12 idioms and phrases that young people and kids may not understand - from a broken record to hanging up phone

Language is influenced by culture and society, and while that means it is always changing it also means that there are still some words which are in use which might not have the same relevance they once did because technology has moved on.

The result is that there are many phrases and idioms which are still commonly used and universally understood by everyone - but in reality children and young people from younger generations may not truly know the background to the expression they are using.

Take a look through the list of 12 phrases below to see how many you and your children know, and to learn even more fun language facts check out our specific words and meanings page where you’ll find articles such as 35 untranslatable words from around the world along with the 10 funniest idioms and what does the word woke mean?

Hanging up the phone

Meaning: To end a phone conversation.

Origin: This phrase is still used today, but some people may not realise that the phrase actually comes from a time when phones had a receiver, a cradle or base and a cord. To end a phone call, people literally used to have to put the phone down and hang it back on the base.

Broken record

Meaning: This idiom refers to a frustrating or annoying statement or opinion which keeps on being repeated.

Origin: The phrase is taken from vinyl records which, when played, may repeat certain sections of the song if there are any scratches on them.

On the flip side

Meaning: This phrase can be used to express the belief that there could be another side to a story, but it is also used as a parting phrase to let someone know you will see them again later.

Origin: This is another expression which relates to vinyl records. Songs were stored on both sides of the records, known as an A side and a B side, so people had to literally flip the disc when they had listened to one side to listen to the other side.

Stay tuned 

Meaning: TV presenters tend to say this phrase when they are appealing to viewers to continue watching a show, particularly right before an ad break.

Origin: We all know that TVs need tuning in, usually when a new TV is bought or new channels are introduced. Nowadays, this is done by clicking a few buttons but between the 1920s and 1980s people had to tune their TVs physically using a dial. Therefore, when presenters said ‘stay tuned’ they were actually asking people not to touch the dial.

Alarm ringing

Meaning: We have choices when it comes to how we want to set an alarm for ourselves now, whether it’s on our phone or voice activated machines or still using an actual alarm clock. We can also choose various different sounds for us to wake up to, but no no matter what we all refer to the alarm ringing.

Origin: Older alarm clocks, from the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, had actual bells inside them so when they went off the bell would actually ring.

Going through the wringer

Meaning: A person who is going through the wringer is going through a tough time.

Origin: A wringer, or a mangler, was a device used approximately between 1910 and 1980 to aid people in doing the laundry.  Freshly washed clothes were fed through the machine, they were squeezed tightly and water came out. 

Turn something on/off or up/down

Meaning: Everyone will understand that someone wants a specific instruction to be undertaken when they are asked to turn one of their devices on or off or turn the volume of their music up or down.

Origin: These days, turning something off - for example, a TV - will involve pressing a button or two. In addition, you will often turn something down by pressing some buttons, scrolling a finger up or down a screen or even using your voice (think of voice activated devices such as Alexa and Google home machines). However, in the earlier days of technology, people literally had to turn a dial on an item to the ‘off’ or ‘up’ and ‘down’ functions to be able to perform either of these things.

CC someone in to an email

Meaning: If you CC someone into an email you send it to them as well as the main recipient. Usually, the person who is CC’ed is being included in the email so that they are aware of the information within it.

Origin: The term CC stands for carbon copy and literally means that the exact same thing is available more than once and for more than one person. The phrase originated in the days of typewriters, which were widely used from the 1880s to the 1970s. When a person typed a letter, they could put a sheet of carbon paper under the paper paper, and a second sheet of paper under that. With every keystroke from the typewriter, the carbon paper would transfer a lighter but still legible impression to the bottom sheet of paper. The top sheet was the main document, and the second sheet underneath was a lower-resolution copy that could be given to someone else or kept on file.

Roll the window up or down

Meaning: This phrase is used in cars when someone wants the car window to be put up or down.

Origin: Nowadays, when someone wants to put a car window up or down they usually have to press a button but older models of cars had a crank at the bottom of the door which people had to turn to bring the window up or put it down. Cars first had hand cranks back in the 1930s and some were still in use in the 1990s.

To film something

Meaning: The phrase to film something is usually used interchangeably with the phrase to record something. Nowadays, most filming will be done on a phone.

Origin: Between the late 19th century and early 20th century films were actually recorded using film; long shiny strips that moving images were set to. The strips of film were very long as every frame and every second had to be captured, and those strips were stored on huge reels. The reels were then fed through projectors for the film to be shown to audiences. 

To tape something

Meaning: To record something as it is being shown live on television, either on videotape or DVD, so that you can watch it later at a time that suits you.

Origin: In the days before catch-up services, if people weren’t able to watch something on the TV when it was broadcast live they had to record it on either a videotape or DVD to be able to view it later. This happened between the 1970s and the early 2000s. This development was exciting in itself as prior to this if people couldn’t watch a TV program live they would miss it completely.

Cha ching

Meaning: This is a phrase associated with money and is often said when someone is talking about money in a positive way, for example if they have just been given some money.

Origin: Between the late 19th century and early 20th century, cash machines used to be mechanical and this meant that when they were opened a bell would sound. The noise it made was literally a cha ching. The bell was installed so that people could not open the machine without being heard and the intent was for it to prevent the theft of money.