old school
/ˈoʊl(d)ˌskul/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.43 in modern English
Meaning
noun
Preceded by the: a group of people characterized by being conservative or traditional; also, a method for accomplishing a task, a style, or a way of thinking that was employed in a former era, remembered either for its inferiority to the current method, or for its superiority over the new way.
Uncountable
noun
A style of popular music regarded as more old-fashioned or traditional, or not following newer trends; specifically (often old skool), hip-hop or rap music of the late 1970s and 1980s (or more recent music of this style) as contrasted with newer styles of such music.
Uncountable
adj
Now often old-school: characteristic of a method for accomplishing a task, a style, or a way of thinking that was employed in a former era, remembered either for its inferiority to the current method, or for its superiority over the new way.
adj
Of or relating to a style of popular music regarded as more old-fashioned or traditional, or not following newer trends; specifically (often old skool), of or relating to hip-hop or rap music of the late 1970s and 1980s (or more recent music of this style) as contrasted with newer styles of such music.
adj
Chiefly in the form Old School: having conservative or traditional views on Christianity or politics.
American usage
adj
Alternative letter-case form of old school (“having conservative or traditional views on Christianity or politics”).
American usage
Example Sentences
- "Family experts are advocating a change away from the old school, advising parents not to medicate behavioural problems."
- "My mom’s a good baker because she’s of the old school. She’d never buy ready-made cookie dough."
- "[A]s I am grand nephevv to a phyſician of the old ſchool, give me leave to revolt vvith you againſt chymical medicines. […] I vvould vvillingly perform the office of executioner to theſe ignorant innovators, of vvhom you complain vvith ſuch eloquence and juſtice."
- "Aha! Haha! Did I hear from the fireside armchair the bow-wow of the old school defending its drugs? Ah, believe me, Paddy, the world would be healthier if every chemist's shop in England were demolished."
- "Pathetic as its passing is, one cannot honestly regret the old school. I was looking last night at the programme of my very first hall, and received a terrible shock to my time-sense. Where are the snows of yesteryear? Where are the entertainers of 1895?"
- "The amount of external pipework is also unusual in a British locomotive, though apparent in the most recent L.M.S.R. designs, such as the Class "4" 2-6-0s; but while lacking the tidiness of the old school of British locomotive engineering, this has obvious application for maintenance purposes in present circumstances."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈoʊl(d)ˌskul/
- British English: /ˈəʊl(d)skuːl/
Usage
- Uncountable
- American usage