I always thought the phrase "old school" was a rather modern, hipster invention. It turns out the term itself is rather old-school, with Webster reporting the first recorded use in 1803. But I'm curious where the term came from.
I can imagine it might be a shortening of "old school of thought" or something similar.
I could also imagine it having more colloquial origins, as possibly implied by Wiktionary:
That teacher's old school methods aren't effective, they're just annoying.
Do we know the etymology of this phrase?
Best Answer
The Online Etymology Dictionary dates old-school to 1749 as an adjective and simply notes that it's a compound of “old + school,” in reference to conservative beliefs or principles. This supports your suspicion that it's related to “old school of thought.”
The modern slang sense of old school is somewhat different, with stronger connotations of respect for the earlier era, but it's still clearly the same basic meaning. I'm not sure when the term acquired the positive connotations; it's similar to the use of OG “original gangster” to indicate respect.