Words that seem immortal

The meanings have vanished, but the words lived on: Meet 12 “ghost” words

Language changes constantly, but rarely throws everything away at once. Sometimes a word outlives the object, machine, or technology that gave it meaning in the first place. We continue to use these expressions every day without thinking much about where they came from. From rotary telephones and film reels to carbon paper and floppy disks, these words are linguistic fossils that refuse to go away.

Millions of people dial phone numbers every day, even though most have never touched a rotary telephone. The word comes from a circular dial used on telephones throughout much of the 20th century. Users inserted a finger into a numbered hole and rotated the dial to place a call.

Automatic dialing systems began appearing in the late 1800s, and rotary phones remained common until push-button models spread during the 1960s and 1970s. The dial disappeared, but the verb stayed behind.

Ending a phone call is still called hanging up, despite the obvious fact that modern smartphones have nothing to hang. The phrase originated when telephone receivers were physically placed on wall-mounted hooks or cradles after a conversation ended.

The action activated a switch that disconnected the line. Telephone engineers still use the related terms "on-hook" and "off-hook," preserving language from a technology that most people no longer see.

Anyone who sends an email is familiar with CC, short for carbon copy. The term comes from carbon paper, a thin sheet placed between pages to create duplicate copies while typing or writing.

Carbon paper became widely used in offices during the 19th and 20th centuries. Although it has largely disappeared, email systems adopted the familiar abbreviations. Even BCC, or blind carbon copy, preserves a term from the typewriter era.

Today, nearly all video is digital, yet people still refer to recorded video as footage. The word originated in the motion-picture industry, where film was measured in physical feet.

Editors and cinematographers literally counted how many feet of film had been shot. In traditional 35mm filmmaking, one foot of film contained 16 frames. The physical measurement vanished, but the vocabulary survived.

People regularly rewind videos, podcasts, and streaming content if they want to move to an earlier moment in the media. The expression dates to a time when magnetic tape and film reels had to be physically wound backward to revisit an earlier section.

Cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and film projectors all required actual rewinding. Digital files contain no reels or tape, but the word remains the standard way to describe moving backward through media.

Many drivers still ask passengers to roll down the window. Originally, that instruction was completely literal. Car windows were operated by turning a hand crank connected to a mechanical regulator.

As power windows became widespread during the second half of the 20th century, the rolling action disappeared. Yet the phrase survived the transition from crank handles to electronic switches.

For decades, recording television programs meant using magnetic videotape. Home viewers relied on formats such as VHS and Betamax to capture shows, sporting events, and movies.

Streaming services and digital recorders eventually replaced videotape, but people still talk about taping a program. The tape itself may be gone, but the expression remains surprisingly common.

Broadcasters have been telling audiences to stay tuned for generations. The phrase originated during the early days of radio, when listeners adjusted tuning dials to find the correct frequency.

Early television sets worked similarly. Modern devices select channels electronically, yet the old instruction continues to signal that more content is coming.

Most movies, television shows, and online videos are now captured digitally. Nevertheless, people still film weddings, documentaries, interviews, and social media clips.

The word comes from photographic film stock, the light-sensitive material that defined cinema for more than a century. Even as digital cameras became dominant, the vocabulary of filmmaking remained largely unchanged.

When an incoming call arrives, we still say the phone is ringing. Early phones actually contained mechanical bells that produced a ringing sound whenever someone called.

Modern smartphones use speakers and digital sound files instead of physical bells. Yet, the connection between telephones and ringing remains so strong that few people notice the historical reference.

One of the most famous technological fossils appears every time users click the Save icon. On many programs, the symbol resembles a 3.5-inch floppy disk, once a standard method of computer storage.

Floppy disks became widespread during the 1980s and 1990s before largely disappearing in the early 2000s. Many younger users instantly recognize the icon despite never having used the device it represents.

Smartphones, tablets, and computers can record audio and video with a single tap. The term, however, comes from an era when sounds were physically stored on wax cylinders, records, and magnetic media.

Thomas Edison’s phonograph, introduced in 1877, was the first machine capable of recording and reproducing sound. Modern devices store digital data rather than physical grooves, but the original word still does the job.

A group of what?

Shrewdness, siege, business, and other words for animal groups

A shrewdness? A murder? An unkindness? None of these words even suggests that we are talking about apes, crows, or ravens, but we are. Why are animal collective nouns so strange? During the Middle Ages, English nobles developed a hunting language. These ‘terms of venery’ were not intended to be practical, but to show erudition and mastery of an elite code. Some of these names were adopted into everyday language and continue to be used nowadays.

Boars are wild pigs, so why isn’t a group of boars just a herd? While ‘herd’ can be used, linguists believe that the collective noun ‘sounder’ —from the Old English sundor, meaning ‘to separate’— was used as a reference to the fact that boar herds were led by sows (the female adult), separate from the males that were solitary or formed male-only groups.

All across Europe, ravens bore a reputation for being tricksters and bad omens. In several folk traditions, they were seen as messengers for the Gods and bearers of prophecies, an ominous task reinforced by their black plumage. The term ‘unkindness’ to refer to a group of ravens reflected the perceived malice or cruelty of these animals.

Since classical times, owls have been a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, and in the Greek tradition, these birds were the companions of Athena, goddess of wisdom. This led to the idea of a group of owls meeting for serious gatherings, such as a parliament.

This is indeed an odd term to use as a collective noun, but it stems from a copying mistake. The 1486 Book of St. Albans, which describes several of these animal collective nouns, states that a group of ferrets is called a besynes —meaning ‘activity’— due to the scurrying habits of these animals. Over time, the word was miscopied as ‘business’, and the term stuck.

There are several theories about the reason for this particular term as a collective noun for herons. Some say that it is a reference to their patient hunting stance (siege comes from the Latin sedere, ‘to sit’). Other opinions refer to the use of ‘siege’ as a synonym for ‘plague’ or ‘vexation’, as these animals are noisy and generally unpleasant to have around.

This one is quite straightforward. Male peacocks are known to parade their colorful feathers in front of the females, and have always been used as a symbol of vanity and flamboyance. Therefore, calling a group of peacocks an ‘ostentation’ seems quite fitting.

Several collective nouns can be used to describe a group of pheasants, but the term ‘bouquet’ stands out because it doesn’t just refer to the group of animals, but to flying pheasants. When hunters startled these birds, they took flight all at once in different directions, their colorful feathers looking like a ‘bouquet’ against the sky.

Like ravens, apes were perceived to be wicked, and this term reflected that idea. Originally, ‘shrewd’ was used to mean ‘evil, ‘mischievous, or ‘malicious’, so a group of apes was named a ‘shrewdness’. Later on, ‘shrewd’ came to mean ‘clever’ or ‘astute’, both qualities that apes do possess.

Were mice thought to be mischievous? Not really. The word ‘mischief’ was originally used to mean ‘harm, trouble, or annoyance’, and mice were troublesome pests that ate stored food and caused property damage.

We are so used to the use of ‘pride’ as a collective noun that it might not sound as strange as other words in this list, but this term originated in the same way. Lions were a symbol of royalty, courage, and authority, so the word used to describe them had to reflect these qualities. While ‘pride’ can be used negatively, it also carries the positive connotation of ‘dignity’ and ‘high standing’.