Can anyone tell me the meaning of the slang ตกยุค?Is it something to do with not being able to keep up?Is it a word used by Generation X etc to refer to older people? What would be an equivalent in English?

As you may already know, ตก means to fall ยุค means era. I would interpret it to mean someone who has "fallen out of the present era" or to have come to be hopelessly behind the times or "out of it". In my generation, we referred to such people as "squares", but to use such a word today would automatically identify oneself as being just such.

As you may already know, ตก means to fall ยุค means era. I would interpret it to mean someone who has "fallen out of the present era" or to have come to be hopelessly behind the times or "out of it". In my generation, we referred to such people as "squares", but to use such a word today would automatically identify oneself as being just such.

Thank you. A colleague suggested "dinosaur", but in political terms dinosaurs are still powerful, whereas the term ตกยุค seems just to convey a failure to keep up. One would not refer to oneself as a dinosaur, but may self- describe as something like "old-fashioned or "a bit behind the times". I don't know if older Thai people, for example, happily refer to themselves as ตกยุค, or whether in friendly situations I could use the term to describe someone.

Older people who don't want to admit they are aging might take offense to this term simply because it reminds them that they are getting old.

ตกเทรนด์ (fallen out of trend) is a more playful alternative.

I would look at it as a 'badge of honour' worn after reaching an age were one has had enough of the evolution revolution.

We have the means to buy all the latest techy crap but are happy with the crap we already have.

We can still pick and choose our appliances, applications and applets but are not driven by advertising 'gurus' telling us what we MUST have.

One dictionary I looked in translates the negative ไม่ตกยุค as timeless; always in vogue

Also came across this website where there's a little piece with pics on colourful face masks that were apparently in fashion during lasts year's swine flu scare.

กรี๊ดด..แฟชั่น หน้ากากอนามัยดีไซน์เก๋.. (ใครไม่ดู...ตกยุคแน่ๆ!!!) Aghhhh! Snazzy-looking face mask fashion. (If you don't look, you'll be behind the times for sure!!!) [my translation]

การระบาดของไข้หวัดใหญ่2009 อันตรายที่กำลังคืบเข้ามาใกล้ตัวเรามากขึ้นทุกวัน หน้ากากอนามัยคงเป็นทางออกที่ดีทางหนึ่ง ที่เราต้องมีพกพาเอาไว้เป็นอาวุธคู่กาย

โลก...แฟชั่น...

http://www.oknation.net/blog/newgeneration/2009/07/15/entry-1