Old-fashion or old-fashioned? (2024)

Published: 10 Feb 2020

Old-fashion or old-fashioned? (1) Which is correct?
We’re planning an ___________ Christmas this year. We’ll be dining by candlelight — and banning iPhones at the table .
a. old-fashion
b. old-fashioned

Answer: b.

Explanation:
To fashion is to make; fashioned means made. Old-fashioned means made in the old way.

And without the hyphen? Neither! Never! Not “old fashion,” not “old fashioned.” When we combine two words to use as an adjective, we hyphenate.

Google poll, searching for verbatim:
old-fashion — 43,600,000 hits
old fashion — 865,000,000 hits
old-fashioned — 320,000,000 hits
old fashioned — 381,000,000 hits

Oh dear, oh dear. The worst possible spelling is by far the most popular. I was impressed to see, among the search results, that a lot of people actually have it wrong — especially as “old fashion” — in their business names. A word of advice — if you’re ever starting a business, make sure that you don’t name it something that makes you look less intelligent than you’d like. Check your grammar!

And in case anyone’s wondering, the same rule would hold for “old-style” and “old-school.”

Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Old-fashion or old-fashioned? (2024)

FAQs

Old-fashion or old-fashioned? ›

Old-fashioned is an adjective which describes something done in a style of times past or more suitable for times past. Old-fashioned may refer to dress, manners or customs that were more suitable to an earlier period of history.

Do you say old-fashioned or old-fashioned? ›

Not “old fashion,” not “old fashioned.” When we combine two words to use as an adjective, we hyphenate. Oh dear, oh dear. The worst possible spelling is by far the most popular.

Is the co*cktail an old fashion or old-fashioned? ›

The Old Fashioned is arguably the most well-known whiskey co*cktail in the world. Essentially just a slug of bourbon that's been lightly sweetened with sugar and modified with a couple dashes of bitters, it's dead simple to make, but within this basic template is a world of opinions and flavor.

How do you say old-fashioned in plural? ›

The plural form of old-fashioned is old-fashioneds. Find more words! There are fine, rust-colored old-fashioneds available, and the mint juleps are properly treacly and sweet.

Is it old school or old-fashioned? ›

The old school is any group of people who are traditionalists: they do things the way they've been done in the past. Old school means something close to old-fashioned, but it's a term with more pride behind it.

How do you use old-fashioned in a sentence? ›

Wearing a hat is now regarded as rather old-fashioned. It was a lovely little old-fashioned cafe. The bedroom was full of heavy old-fashioned furniture. Working methods in the department were ridiculously old-fashioned until we went over to computers.

What is another way of saying old-fashioned is behind the time? ›

Synonyms of 'behind the times' in British English

They wore dated clothes. The company says the plant is obsolete and does not merit further investment. Marriage seems to be out of fashion. The factory is so antiquated, it isn't worth saving.

Why is an old fashioned called an old fashioned? ›

“The Old-Fashioned was an evolution of the Whiskey co*cktail which was simply whiskey, sugar, bitters, and water, and was served as early as 1800 or so.” It wasn't until the 1870s and 1880s that when bartenders “began adding embellishments to their Whiskey co*cktails, some customers rebelled against the innovations,” as ...

What do you call old fashioned? ›

oldfangled. out-of-date. outmoded. outworn. superannuated.

How do you say multiple old fashioned? ›

What is the plural of the drink "old fashioned"? Just adding an “s” at the end should do it… a couple old fashioneds, bloody marys, tequila sunrises, dark and stormys, etc.

Is old-fashioned 2 words? ›

It's old-fashioned. This is a compound adjective formed from the adjective old and the past participle fashioned. Old-fashion can't work because fashion is a noun.

What is the opposite of old-fashioned person? ›

The opposite of old-fashioned is modern.

Is old-fashioned a noun? ›

old fashioned in American English

noun. (sometimes caps) a co*cktail made with whiskey, bitters, water, and sugar, and garnished with citrus-fruit slices and a cherry.

Is old-fashioned a adverb? ›

old-fashionedadjective (& adverb) & noun.

Is in the olden days grammatically correct? ›

"Old days" is possibly more correct — but "olden days" is a common saying. That's not really a very good history of the phrase. See the OED.

What year is old-fashioned? ›

Some say that the drink actually originated in Louisville, Kentucky in 1880 at a private social club called The Pendennis Club. The recipe is linked to bartender and bourbon distillery, James E. Pepper.

Is old-fashioned hyphenated? ›

The term you are looking for is 'old-fashioned'. The hyphen is needed because 'old' and 'fashioned' go together to make a single word meaning 'of days gone by'. 'Old fashioned' could be used if you want to describe something that was 'fashioned' (made) and is now old.

Is there a hyphen in old-fashioned? ›

Occasionally one sees old fashioned without the hyphen, but dictionaries list old-fashioned with a hyphen. Old fashion is a corruption of the term old-fashioned.

Should old-fashioned be capitalized? ›

APStylebook on X: "A Manhattan is capitalized, an old fashioned is lowercase. Lowercase vermouth, which goes into a Manhattan.

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