old school
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈəʊl(d)skuːl/
ipa: /ˈoʊl(d)ˌskul/
Etymology: The noun is derived from old + school (“followers of a particular doctrine; particular doctrine or way of thinking”), probably a shortening of old school of thinking, old school of thought, or some similar phrase.
The adjective is derived from the attributive form of the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Family experts are advocating a change away from the old school, advising parents not to medicate behavioural problems.
text: My mom’s a good baker because she’s of the old school. She’d never buy ready-made cookie dough.
text: [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.
ref: 1749, [Alain-René Lesage], “Gil Blas Sets Out for the Asturias; Passes through Valladolid, where He Visits His Old Master Doctor Sangrado, and Meets, by Accident, with Signior Manuel Ordonnez, Director of the Hospital.”, in [Tobias George Smollett], transl., The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, volume IV, London: […] J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, book X, page 6:
text: 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.
ref: 1906 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “The Doctor’s Dilemma”, in The Doctor’s Dilemma, Getting Married, & The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet, London: Constable and Company, published 1911, →OCLC, Act I, page 23:
text: 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?
ref: 1915, Thomas Burke, “An Entertainment Night: Round the Halls”, in Nights in Town: A London Autobiography, London: George Allen & Unwin […], page 44:
text: 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.
ref: 1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in The Railway Magazine, number 600, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 274:
antonyms: new school
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Rap is not one particular thing. Just like there are many different types of music, there are different types of rap. Hardcore, like Ice Cube, or OldSchool, like the Sugarhill Gang, are two facets on the gem we call hip hop.
ref: 1992 October 5, The Invisible Man, “[W]hat is all this fake shit”, in alt.rap (Usenet):
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: 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.
Derived terms: old schooler