old school
[f. old a. + school n.1 5.]
a. A group of people or a section of society noted for its conservative views or principles; members of a profession or a political party who adhere to its traditional views or methods. Freq. attrib. or as adj. Also, in the old school: according to traditional or old-fashioned methods; of the old school: traditional, old-fashioned.
| 1749 Smollett tr. Le Sage's Gil Blas IV. i. 6 Mr. Doctor..as I am a grand nephew to a physician of the old school give me leave to revolt with you against chymical medicines. 1798 Monthly Mag. Feb. 127/2 He was a whig of the old school. 1806 T. G. Fessenden Democracy Unveiled (ed. 3) ii. 61 These bring grave old-school reflections. 1808 H. More Lett. (1925) 188 It was said more than twenty years ago, that I was the only one of the old school who strongly relished Cowper. 1815 Niles' Reg. IX. 120/2 The federal and ‘old school’ democratic candidate for congress. 1817 Byron Beppo xxxiv, He was a lover of the good old school. 1818 M. Edgeworth Let. 19 Sept. (1971) 101 Lord Bathurst is..an agreeable diplomatist..dry faced—of the old school. c 1830 Mrs. Cameron Houlston Tracts III. No. 63. 2 Their family consisted of a son and three daughters, who were brought up more in the old school than is now customary. 1838 J. F. Cooper Eve Effingham II. iii. 81, I could just get a look of our clergyman's wig; for he was an old school man. 1842 F. A. Kemble Let. 2 Oct. in Rec. Later Life (1882) II. 268 Some old-school Whigs, sound politicians, and great friends of mine. 1911 G. B. Shaw Doctor's Dilemma i. 23 Did I hear from the fireside armchair the bow-wow of the old school defending its drugs? a 1963 S. Plath Crossing Water (1971) 60 Bowing and truckling like an old-school oriental. 1972 ‘E. Peters’ Death to Landlords! i. 20, I was trained in the old school..and by hard work I built up the business. 1973 E. McGirr Bardel's Murder ii. 45 He saw Captain Joyningstowe doing the old-school act with a couple of stern dowagers. 1974 Times 18 Apr. 19/5 The Old School certainly accept the view that the rise in the price of oil is deflationary. |
b. Used attrib. to designate conservative or traditional religious views, as old school Baptist, old school Church, old school Presbyterian.
| 1816, etc. [see new school a]. 1873 ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age vii. 80 Grandmother..was an Old-School Baptist. 1875 Richmond (Virginia) Daily Whig 3 Sept. 2/3 He should never have terminated his affiliation with the Old School Church. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xii. 183 The Old School Baptisses never went nigh the Methodis' meetin' house. 1898 I. H. Harper Life S. B. Anthony I. 218, I recommend that you form an acquaintance..with some well-settled Old-School-Presbyterian clergyman. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Oct. 6/8 More than one thousand members of the Old School Baptist Churches are meeting in a three-day session at Little Creek Church. 1949 Pacific Northwest Q. Apr. 124 In the period before the Civil War [they] generally preferred to be called Old School Baptists. 1961 K. S. Latourette Christianity in Revolutionary Age III. vii. 166 We have seen the separation of the New School from the Old School Presbyterians. |
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▸ A group noted for its conservative views or principles; members of a profession or a political party who adhere to traditional views or methods. in the old school: according to traditional or old-fashioned methods. of the old school: traditional, old-fashioned.
| [1712 R. Blackmore Creation ii. 70 If to the Old you the New Schools prefer, And to the fam'd Copernicus adhere; If you esteem that Supposition best, Which moves the Earth, and leaves the Sun at Rest.] 1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas IV. x. i. 6 Mr. Doctor,..as I am a grand nephew to a physician of the old school, give me leave to revolt with you against chymical medicines. 1798 Monthly Mag. Feb. 127/2 He was a whig of the old school. 1808 H. More Lett. (1925) 188 It was said more than twenty years ago, that I was the only one of the old school who strongly relished Cowper. c 1830 L. L. Cameron Houlston Tracts III. No. 63. 2 Their family consisted of a son and three daughters, who were brought up more in the old school than is now customary. 1882 Cent. Mag. May 149/2 This consisted in the adoption of a new code for the guidance of the faculty, virtually permitting a physician of the ‘old school’ to consult with any physician of the other schools. 1911 G. B. Shaw Doctor's Dilemma i. 23 Did I hear from the fireside armchair the bow-wow of the old school defending its drugs? 1933 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 27 135 The old school of [Japanese] jurisprudence being typified by the writings of Professors Hozumi and Uyesugi. 1972 ‘E. Peters’ Death to Landlords! i. 20, I was trained in the old school..and by hard work I built up the business. 2000 Amer. Prospect 6 Nov. 45/1 This is satisfying drama of the old school—a two-hankie movie about integration. |
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▸ A style or genre of popular music regarded as relatively traditional, old-fashioned, or uninfluenced by newer styles; spec. (also old skool), rap or hip-hop music of the late 1970s and the 1980s (or later revivals of these), as opposed to later styles such as gangsta; (also) the fashion associated with this music.
| 1987 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 26 Apr. 56 [He] launched the ‘Jazz is Not Dead, But..’ discussion..by advancing a theory often promulgated by adherents of the old school: The golden age of jazz ended in 1946. 1989 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times 30 Apr. 2 f/1 Considering how radical rap has gotten,..it is nice to know that some of the old tricks still work, and there is no better example of how the old school still rules than Kid 'N Play. 1990 Newsday (Nexis) 17 Jan. ii. 2 Aerosmith and Skid Row. Heavy metal's old school meets the new school. 1993 B. Cross It's not about Salary 289 Out here the hardknocks listen to hiphop, but they not really into the old school, just the gangster shit. 1998 Touch July 16/1 It is the search for this original vibe that keeps old skool so popular. 2002 Guardian 11 Jan. (Friday Review section) 13/3 But old skool's appeal is not tongue-in-cheek: many of the records still sound implausibly exciting. |
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▸ a. U.S. Holding conservative or traditional religious or political views. Usu. with capital initials.
| 1816 Emigrant's Guide 17 Local politicians assume various appellations, such as New School and Old School Democrats, Snyderites, Clintonians, and many others. 1867 W. H. Dixon New Amer. ii. 308 In a very short time this body was divided into Old School Baptists (called by their enemies Anti-effort Baptists), Sabbatarians, [etc.]. 1898 I. H. Harper Life S. B. Anthony I. 218, I recommend that you form an acquaintance..with some well-settled Old-School-Presbyterian clergyman. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Oct. 6/8 More than one thousand members of the Old School Baptist Churches are meeting in a three-day session at Little Creek Church. 1976 Polit. Sci. Q. 91 496 The Old School Democrats furnished the seedbed for the Jackson movement. 1995 Jrnl. Southern Hist. 61 457 The minister edited the Watchman of the South, the weekly newspaper that was the organ of the Old School Presbyterians. |
b. Reflecting, exhibiting, or adhering to traditional values or old-fashioned ways; outdated, no longer in vogue.
In later use, sometimes influenced by sense A. 2.
| 1946 Liberty 15 June 69/2 It was characteristic also of his old-school code that, after dinner, standing spread-legged in front of the fireplace, he offered me a cigar. 1976 Business Week (Nexis) 9 Aug. 54 To old-school accountants, the argument is pointless because it takes place in a make-believe world. 1986 InfoWorld (Nexis) 19 May 43 I'm still kind of dazed that the phone company, which people see as so old school, would come up with something as progressive as this. 1996 Denver Post (Nexis) 27 Sept. f2 Entrees are generally good, but I do fault the restaurant for its old-school reliance on butter and cream sauces. 2002 Times 13 Mar. (T2 section) 8/4 The casing is bullfrog green and opaque, making the Play-Station's solid grey looks as old-school as Betamax. |
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▸ Of, designating, or relating a style or genre of music regarded as relatively traditional, old-fashioned, or uninfluenced by newer styles; spec. (also old skool), of designating, or relating to rap or hip-hop music and culture of the late 1970s and the 1980s, or to later revivals of these (see sense A. 2).
| 1988 Los Angeles Times 5 June (Calendar section) 92/5 Prince said he was inspired by ‘old-school’ rappers like Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. 1989 Guardian (Nexis) 4 Aug. Recommended to genuine old-school country fans who like their music with not a hint of cross-over, and more than a hint or two of Hank Williams. 1995 Melody Maker 25 Mar. 27/1 US rap's current reliance on Seventies funk, its old skool nostalgia. 1997 J-17 June 34 (caption) Sugar sweet in old-skool Adidas. 2001 DJ 4–27 July 85/4 Amazingly fresh old skool riff brought up to date with filters and blurring effects as angry soundboy speech passes over. 2003 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 17 Apr. (Night & Day section) 16 This old-school punk is brash, rebellious and rough around the edges, with lots of gang-shout vocals. |