Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2023 July 26

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 26

I have a question about the word cool

Is it weird for me to say the word cool since it's maybe an out of date word and I'm not exactly a teenager since I'm close to 40 years old? 2001:569:5026:8A00:A1DB:EE40:D703:4C06 (talk) 01:16, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

No. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:49, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

My friends who are more than twice your age use it. The cool friends, anyway. But then, they were also groovy. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 03:43, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

My dad, 84, uses it. Maybe that puts you off? —Tamfang (talk) 18:54, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Most people vary the register and vocabulary they use according to where and to whom they're speaking, so they don't make their listeners uncomfortable: I don't natter to some bloke down the pub in the same manner that I converse with my bank manager, for example. So using 'cool' is likely cool with some of your friends who talk in the same manner, but maybe not 'cool' with others, like your granny. Sometimes, however, one might deliberately use a non-appropriate register deliberately as a passing joke or to put your listener off-guard, or on the defensive: it all depends on the circumstances. FWIW, I'm in my mid-60s and readily say 'cool' in the appropriate setting. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 06:01, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Cool is cool, but don't use phat if you don't want to sound like you're having a midlife crisis.  --Lambiam 08:39, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

fo shizzle. --Jayron32 12:18, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

I regularly used words like "cool" and "dude" when I was a teenager in the late 60s and early 70s. Therefore, I am used to speaking with those words. I don't think anyone finds it weird when I refer to someone as a "cood dude" because I am old and they expect me to use words from my generation. When I want to use a weird word, I don't pick something from kids much younger than I am. I pick something from my generation that is uncommon, like "froody." 97.82.165.112 (talk) 12:10, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

• It should be noted that some slang words are "stickier" than others. Some slang terms become more and more accepted, to where they are more-or-less permanent (though still informal) parts of the language; "cool" is like that. It has been largely fixed in meaning and widely understood for almost a century, at this point, it's not really ephemeral slang, but just a normal part of English. This video does a really good job explaining the lifecycle of slang, and how some words become entrenched, and others fade out of existence after a few months. --Jayron32 17:54, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Wah gwaan wid yuh todeh, everything criss? Mi gwaan tek it easy deh yah in Jamaica, thas kool man. Mi wi si yuh lata. Philvoids (talk) 17:58, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Sorry, what? --Jayron32 18:18, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

That's no longer english Phil! my best guess: what is going on with you today, everything OK? I'm going to take it easy as I am in in Jamaica, thats cool man. I will see you later Rmvandijk (talk) 08:28, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

It's cool man. -- Random person no 362478479 (talk) 18:13, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

"Cool" in the "far out man, all aboard the Marrakesh Express" sense is probably a sign that you are having a mid-life crisis. "Cool" in the sense of "fine, ok, I sort of quite like that" sense is pretty much everyday language for any age. Nowadays it's pretty much only grannies who are old enough to get away with the first sense. DuncanHill (talk) 18:27, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

To be fair any word used in the "far out man, all aboard the Marrakesh Express" sense is an indicator of a mid-life crisis (or mental breakdown). -- Random person no 362478479 (talk) 19:00, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Can you have a 'mid-life crisis' when you're over 60? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 04:05, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

If you drive a Bitchin' Camaro, I'd say yes. 136.54.99.98 (talk) 05:25, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

You know what, Stuart, I like you. You're not like the other people, here, on the Ref Desks... --Jayron32 13:03, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

It's no more weird than referring to a 5-year-old kid as "spry". -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:18, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Spry? That's a cooking oil isn't it? DuncanHill (talk) 13:23, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

The people who used that product are now old codgers, some of whom are undoubtedly sprightly and ... you guessed it. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:07, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

I've never codged in my goddamn life. When do we learn how to do it? --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 00:14, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

It's like making new friends, or riding a bike, or masturbation, or editing Wikipedia, or changing a light bulb, or all of the foregoing simultaneously. Nobody ever takes lessons in these things, they just pick them up as they go along. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:05, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Copyright license for images uploaded to Wikipedia

I recall that there was a place to deposit licenses granted by copyright owners granting permission to upload things to Wikipedia. Where do I find it? Michael Hardy (talk) 02:59, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 03:42, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Where does that page address my question? I have written permission from the copyright owner. I was asking about a web page or email address where that written permission can be deposited. Michael Hardy (talk) 00:29, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

Michael Hardy, the email address is in that link, and it is also in Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission. Please read both carefully. This is a procedure with legal implications that must be carried out properly. The written permission from the copyright holder must be worded precisely. It must be clear that the copyright holder fully understands the implications of the free license. Cullen328 (talk) 00:40, 27 July 2023 (UTC)