So, my Chinese is already WAYYY old. This is what happens when you live outside China for an extended period of time. Now, when I speak in broken Mandarin, people laugh at my "old guy" words. Some examples:
同志 - tongzhi - used to mean "comrade." It came in handy when someone cut in front of you in queue. You appealed to their equanimity by calling them "comrade." Now, the term has a homosexual connotation.
朝鲜 - chaoxian - is what mainland Chinese used to call North Korea. Now, that term sounds hopelessly outdated. Chinese now refer to North Korea as 北韩 - beihan - literally, North Korea.
苏联 - sulian - Soviet Union - well, this is understandable. The Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore.
外汇卷 - waihuijuan - foreign exchange certificates. Also something that doesn't exist anymore. The currency you used to get from the bank when you exchanged US dollars, French francs, etc. for Chinese renminbi.
面包车 - mianbaoche - literally a bread car. Refers to the little vans that used to shuttle you from Tiananmen Square to the Summer Palace. These might still be around, so maybe I'm wrong in listing this one in the Mutant Mandarin Museum.
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