Lose their moorings

Posted by Henry on July 14, 2003

In Reply to: Lose their moorings posted by ESC on July 12, 2003

: : : : : Is there a phrase for the effect on individuals of our time, where standards, morals, and customs have been shifting so quickly? The sense of dislocation that older or middle-age people can feel, and the perplexity that younger people may feel in the general circumstance. There is the word "anomie" for a lack of morals or of standards of social conduct. But I'm grasping for a phrase, and maybe particularly for one that relates to effects, rather than the social condition itself.

: : : : Future shock.

: : : People lose their "place." A matriarch is widowed and moves in with her daughter. The older woman was used to being the center of the family and now she is "displaced."

: : And there was a book called "Yesterday's People" about what you might call human anachronisms.

: Lose their moorings. As in meaning No. 3 (Merriam-Webster online):

: Main Entry: moor·ing
: Pronunciation: -i[ng]
: Function: noun
: Date: 15th century
: 1 : an act of making fast a boat or aircraft with lines or anchors
: 2 a : a place where or an object to which something (as a craft) can be moored b : a device (as a line or chain) by which an object is secured in place
: 3 : an established practice or stabilizing influence : ANCHORAGE 2 -- usually used in plural

Adrift?