Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (usu. teen or youth) an old person; more recently generic for anyone old, esp. those over 40, or at least those who fail to share or appreciate the nuances and delights of the current version of the rebellious youth culture.

1799		C. Ludger (trans.) in von Kotzebue Reconciliation I iii 11: Am. Must whining and sentiment go hand in hand, then? Count. Oldy, you don’t understand this. Young people must love, and, of course, whine .
1874		L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 97: I am now in my seventeenth year, isn’t it sad? I shall soon be an ‘oldy’.
1938		W. Winchell On Broadway 29 Dec. [synd. col.] The life of a bathing beauty is just two years. After that the [...] Press Bureau (for the city) considers her an oldie and drops her.
1959		C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 10: As for me, eighteen summers, rising nineteen, I’ll very soon be out there among the oldies.
1968		(con. 1928) S. Gore Holy Smoke 93: They were certainly bottlers for the writing, them oldies.
1970		‘Red’ Rudensky Gonif 143: The squares can’t hold a story and the oldies give it away by avoiding the subject.
1982		J. Davis Dreamers 84: ’Ere y’ are, oldy, git that inta yuh.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 209: With the oldies gathering here, there wasn’t much chance of action, was there?
1991		R.G. Barratt ‘Licence to Swill’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] But don’t worry, zitheads. The breweries know how much money you bludge off your oldies.
1993		M. Dibdin Dying of the Light 87: A bunch of oldies well past their sell-by date.
2006		B. Matthews Intractable [ebook] We listened to the oldies tell stories.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 83: How to help the oldies stand up on their feet again?
2021		P. Papathanasiou Stoning 106: ‘They’re all pensioners, and I don’t charge the oldies any rent’.

2. anything old, esp. an old joke, saying, record or song.

1940		J.H. O’Hara Pal Joey 82: The other [...] was an oldy like My Buddy.
1947		G. Sklar Two Worlds of Johnny Truro 20: Jay dug up some ‘oldies’ in New Haven.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 198: The [...] band had swung into an oldie.
1959		D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) 112: It’s an oldy, but it suits me voice.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 137: Got an oldie now by Lonnie Donegan.
1977		Rolling Stone 22 Sept. 13: I [...] slicked my hair back and did oldies for an hour. Then they liked me.
1985		J. Wambaugh Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 284: Playing a uke and singing songs like ‘Make Believe’ or other oldies.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 57: La Barba tuned down the oldies throbbing from the satin door panels.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 7: He listens a lot to the Portland oldies station since he got divorced. Oldies are soothing.
2006		C.W. Ford Deuce’s Wild 28: I turned on MTV. Sometimes in the early morning they play oldies.
2015		S. King Finders Keepers (2016) 247: ‘Long time no see as the landlocked sailor said to the chorus girl’ [...] I know that’s an oldie.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 355: Stretch your memory way back [...] Give us an oldie.

3. in pl., one’s parents.

1983		J. Byrell (con. 1959) Up the Cross 70: Phyllis had informed the oldies that their little girl was going great guns down in The Old Town.
1990		T. Winton Human Torpedo 22: He had to wash his PJs or the oldies’d think he was heavily into pre-teen sex.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 135: My Oldies had a His and Her Honeymoon.
2004		T. Winton ‘Long, Clear View’ in Turning (2005) 193: You think of the twelve-year gap between you and the baby, wondering what it was that took the oldies so long.