behind the times
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behind the times
1. Behaving in an outdated or unpopular way. Of course grandpa doesn't have a cell phone—he's behind the times, as usual.
2. Lacking the latest information on a particular subject. Wait, Joe and Mara broke up? Wow, I'm behind the times!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
behind the times
old-fashioned. Sarah is a bit behind the times. Her clothes are quite old-fashioned. Our 90—year-old state senator is a bit behind the times.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
behind the times
Not keeping up with current fashion, methods, or ideas, as in Your accounting methods are behind the times. Charles Dickens used this idiom in Dombey and Son (1848): "I'm old-fashioned, and behind the Time." [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
behind the times
Out-of-date; old-fashioned.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
behind the times
Old-fashioned, outdated. From the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries this meaning was conveyed by behindhand. In the nineteenth century, however, it turned into the present locution, as in Dickens’s Dombey and Son (1846): “I’m old-fashioned and behind the time.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer