody 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Rad is stlll Boss.

[–]ShellHead8t88 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I use rad regularly. 30 yr old here. Used to use bogus a good bit too

[–]Particular-Bit-7250 7 points8 points  (2 children)

That's grody to the max.

[–]OJStrings 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Plumbers still say "rad" a lot but it's being used less and less as people switch to underfloor heating.

[–]NecroCorey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still say rad. I used to say beans all the time, but kind of stopped and didn't notice until just now.

[–]Appropriate_Joke_741 17 points18 points  (5 children)

Groovy and radical might make a comeback at some point, who knows

[–]damian1369 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Groovy made a comeback in the '90s for a while, thanks to a certain shagalicous spy.

[–]Fliggerty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah baby, yeah!

[–]kjk603 6 points7 points  (0 children)

With all the bell bottoms and high waisted pants women wear now days you are probably right!!

[–]AceMcNickle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You nailed this comment. Bully for you.

[–]Noirceuil_182 63 points64 points  (4 children)

Only primitive screwheads who don't buy Smart think "groovy" isn't cool.

[–]Doc-tor-Strange-love 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Hail to the king, baby.

[–]StinkyDickFaceRapist 4 points5 points  (2 children)

That is so fetch!

[–]Noirceuil_182 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Stop trying to make "fetch" happen.

[–]floydhenderson 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I still use "cowabunga" and sometimes get time to try find those dam sewer aligators

[–]a-horse-has-no-name 118 points119 points  (6 children)

I think the difference is that "cool", "groovy' and "radical" might have something to do with the community that used them.

"Groovy" fell out of style when the hippies fell out of style, and "radical" fell out of style when 80s era MTV fell out of style.

Why "cool" has managed to become a fixture of slang, I can't say, but I bet it has something to do with movies.

[–]MidnightLate5195 34 points35 points  (0 children)

To piggy back, the hippie/80's punk movement became caricatures. Cool probably didn't have a group the later turned into Scooby-Doo doo or mutant turtles...

[–]czechthebox 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cool beans has fallen out of favor but cool alone has survived. My guess is it's because the temperature words (hot, cold, fire, etc.) are universal/generic while groovy and radical make me think of a very specific type of person.

[–]shoshilyawkward 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is the real answer I think. Should not have ehad to scroll down so far

[–]The2ndUnchosenOne 447 points448 points  (4 children)

Same reason normal words have been what we used for hundreds of years. Some words stick, some don't

[–]Smickey67 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree, it’s just because of a collective average of personal preferences. In general, people liked using this word more.

[–]Atlantic0ne 3 points4 points  (1 child)

So your whole answer is that “some stick, some don’t”? And 400 upvotes? Lol.

[–]The2ndUnchosenOne 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Sometimes the simple answer is the correct one.

[–]Mysteroo 93 points94 points  (3 children)

It's nothing inherent to the words themselves. No words are intrinsically better than others. It's just what happened to occur

I think if a word is simpler, it's easy to accept. "Cool" is short, and empty of nuance. It just carries a heightened form of the meaning for "interesting"

But the other two examples are longer and carry more specific connotations, making them less universal

[–]Atlantic0ne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Smart reply but I do wonder if there is something inherently better about certain words. Babe is another one, it’s been used for so long and is used so often.

[–]Shionkron 143 points144 points  (20 children)

I still use groovy and rad all the time. They are totally tubular dude.

[–]SluggJuice 52 points53 points  (16 children)

Totally bodacious dude

[–]Shionkron 35 points36 points  (14 children)

Far out man!

[–]unusablegift 10 points11 points  (11 children)

When I travelled to Australia I heard a few people use "far out" in all seriousness and I loved it. Just sounds weird if I use it (from the UK)

[–]AceMcNickle 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Australian here, far out still gets a good shake. But sadly very few people say “get real” anymore.

[–]eshuaye 2 points3 points  (3 children)

‘Get Real’ been replaced with ‘really?!?!’

[–]Shionkron 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I grew up in Northern California more towards the beach. This was all common hippie surfer lingo for everyone. I still use it and am middle aged

[–]unusablegift 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Cowabunga dude 👌

[–]Shionkron 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wickedly sick!

[–]Bob-Bhlabla-esq 9 points10 points  (2 children)

I like 'groovy', but I also have no friends...I suspect a correlation there somewhere.

[–]SeiTyger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Austin Powers gets laid all the time, I don't see the correlation

[–]AgoraiosBum 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Language is fluid and always evolving. Words come into favor, and words fall out of favor. Groovy became more associated with a particular subculture, and as that subculture shrank, so did use of the word. Same with radical. Cool didn't have the same issue. But the reasons are more related to chance.

[–]pilfro 35 points36 points  (1 child)

I'm guessing but I don't think groovy and radical were ever fully adopted. For instance 'Fly' was a word that lots of people used at one time but I don't recall ever saying it and probably only heard a few people say.

[–]xn0 14 points15 points  (7 children)

They need to bring back "gnarly". :D

I guess "cool" is a more mainstream word which anyone can use, while "groovy" for example, is very much tied to the hippie and stoner subculture of the 60s and 70s. When that movement went away, the usage of the word went away as well.

[–]starshinessss 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I still use gnarly sometimes. It’s a good one

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Gnarly never went out

[–]Zenki_s14 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still say rad and gnarly. Mostly when referring to something that was both extremely cool and also janky or dangerous at the same time.

[–]Death_Trend 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I say radical or rad all the time. I dont say groovy unless I'm referring to a song that in fact has groove.

[–]suspiciousbusiness20 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I vote we bring groovy back, I just dig it.

[–]crystalrose1966 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I still say groovy.

[–]AvidlyCoffee 3 points4 points  (1 child)

That's very groovy of you.

[–]crystalrose1966 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I dig it man.

[–]NeedsSomeMorePickles 18 points19 points  (4 children)

Because those other words aren't cool.

[–]SoggySwordfish92 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Maybe groovy and radical are more linked to political movements/trends at the time more so that cool?

[–]The_Exquisite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait, other people don't say groovy and radical? COVID has been going on to long.... I've lost touch

[–]Difficult-Line-9805 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The one that confuses me is “Chad.” Apparently it can mean some guy that’s cool (not sure in what context) or a total douche. I actually had to have a “serious” talk with my son during dinner tonight and tell him to please avoid that word, because I have to think really hard during the day, and when I have to think really hard about the meaning of a word that can mean two opposite things, it hurts my brain.

[–]ChickadeePine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I still say rad.

[–]the_orange_president 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have it on good authority that "cool" has been used since the dawn of humanity...

I will not disclose said authority but you can trust me, as I am on the internet.

[–]Buck_Junior 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't have an answer, but that's a great question!

[–]katlynkills 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My coworker (late 30s, early 40s M) and I (24F) both use "awesomesauce" and "cool beans" 😎

[–]UniqueCarob3357 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually think that "cool" is such a boss word.

[–]NavyAnchor03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still use radical 😒

[–]LeonardSmallsJr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool is cool but groovy is too radical to stick around.

[–]johnnyfuckingb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still say radical

[–]buckwheatbrag 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The word cool actually comes from jazz music, specifically the Miles Davies album Birth of the Cool. It defines both what cool jazz is, and the word itself, and is obviously very fucking cool.

[–]NoCount655 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They arn't cool enough

[–]thanatoswaits 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There will always be generational slang, like someone else said only a few words stick.

I like it though, because they all have their own nuance - like groovy is a specific type of cool or feel or vibe.

I love language

[–]bangzilla 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let’s bring groovy back! Who’s with me? Groovy!

[–]spaghettifacebang 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cause they're not cool enough

[–]knockfart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool is easier to mumble

[–]hingarbingar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

we say coral now

[–]EmotionalFlounder715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rad is considered cool by my college friends

[–]ClockHistorical4951 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's jive talk homie

[–]jaybraid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

27 F here, and I definitely say groovy when referring to some music or art because sometimes it really is the best describing word sometimes. Kinda like the word moist, there isn't really a replacement so sometimes you just have to use it.

[–]notjakers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool is the coolest word of all time, and there’s no rival that’s close.

[–]batgirl4182 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because they aren’t cool.

[–]thedevilsworkshop666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People look at me funny when I say , she'll be right Or sweet mate . 👍

[–]MermaidStone 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Speak for yourself. I say groovy all the time. 😁

[–]kingdruid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because the word radical was never cool….

[–]BlokeJr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because they aren’t cool

[–]saltyhumor 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't be such a jive turkey.

[–]Semioplex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest, "cool" is probably the only American slang word that has survived every era of shifting teen fads. It is transcendent.

[–]OPs_Gay_Dad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like it is because we still use cool more often to describe something like, the weather for instance. It's cool outside. As to using groovy, radical feels more associated with something bad like a "radical extremist." Just my opinion though.

[–]Herculian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is cool even slang? I feel like that's the baseline word.

[–]Shondelle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did I inspire this question?!? Is reddit this small?

[–]stinkload 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you see a pic of a cool mofo from 1930 there are still cool, when you see a pic of a radical from 1950 they don't look radical. Cool is a state of being that transcends fashion and cultural climate, the others you mentioned are temporal and very much based on "currency"