Sup, Emo and Homie: "WTF are kids talking about?"

by Barry Artiste | June 14, 2008 at 08:23 am | 700 views | 19 comments

Class Acts, and Models to Emulate, regardless of your colour!

Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

Ah, Yes, the Gansta Lexicon of Languages spoken by our Kids regardless that they would not know a Gangster if it slapped them upside the head. My own child at times uses "Wass up", "Homie", "Gangsta", "Homeboy" etc.

Yes, the Whitebread set want to be the Faux Gangsta Niggas from the streets. Though the closest they ever get to the "Hood" is when playing "Grand Theft Auto".

If I were a Black Man, I would be furious at these stereotypes, no wonder as Bill Cosby, much to the outrage of the Black Community, stated "As a people, we are our own worst enemy"! Truer words ever spoken.

Many such as P.Diddy, and other Rappers, may use Gangsta in their music and with friends, but when it comes to business use proper English, as they know which side their Bread is Buttered on. Are they hypocrites? Hell NO, they are selling a product, themselves, a product identifed by a disenfranchised youth, who dream of one day being a P.Diddy, or a Will Smith!

This in stark contrast with some who once they become famous, the closest they ever get back to the hood is when shooting a music video.

I just friggin cringe when I hear my son and his friends speak Gangsta like he is a slack jawed guest on Maury Povich or Springer. He is not a Gangsta, he is a spoiled middle class kid with every opportunity afforded him. Though for a couple of years, we lived in a First Nations community when I was working there, there was a Hood Mentality amongst the community kids. But far from the street Ghettos of New York.

First Nations Elders would want to bitch slap the taste out of the youths mouth when their Blood and Crips street language got the best of them, especially in front of an elder. First Nations, have enough stereotypes to deal with they certainly did not need new ones. And I agree.

Even Disney animated movies trying to be Hip and Uber Cool interject Gangsta Lexicons into their story lines.
These movies are geared towards pre and primary school children, is this something you want your child to be spouting in public? Give me a friggin break, learn the Kings English or be forever known as Slack Jawed Rapping Yokel. God gave you a brain, so you may as well use it.

I have yet to see a successful person other than Celeb Rappers who use Gangsta Language. Much like Hippies did during the Flower Power generation.

My son, 19, wanted to go to the SharkClub last night and was told by a Bartender friend their new policy is to wear a button down plain solid coloured shirt as coloured patterned shirts or shirts may be construed as Gang Colours.

Hopefully my son will grow out of this idiocy, but when ladies are all a flitter over Gangsta Language, he is stuck for the time being.

In my Opinion, those in their 20's to 40's who do not dress age appropriate and constantly use Gangsta Language in their daily life in all liklihood pretty much have their future careers mapped out for them in the Fast Food Industry or as I said before as guests on Maury Povich in any episode of "Who's Yer Daddy Beeyach!" I never knew "Low Intelligence" was a way to impress the babes.

Sup, emo and homie: what are kids talking about?

Mark Abley's new book, The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English, takes a look at the wild, wacky and sometimes baffling road our language is taking in its evolution. In this excerpt, he asks a class of teenagers to teach him the latest slang.

On a bright October afternoon, I was standing in front of a class of sixteen
and seventeen-year-olds in a small town west of Montreal. Their English teacher had invited me to give a writing workshop in the high school library. The hour was nearing its end when abruptly I switched course. Instead of talking about metaphors and similes, sweet conclusions and dynamite beginnings, I asked each student to jot down a few words or phrases that older people would not understand, and then provide a brief definition for each term. I gave the class no advance warning. The risk was that this impromptu assignment would induce a yawn-filled silence, a retreat into heavy-lidded boredom. But instead the students-especially the girls, I noticed-set about the task with enthusiasm.

"You mean any words?" said a preppy-looking girl in blue. "Even the ones that aren't in the dictionary?"

"Especially the ones that aren't in a dictionary," I replied.

I waited a couple of minutes-time was short-and asked for the results. Arms filled the air. Hands waggled. I'm a reader, a parent, a viewer, a listener; I thought that all together, the students might come up with a dozen words I didn't know. So much for the vanity of age.

Cheddar, said the first, meaning "money, lavish earnings." (I'll give this and all the other definitions in the students' exact words.) He got owned, said another: "rejected, shut down, beat up." On the go, added a third: "it's like going out, but not official." I recognized some of the expressions, of course; even a senior citizen of fifty can comprehend eye candy and loaded, poser and flame. Did these innocent, cool teenagers really believe their generation had invented high? But as I stood there in the sun-dappled library, I realized that the majority of the students' words and phrases left me bemused. What on earth was burninate? Was d-low somehow related to "below," "delay," "J Lo"-or to none of those terms? (Not wanting to keep the meanings secret-to d-low them, that is-I'll suggest that you'd burninate something only if you had the fire-breathing powers of a dragon.) More generally, by what learned or instinctive command had these young people enacted their self-assured takeover of the language?

Before the bell freed them from the joy of learning, the students handed in the slips of paper on which they'd scribbled their definitions. I have them still: scraps torn from notepads and workbooks, a page from a disintegrating paperback, a yellow Post-it note with a smiley at the top. Overlaps were surprisingly rare; just one word-noob, meaning somebody new, ignorant or inexperienced-was defined three times.

Looking at the sixty-six words now, I'm struck by the diversity of their origins. A few emerge from the online world of instant messaging: rofl, for instance, which gathers the initial letters of "rolling on the floor laughing." Others are abbreviations: sup, for instance, originally "What's up?" and now a synonym for "Hi, how are you?" Almost anywhere you go, the power of hip-hop seems unavoidable: surely that's how homie (friend) and foshizzle (I agree) migrated from America's inner cities to a small, waspish town in Quebec. Hip-hop and cyberspace together encouraged the spread of phat, which morphed from "sexy" in the 1960s to "cool, great, wonderful" by the '90s, and which is now widely regarded as an acronym for "pretty hot and tempting"-its original meaning, in short. Drug culture is just as influential; blame or credit it for fatty (an oversized joint), gacked (on speed) and pinner (a small joint). It's unfortunate That's so gay has come to mean "That's stupid, not worth my time." But what could be the origins and adolescent meanings of lag and One and die in a fire?

It was humbling to read an impromptu definition of scene, a word I thought I knew, that deployed a word I couldn't quite pin down-"style (knock-off of emo)." Emo? It was even more humbling for me, a writer, someone whose livelihood depends on the rich and exact use of words, to realize how far the English language had slithered away from my grasp, not for reasons of ethnicity or culture but simply because of time. "But at my back I always hear / Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near," wrote the poet Andrew Marvell in the seventeenth century. It's not a chariot any longer; it's a Dreamliner.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all these expressions are destined to enter the permanent storehouse of English vocabulary. Many of them will be as fleeting as youth itself. Young men and women have always used slang as a weapon to cut their lives free from the nets cast by their elders- didn't I aspire, unsuccessfully, to be a groovy freak? Older people have no reason to try and memorize the throwaway lexicon of the young. But the cascade of teenage slang I faced that afternoon can stand as a symbol of the astonishing rate at which new words are pouring into English. Nobody can control this breakbeat language; nobody can even keep track of it.

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futureprogress

at 08:49 on June 14th, 2008

>> I never knew "Low Intelligence" was a way to impress the babes.

Yea? ...and how is "boorish" working out for you?

I jest... really.

p.s. you may want to review The King's English... you seem to write contrary to its merits (understandable, its last update was 78 years ago).

p.p.s. ...and yes, hip hop is my culture -- though its not without its idiocy... there is hardly a culture that is.

---

(;||<

Barry Artiste

at 09:14 on June 14th, 2008

Thanks Future for visiting, but surely you have to agree carrying it well into your 30s and 40s is a bit much.

You would not believe how many 40 year old men I see walking the streets in teenage dress open toed high top runners, baggy shorts showing Butt cleavage and NBA sports shirts riding the Bus to work I can only assume, as I see them daily, at last count 12 of them, as well as around the city and in restaurants. that I see daily, wearing their Ipods. How would you feel seeing a 40 year old woman wearing a catholic school girl outfit walking the streets or wearing Gold Lame Hotpants and stillettos. See what I mean, age appropriate.

Guess that sorta explains my point about their careers in the fast foods industry, cause it aint banking.

futureprogress

at 10:59 on June 14th, 2008

I do not find those types of clothes appealing either... on any age really. Though, I have known many friends that dress that way... and I have found that is not rare if multiple family members are sharing clothes (inc. fathers and uncles)... I suppose taste is a factor but economics ranks up there as well.

This is a bit OT but I find your comparison interesting. Given that both fast food and banking are necessary and we equally need people to do those jobs... they are however industries that cause a lot of death and suffering... and if you put them together you get another stereotype: Americans!

---

(;||<

Barry Artiste

at 11:09 on June 14th, 2008

Thanks again for the insight, though I think Americans and Death and Destruction is a tad harsh. What I am trying to say is those who complain about their lot in life, who state I can never get nowhere in a job as no one will hire me or take me seriously as the "Glint from the Sun, blinds their Logic from their Fishing Tackle they have pierced through every orfice in their face as bling, bling. If you wish to succeed and have a moderate salary, dressed like a 16 year old boy, spouting Gangsta wearing fake bling around the office dressed in a Catholic girl school uniform AKA Britney Beers, especially at 40 is not the way to go, if you wish to be taken seriously.

futureprogress

at 15:58 on June 27th, 2008

"Glint from the Sun, blinds their Logic from their Fishing Tackle they have pierced through every orfice in their face as bling, bling. If you wish to succeed and have a moderate salary, dressed like a 16 year old boy, spouting Gangsta wearing fake bling around the office dressed in a Catholic girl school uniform AKA Britney Beers, especially at 40 is not the way to go, if you wish to be taken seriously."

haha... agreed ;)

Barry Artiste

at 05:11 on June 28th, 2008

Thanks for the comments Future, glad it put a smile on your face.

Anonymous (not verified)

at 18:08 on July 8th, 2008

as you like to call it Gangsta lingo ... is what makes america, america... simple as that .. america is a diverse place, how would we be if we all spoke the same or even dressed the same, if we wanted that every person would be the same . and i woulnt have it any other way

Barry Artiste

at 19:13 on July 8th, 2008

Thanks Anonymous for your comments, in which I reply, then they should not bitch when their language prevents them from getting a job, as not everyone can be a gangsta rapper.

some irretated guy (not verified)

at 22:41 on August 24th, 2008

yo I hate when old people do this type of shit, i mean come on, you think your generation of slang was cool? come on, seriously, if you only knew what these words actually meant and not ask another middle class kid or look up on the internet of what it meant, then you know why its named that. Seriously stop flaming on our words, i grew up in a ghetto and yea i occasionally use it, but not all the time. What i really think is old people like you just get frustrated because you feel left out when you don't know what the words mean or where your kid learns it from. And seriously, if you're gonna use some famous person to use as an example, pick a better one, because P.Diddy is seriously more into his clothing line thant into his music now (which is where most of the middle class white kids get their words from) AND one last note PLEASE DO NOT GROUP WORDS THAT ARE FROM DIFFERENT YOUTH CULTURES. EMO IS IN THE ROCK/PUNK KIND OF CULTURE, WHILE HOMIE IS FROM THE HIP HOP CULTURE, 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CULTURES. dam man, and i thought the adult population wanted us to study more, dam and you can't even get your research right.

Barry Artiste

at 23:39 on August 24th, 2008

Yo, and your profession in life would be? Perhaps a Paper Hat or pray tell a Band?

some irretated guy (not verified)

at 11:16 on August 25th, 2008

wtf is that, what kind of comeback is that? woow even a wigger can come up with a better diss than that. Oh shit, might as well explain what a wigger is before you go off writing some bogus article about what it means. Wigger = white person trying to act black or trying to blend into the hip hop culture when really theyre not anything close to one and end up mocking themselves (do not mistake this for a cool wigger which is the same but can pull it off to look good, you still following me old man?) Dam man you must feel soo proud of yourself that you think you can come back with a smart comment like that? PAPER HAT? WHAT THE HELL. and for the record im a law student. and man get it right again, you can obviously tell im not part of the punk/rock culture, so why would you pick band of all disses? if you were trying to diss my culture of music, might as well go with the right word perhaps? shit yo i can't believe you actually think you're high and mighty like that. Walk through an actual hood talkin like you are now, i garantee you, youre gonna get beat up and most likely not gonna be the "evil gangsters" thats gonna do it. Im younger than you and yet i kno a very important lesson that you don't, You don't want trouble, then don't start nothing. and i bet you're still going to try to come back again with a bad diss and im still going to end up belittling your diss. shit man i cant wait for you to reply, i showed my HOMIES (Homie = closer than a close friend, like your brother, man i was dieing to get that out) this article you wrote and man they laughed sooo hard but the funny part was when i showed them your comeback, one was like "yo thats soo bad, man i feel so sorry for this guy evn if he walked through the hood, id be like yo don't dont nobody mess with him, man don't blame him, he just doesnt understand, itd be like hitting a kid wit a mental disability." But thanks though man, for filling my day with so much laughter.

anonymous anonymous (not verified)

at 20:21 on August 25th, 2008

haha word homie, spoken like a tru g. haha hes evn too pussy to reply back

Barry Artiste

at 22:11 on August 25th, 2008

No, not a pussy, notice you did not have the testicles to reply to my comment on your profession and what you do besides rant to me, You still did not answer my question first on what exciting scintillating and intelligent profession you are in? Guess who is laughing now, and I bet it ain't you and your homies! But I digress, I should apologise to you, my Momma, said never argue with the mentally disabled, cause I would lose every time.

some irretated guy (not verified)

at 22:38 on August 25th, 2008

are you stupid? can't you read? IM A LAW STUDENT. and heres one important tip, don't use homies like that, you can't even begin to kno what a real homie is. Trying to imitate our language to try to diss me aint all that great either. It just shows you can't really think of anything else to try to diss so you pick the only thing there is, try to say my type of talk in a way where you see it as a diss.And trying to use my boy's diss about the mental disability thing against me, I'll give you credit it was a good idea, but you kind of used it where it backlashed on you. Any disses that involves Momma is only good if its about the person you're tring to diss's momma. Man i feel so proud of myself, i am way smarter than a 50 yearold guy. Wait hold that, nah i aint proud, its just something to be expected of a hipocrite. Adults want us young population to learn to be more open minded and learn to accept differences in culture, race, etc. But what is this article about? you're trying to diss about youth culture. Dam old man you understand that? since you wanna hate on youth culture so much, i'll give you a brief list of what EVERY youth hates about the old population.
1. You tell us messages and teach us morales that seem inconsitent with you
2. You're slow as hell. Would it not make sense if you was gonna die soon, to live life as fast as you can to get the most out of it?
3. You can turn any fun thing into the worst experience anyone can go through. example:
A kid and his parents go to a dinner party with some family friends. The parents want to make the weirdest order, with so many exceptions to dishes and side orders and meals and every thing, it seems that the ordering was longer than the whole dam party.
4. LEARN TO RELAX, BIGGEST THING. you see some kids drinking at 2 in the morning, not bothering anyone, causing no noise pollution, but you call the cops just because its against the law. did they bother anyone? no. did you bother anyone? yes, you probably woke up more people than what the kids would have done that night with the cops rolling around.

the list goes man man, if i listed even a quarter of what's wrong with your generation, id be sitting here till im your age. But you know, i seriously have no problem with old people and middle aged people. It's a simple philosiphy, if you're cool with me then i'm cool with you. But lately it seems you guys keep trying to diss everything we got. Grow up man, your generations peak fun time is over, don't be jealous and try to take away the fun of the younger generation.

oh and by the way. My homies read your reply, guess what. One almost choked from the laughter. the other was calling everyone in the dorm to read it. the whole floor laughed. WHOS THE MENTAL DISABILITIED GUY NOW. HAHA and i again man i still wanna thank you, cause yet again, you managed to make my day full with lot's of laughter. Read this whole thing carefully before you try to diss again, cause i really hate to make a grown man cry.

Barry Artiste

at 08:58 on September 1st, 2008

Yeah well as a Law Student, rest assured you would not use rapper and ghetto speak in front of a judge, unless you were looking at putting away your client for a long, long time.,

homiegirll (not verified)

at 01:22 on September 1st, 2008

yo homie boy, you're trippin now. you're way overreacting and immature, you may be a irritated guy, but you are NOT the shit and you sure can't even spell a damn word. leave the old man alone.i don't respect a little boy who disrespected a older man with the wisdom of the word. if you are so damn smart, then you should know better you can't disrespect any elders trying to understand you. if i knew you, i would've already bitch-slapped you. don't talk back to me, for i am a badass bitch. thanks.

life lesson learned: don't respect any elder and just stfu

Ps: Back to the appropriate language. I can speak anyone's language, so Barry- love all of your articles, it's quite true. we should act like more appropriate and I don't think it's appropriate for any girl or woman to dress trashy regardless of any age either and more good looking guys should act like they belong to the middle classes. More girls would probably dress more better in ghetto towns. Thankfully I don't live in a ghetto life. America deserves much better than that. Don't dress gangsta or trashy, you give respect in order to get respect.

Barry Artiste

at 09:03 on September 1st, 2008

Thanks Homiegirl, you are definitely a sweetheart, and know it is not the culture but language used, my boy is a police recruit, and is deep in rap culture, but knows which language is appropriate to use in front of the public. As for me being old, well I am not that old. haha. As for culture, and music, I remember as a teen listening to Van Halen and Michael Jackson in my room, and my Dad yelling at me to turn that crap down. I promised myself, I would never do that to my kid, Well I guess it turns out I am my fathers son, as sometime I tell my son to turn that rap off or turn it down. Thanks for your comments, truly appreciated.,

reply some irretated guy (not verified)

at 00:42 on September 13th, 2008

wtf? now old people are banding together on the internet? ahaha what a joke. and again yo, don't try to use our talk to try to diss it. Dam, do you know how much you humiliated yourselves? and for the record, i obviously wouldnt use my talk in front of a judge, DAM HOW COME EVERY SINGLE OLD PERSON WHO LEARNS HOW TO USE THE COMPUTER THINK THEY" ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY? and who says i dont respect my elders? im fuckin asian we learn to respect our elders.... im just hating on this guy becuase hey, he dissed my shit so im gonna diss his, simple as that. Oh and sorry for the late reply yo, me and my homeboys been tryna find ways to get around them pigs in blue (oh wait better explain that before you say something completely useless about it), pigs in blue means = those gayass cops that bust you for gay shit and i aint whining about how cops always bust us for everything, im sayin those cops that bust you for meaningless shit (example your hanging with your boys on the corner, cop comes and says "excuse me but your loitering" we say "but mr popo, we aint in no ones way, we just standin here and chillin" cop says "thats it your all under arrest for ressisting arrest")

And do you reeeeaaalllly want me to diss you? cause i have a concious andeverytime i diss you, i feel bad.

I didnt even say this to anyone, but somehow im like the guy whos being praised now by the law school student community in my province that i made fun of a guy like you, and dam, you could have just been smart, and keep your gay mouth shut about this whole thing, or get a little research, AND THEN write the article.

Ps. uhh michal jackson and van halen..... yeah i never even heard of van halen, and MJ is considered the bad old school stuff. old schools good, but theres a dark side, and MJ is in that dark side.

and to homiegirl (for Buddha's sake, AT LEAST GET THE DAM WORD RIGHT, ITS HOMEGIRL)
why you tryna act hard? overreacting? did you even read what i wrote at all? i kept saying "yea me and my boys had so much fun reading this shit, we laughed so hard" obviosuly i didnt overreact, im having fun, but for real, it seems the older you get, the less you can read between the lines. Enough said, and again i apologize for this late reply, im tryna get the popo in trouble for tryna bust my ass for standing on the corner.

Next time you reply, or anyone who tryna act hard to me, know this, im a law student, dont even try, ill beat your ass at proving your wrong anyday.