Language can be a strange thing. It is always changing. There are many words and phrases that have completely disappeared from the language commonly used. Many idioms have aged out of use. These older generation idioms have become language students only hear around their grandparents or other older people.
One idiom no longer used today is “wears the pants.” People used to say things like, “my mom wears the pants in my family,” to mean their mom is more controlling in their family. Now it is almost never said and sounds funny to say. That may be because families have changed in structure.
Once very patriarchal, or led by the fathers, families now tend to be more balanced between all the members. Furthermore, families do not impact personal lives and decisions as much as they used to. That makes this idiom focused on family power very useless and hilarious today.
“Get your goat” is another older generation idiom that is rarely used. It essentially means to annoy someone. This idiom may have fallen out of use simply because it is kind of confusing. It also does not fully match with other uses of “goat.”
G.O.A.T., a modern phrase which means Greatest of All Time, is entirely unrelated to this phrase. A scapegoat is a person who receives all of the blame. Because these confusing, unrelated terms also relate to goats, “get your goat” becomes even harder to understand. That led to this phrase losing use.
A phrase that has disappeared is “catawamptiously chewed up.” This phrase means completely defeated. This phrase may have easily disappeared because it takes so long to say. It also is hard to understand. “Catawamptiously” sounds like a nonsense word and is never used.
In many ways, this phrase simply fell out of use because it has become useless. People would not understand what the speaker was meaning. Therefore, this expression is no longer said.
Many people have heard one person or another say “humble pie.” Yet, it is rare for this person to be younger than their fifties. This phrase is often used to say, “Take a bite of humble pie.” This basically means that someone needs to be less full of themselves. It can also be used to say someone “ate humble pie” and was humiliated. This double meaning could partially be why this phrase is no longer used. Its association with older people and its use could also be the reason why it is outdated.
Right now, modern idioms people would say someone “put their foot in their mouth,” instead of “took a bite of humble pie.” Over time, the older pie idiom has been replaced. Besides, most everyone loves pie, but no one likes humiliation. Humble pie really is not eaten, or said, anymore.
The words people use are constantly affected by the people around them. Unconsciously, people mimic the language and actions of people they admire or like, often their peers, leading patterns of speech to spread. As words stop being used by these people, they fade out of use. Unfortunately, that means fun words like “catawamptiously” are no longer used, but change comes and goes. These words could always come back.