[Grumpy thinks I've posted about this before. I can't see any evidence of it but apologies if this is old news.]
Yesterday, Grumpy used the term 'emo' on his blog. So I rang him up and said, "What the hell does 'emo' mean?" He answered in his most authoritative voice, "Well now, little lady, I wouldn't have a clue."
I think the last bit of modern slang I even came close to grasping was 'bling'. I tried explaining it to Ern one night after Grumpy had commented on the fact that my cousin Bill was indeed dripping with it. Bill is thirteen years old, a drama student, outrageously cool, always sullen and, need I say it, a monumental pain in the arse. For a girl like her, being seen around an uncle who seems to be covered in a permanent crust of red dirt, old fish guts, wood shavings and gunpowder is a humiliation that can barely be tolerated.
At my cousin Covergirl's engagement party, Bill was pouting around with her good mate Antenna, both of them looking terminally bored and making sure everyone could see what a come-down it was for them to be there. She rolled her eyes when Ern, stubby in one hand, Camel Plain in the other, motioned for her to come over to where he was holding court with some gruesome outback tale. She slouched over, Antenna by her side, and moodily asked him what he wanted.
"Hey, Bill," said Ern. All eyes swivelled to her. "What's with the bling?"
Bill's face registered horror. The ragged old fool was trying to be hip. In front of her friend. And other people.
"What?!"
Ern motioned to her neck. "You know, the bling-bling."
In a few years time when she's collecting her first Oscar, I don't think he'll rate a mention in the thank you speech.
5 comments:
Ooh, we used to have stubbies in Canada. It was our word for a short-necked beer bottle, like they had in the seventies. Now they all have long necks.
And emo, finally, something I know. (Although I did get excited when I recognized the reference to Alexei Sayle.) Anyway, I actually looked up "emo" a few months ago. It's short for "emotional".
Previous to that I always thought it had something to do with Emo Philips.
Yes, stubbies still thrive here - as beer containers but also as bum-crack-revealing menswear.
As for emo. I still don't think I udnerstand it.
Who is Emo Philips?
I was astounded to find out the term "Emo" actually came from the USA (not Britain), and had been around since the 1980s.
However, the way Wikipedia wrote it up, you'd think everyone, everywhere was using the term then. And they weren't.
G (short for Grumpy)
There's nothing a sullen young adolescent desperate-to-assert-herself-as-unique-but-doesn't-want-to-actually-talk-about-it-and-be-singled-out needs more than that kind of embarassment. So funny. That made my day.
http://www.emophilips.com/home
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