What does the word "tuned" mean to younger people?

[ConradH]

When they say, "Stay tuned", I think of an earlier era when you actually had fine tuning on the TV and all tuners (gee, why did they call 'em that?) had analog dials and were user tuned to this station or that. Today the concept of tuning is all but lost. It's a push button world now. No young people close by to ask, so figured I'd ask here- what does "Stay tuned" mean to the under 30 crowd? Is it an abstraction?

 

[willyrover]

It's an idiom. Stay tuned-in. Keep paying attention.

Same with "fine tuning" anything. To make small adjustments.

As with many idioms, people rarely stop to consider to origins - and it's usually doesn't matter.

 

[likebike23]

I don't know, but I think that they refer to receivers as tuners. I sold a receiver to a younger guy and he kept calling it a tuner. I didn't correct him, didn't really matter. I also have seen it here with some new members.

 

[Dave_1962]

I'm 54 and when I was a kid the word "tuned" meant I was about to receive corporal punishment. Dad would threaten us with a "tune up" whenever he was unhappy which was far too often. Anyway I have made sure my niece and nephew know a tuner from a receiver from an amp and they do appreciate it as kids that never in their lives received a tune up.

 

[arts]

I think to most of them ''tuned'' means having a coffee can hanging off of their exhaust pipe...or that they smoked their breakfast....

 

[jlovda]

Every time I type "tuner" into ebay a lot of the results are for auto parts.

 

[ConradH]

I'm 54 and when I was a kid the word "tuned" meant I was about to receive corporal punishment. Dad would threaten us with a "tune up" whenever he was unhappy which was far too often. Anyway I have made sure my niece and nephew know a tuner from a receiver from an amp and they do appreciate it as kids that never in their lives received a tune up.

Ha, audio punishments! OK, list 'em here, any fantasy accepted-

"You boys better settle down right now, or when your father gets home he's going to twist your slugs!"

 

[mark warren]

I remember those days for sure they would also say dont touch that dial. My Mother would say someone started to tune up and cry. Im also 54 and that was a long time ago.................

 

[Ray Gianelli]

Once certain terms enter the vernacular they tend to stay. So we "dial" a phone number or "rewind" Netflix. You play a "tape" of a video or 911 call when it was surely bits on a hard drive.

I think the real question is what does the under 20 crowd think of these antiquated terms? If they've never seen a VCR the term rewind has to be puzzling. At least fast forward makes sense!

Great thread, Conrad. I've wondered about this myself. I asked my girlfriend's 16 YO niece, but she was glued to her iPad and didn't answer. She was probably trying to find out what the "tube" in YouTube refers to

 

[Mitkraft]

Hah, there are plenty of grown adults who don't even remember a tuning dial. It's even crazier for me to think of the how old some of the kids are now who have never used a floppy disk!

 

[rcs16]

Hah, there are plenty of grown adults who don't even remember a tuning dial.

Dementia setting in early, I assume.
What does the word "tuned" mean to younger people?
My answer for Family Feud is,
smoking a joint

I asked my girlfriend's 16 YO niece, but she was glued to her iPad and didn't answer.

I coined the term recently
"Silicon chip social skills",
an upgrade from my previous term "social skills of a snail"

 

[Mitkraft]

Dementia setting in early, I assume.

You'd be surprised. Think of how far back you can go to find a household with no TV's with dials. I can imagine that as far back as 1980 (maybe farther). Those kids would be in their mid 30's now.

 

[musichal]

As far as I can tell, what it means to many is any receiver, integrated amp, preamp, home theater or any other black or silver electronics box involved in home audio.

Oh, nevermind, you wrote "tuned," not "tuner." Mea culpa.

 

[Djcoolray]

I've got a younger daughter and "Stay Tuned" generally means to keep up with the changes. Like, paying attention to details without any biased preferences. Then it can mean more to follow...its a general expression that is contextual !

 

[Lesterbest]

It means a garage band tuning guitars by ear.

 

[Dude111]

When they say, "Stay tuned", I think of an earlier era when you actually had fine tuning on the TV and all tuners (gee, why did they call 'em that?) had analog dials and were user tuned to this station or that.

Well it can mean 2 things

1) The equiptment is tuned properly as to give max performance..

2) Your radio is TUNED to the right station

 

[Scifi]

https://www.google.com/search?q=stay+tuned+svengoolie&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q="stay+tuned"

 

[Eric Lloyd]

I don't know about Tuned, but I had a 20 year old in my house recently who was flabbergasted when he saw the rotary phone on my kitchen wall and realized for the first time where the phrase Dialing A Number actually came from. Then he went on about how he couldn't believe someone actually invented something so unwieldy. Funny old world - I was most amused by his completely self-oriented perspective.

To some of my younger co-workers the phrase Don't Touch That Dial is completely meaningless but not unheard of. If they know what it means they may generally think it's quaint. I talk to them less and less as time goes on.

 

[Lesterbest]

Stoned.

 

[sinewaver]

Back, quite awhile, I recall seeing a Bevis and Butthead where one said there was a time before television. The other was incredulous and after a bit, they both agreed that there was always television but just not as many channels. That was sad. It hasn't gotten any better either. The radio station I worked at had a few younger DJ's (students) who never back announced anything. When I asked why, the answer was "Everybody knows who that is" I said I don't and the reply was "You're old, you don't count" So, it's not only ignorance, It's an attitude. My take on the whole thing is the party has been going on for a long time and they missed a lot of it. The real shame of it is if they don't know something, it probably isn't worth knowing. I took a kid home one night when his car left him down and he never saw crank down windows.