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Is There A Word In English To Describe Something From The Past Which Looks Crap now...


... But probably looked okay back in it's day.

As an example, have a look at this clip from Bullseye:-
https://youtu.be/F_RKskYv2uE?si=QcjUDl3kpuzDEgJm&t=1m18s

So that car looks like absolute crap now. And tbh, it still probably wasn't the best even in the day, but nevertheless it probably still looked like a decent enough win.

Unfortunately the passage of time means that to our eyes, it can only ever look like a crappy old car, even although it's clearly brand new in the footage.

I don't know if this is just a technology thing but the same applies to when you see old stereo systems, gaming systems, etc. Looked great at the time but now can only ever look crappy and old.

Yet if you look at a new car now - in a courtyard or wherever - it's impossible to see it as anything but aesthetically a shiny new object.

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It looked like crap then too.

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Weathered.

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démodé

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Practical? I don’t think that car was considered cool even in it’s time it was just a car and served it’s purpose.

Not everything old is cool or would be considered antique or worthy of the term retro.

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A dated prize on a game show that comes to mind is the portible Color TV that kids won in Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago if you got to the final obstical course. It had rabbit ear antennas. It'd be useless in today's world but at the time it was a very fun prize.

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The word is absolutely "dated", it looks like something that only belongs to that era and could not exist in the present as something new. "Old-fashioned" would be another similar term.

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atrocious

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