I am fascinated at the evolution of a slang word (how pathetic is that?) How does a word go from street birth to the vernacular? And moreover, why do white guys like me sound so funny when it comes to trying to pull off the latest idioms?
Of course, as far as slang word longevity goes, “cool” is the hands down king. People have been using it since the 40’s or so, I guess. Why did “cool” survive? Well, first of all because it doesn’t sound dumb. Evidently, its originators never laughed at it 10 years later the way we laugh at our high school colloquialisms (remember “trippin”?). Lots of similar-meaning words have come along across the decades, all trying to knock “cool” out of the top spot. “Keen”, “boss”, “dope”, “all-that”, “gnarly” -– they were all wannabe half-brothers of “cool.” Nowadays “sweet” is the flavor-of-the-month – it too will die the slow death of “neat-o” and the others.
No doubt, using current slang makes us feel cool. It is somehow self-validation, our easy link to pop culture, as if to say “Hey, I may not have a pair of low-rise jeans or know where a good club is, but listen at how effortlessly I can drop this into a conversation.” Although the intention may be to sound “phat”, using slang can have just the opposite effect. We must choose our words wisely, lest we end up like the Today Show hosts, who really shouldn’t try to say “bling” with a straight face. I am guilty of it, too. I should never, EVER try the word “shizzle” again – because the one time I did I came off like an idiot – the way an ear-ring makes an old guy look creepy. In the same way, a gangsta like Snoop Dogg should probably never try “Golly!”, because, well, it just wouldn’t be cool.
I like to think about the suits over at Merriam Webster’s dictionary, when they are forced to include yet another slang word into the list of hallowed entries. “Well, gentlemen, next on the agenda is ‘get your freak on.’ All those in favor. . .”
But back to the evolution thing. I think a slang term is finally accepted into the club because the person or persons who start saying it look cool themselves. Therefore, no matter how hard we “regular people” tried, one of our own coined creations would never get off the ground. I could go around referring to my lovely wife as a “squeeb-squab” all I wanted to, but it still wouldn’t end up on Nelly’s next album. So, alas, we are stuck in the reactive mode of waiting around for trendy people to come up with the next big thing -– hoping that it will be a word that we, too, can use to impress someone, and not one that will make us seem like the old guy. Until then I’ll just keep reliving the glory days, when I could say “bad to the bone” and my “squeeb-squab” thought it was cool.
Hot off the presses:
