old school
Part of Shane's previous post--where he discusses words that fall into popular usage--reminded me of a phrase that I thought was recent. Reading Charles Dickens' Bleak House over the summer proved me wrong. Dickens describes his character Mr. Tulkinghorn as old school:
"He is of what is called the old school--a phrase generally meaning any school that seems never to have been young--and wears knee-breeches tied with ribbons, and gaiters or stockings."
Maybe I'm the only one that thought that "old school" was a more recent description, but it seems to me that Dickens is using it in essentially the same way a lot of us do, minus the breeches. Am I missing something here? Any thoughts? And isn't it interesting how words and phrases fade in and out of vogue?
