Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I'll also point out that we happily use idioms today that derive from things that are long obsolete. The phone dial, as was mentioned. We also whip things into shape, though few of us have ever driven a horse or abused a slave, and we still go the whole nine-yards, even though no one can seem to agree on what that nine-yards originally referred to.
That being said, just a few days ago, before seeing this thread or that "old folks icons" link, I stared at my computer screen wondering why a 3.5" floppy persisted as a save icon.
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Most of our computer-related idioms come from the office environments where most computers first appeared to mainstream users. That's where floppy icons to denote saving came from.
Now electronic devices are being introduced directly to consumers, so office-related idioms are being replaced with more human-friendly idioms... lie "tweeting," "texting" and "browsing."
But again, use of a phrase by a popular or famous person can result in a new popular idiom; take, for example, the congressman who publicly referred to the internet as "a bunch of tubes," which has resulted in the web being referred to as "tubes" or "pipes." New idioms could end up being developed from the pipe metaphor.
And we could get a new idiom at any time from a television show, a popular comedian, a clueless politician, a supermodel, a pop music icon or a cartoon character. It's an essentially random process; guessing the new idioms is like guessing the next hit movie or top-10 pop tune.