Talk the talk of the sub-cultures
Talk the talk by Luc Reid is published by Writer's Digest Books (2006) and is a slang dictionary. The "about the editor" paragraph says Reid is the founder of the neo-pro (?) writers' group Codex which promotes the exchange of information, ideas, and writing wisdom among pro-level writers and other good stuff, and has published in Galaxy Press anthologies. His web site is http://www.lucreid.com.The book is sort of fun to look through, and makes you realize that no matter how careful you are in using English, you could be offending anyone at any time just because of the huge variety of subcultured words. I think there was a time when a lot of our slang came from the prison population then moved into the main stream via the entertainment world, but obviously there are many sources.
Some of the cultures represented (neither librarians or Christians made the cut because he doesn't cover professions or religions) are:
- Americans in Antarctica
bag drag - weighing luggage in preparation for flying out
house mouse - temporary janitorial duty at the station - Bicyclist and mountain bikers
Betty - generic name for a female rider
BSG - bike store guy - gardeners
harden off - accustom an indoor plant to the outdoors
lasagna bed - soil has been piled up on top of the existing ground in layers - politicians
big foot - well-known media figure
bafflegab - speech or statements without clear meaning
lunch bucket - having to do with working class - skateboarders
snake - jump ahead in a queue
wood-pusher - derogatory name for skateboarders, used most often by rollerbladers
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3 comments:
Thanks for the mention, Norma; a writing group friend noticed your post and let me know about it.
Professions were really tempting; I wish I'd had the space for them, but that's enough material for another good-sized book in itself. So, do any good librarian slang terms come to mind?
Luc Reid
When we throw away a book, we "deacquisition" it. I always thought that one was sort of strange. And of course, our books are monographs and our magazines are serials, but books can come in series, and can be serialized. Even the serials can have series. Each area of specialty like preservation, cataloging and bibliography have their own terms and even a librarian could get lost. You were wise to draw the line at professional jargon.
I love stuff like this. Just plain old fascinating. The other day, my younger daughter, a high school senior, told me a new one.
Know those annoying, lower back tatoos lots of girls (and women old enough to know better) get?
My daughter informed me that this is referred to as a "tramp stamp."
I hadn't been to your blog in a few days. You really crank them out. If one wants to keep up with you, we must check in more often.
I would have commented on the ethanol one too, but I just get mad thinking about how silly the whole thing is getting.
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