OK, Boomer: Slang

Zounds!

Growing up, I always associated that word with science fiction set in the distant future. Space men said it in comic strips. Spaceman Spiff, of Calvin and Hobbes fame, liked to use it. I knew we didn't say it much, but if comic books were to be believed, it would be used all the time in the 21st Century! So imagine my surprise when I was studying, of all subjects, Shakespeare, and learned that he used it in the 16th and 17th Centuries! It is an expression of surprise like "Wow!", and as I learned, is a contraction of "His wounds" ("His" referring to Jesus'). I've heard it pronounced in two ways: rhyming with "pounds" and "wounds." I still don't generally use it, particularly considering its derivation, but it's an interesting word.

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In the early 20th Century, a lot of things were swell. I was born in the late '70s, and by that time, things were groovy, man. We're talkin' gnarly! I remember vaguely in the early '80s when people still observed that that is so boss! Those words are generally no longer used in that way (though I have heard them on occasion). As the '80s went on, a lot of things were radical, or rad for short. It meant great. These days, radical isn't generally a good thing, but it was more commonly a good thing back then (although we did use it in its current sense as well, referring to political and religious extremes...a lot depended on context). But though it isn't used as often now, rad still means more or less the same thing as it did then. The word cool, on the other hand, has endured longer. I still use that one. More recently I've heard the kids talking about how things are lit. (When I was younger, lit had a very different meaning. I wasn't all that familiar with that word in its colloquial sense at the time, as I wasn't around people who were lit, or drunk, very much. Now it has a much more positive meaning, more along the lines of groovy and cool.) Even cool has changed in meaning over the years. Though it still can mean calm and not upset, that isn't as common a usage these days. If The Flash (CW series starring Grant Gustin) is to believed, things will be schway by 2049. Note that these words are nuanced and don't mean exactly the same thing. For example, rad was stronger than cool in the '80s. However, the meanings are similar.

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One phrase that has changed considerably over the years is "just alright." The classic '60s and '70s song "Jesus is Just Alright with Me", recorded by the Doobie Brothers and others, was high praise at the time. It meant that I think Jesus is awesome, great, incredible, groovy! Now "just alright" means "meh, not great." To the people of the '70s, there was alright, and then there was the much more impressive just alright! So next time you hear the Doobie Brothers (or DC Talk, or Stryper, or other bands who recorded it) singing that, understand that they are not saying that Jesus is meh. Instead, they think He's the bee's knees! Jesus is lit! (using the current definition of lit, not the definition from the '60s and '70s)

With the increase in popularity of the internet, I started noticing a lot of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) being thrown around on the internet and in e-mails (and more recently in text messages). The first time I saw "LOL" I wondered if it meant "Little Old Lady," which didn't make sense in the context. I finally asked someone, but figured it out before they answered. It means "laughing out loud." Please note, it does NOT mean "lots of love." I have seen that misconception, and it has led to a lot of unfortunate misunderstandings (the classic one being the text conversation between a mother and her son, something along the lines of... Mother: "Your uncle died, LOL" Son: "What?? Why is that funny?" Mother: "It isn't funny. Why would you say that?" Son: "What did you mean by LOL?" Mother: "Lots of love." Son: "That stands for laughing out loud." Mother: "Oh no! I'm going to have to apologize to everyone I told!") The point there being, never use LOL for "lots of love." I like the French equivalent, MDR, which stands for mourir de rire (literally, "dying of laughter"). Personally, if I feel the need to express laughter, I go for the classic "Hahahahahahahaha!!!" (or longer or shorter variants of that)

Swear words have also come and gone, some more enduring than others, but in the interest of keeping this family friendly, I will not go into those. I don't use them myself, but have gotten a lot more tolerant of others using them as I've gotten older. Still not a fan, though. Our counselor in elementary taught us to use the words of the immortal philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh, "Oh bother!" Much more wholesome, and it usually gets close enough in meaning. I have a few other things I use on occasion, such as "Rats!" "Bummer!" "Seriously??" "Good grief!" (Thanks, Charlie Brown!) "Uff da!" "Ay nako!" "Bless your heart." Though I don't use these alternatives as much, I also like "Fiddlesticks!" "Dagnabbit!" "...cottonpicking..." "Doggone it!" "...dadgum..."

Another term I have grown up with, owing to my Norwegian heritage, is Uff da! It's an all-purpose interjection that doesn't have a direct translation in English. The closest I've heard in any other language is the Yiddish Oy veh! and Oy gevalt! Uff da means "Oh my!" "Good grief!" "Oh no!" "How silly!" "How awful!" "Eww, gross!" (among many others). The Tagalog Ay nako! (literally, "Oh my mom!") and the French Zut alors! come close. The French Oh là là! (which does not mean what many Americans think it means) also comes close.

Of course, there has been so much slang over the years, and if I went into all of it, this would be a very long post. But that gives a small taste of it.

Oh, and I sometimes use slang on my phone. I also use it when I'm talking. It isn't exactly in the same class as other things I've covered in this series, but I feel it's important to mention whether or not I use it on my cell phone now.

One more thing...you may be wondering about the title of this post. The baby boomers and the millennials seem to have some sort of rivalry going on. They don't tend to understand each other so much. Boomers (stereotypically) tend to believe millennials are lazy and other negative adjectives. Millennials, in turn, (again, stereotypically) tend to see boomers as hopelessly old fashioned. And then, here I am, in Generation X, looking in both directions and scratching my head. (I'm an Xennial, which is the group of people born at the end of the Gen X era and the beginning of the Millennial era, who carry some aspects of both Gen X and Millennials.) Anyway, many millennials finally gave up with the criticism coming from their elders, a lot of which was unfounded, and just say, "OK, boomer." Whatever you say. I won't argue. It was the closest I could think of to a modern slang version of "Days of Yore."

OK, another thing...how is it that, given their meaning, "colloquial" and "vernacular" are not generally used in today's vernacular?