On Ridiculous Language.

Bomb. Boss. Killer. Absurd. Obscene. Wicked. Dope. Tight. Hard. Fresh. Fine. Busted. Wet. Beat. There seems to be no end to the use of words conveying everything but their actual meaning. As a daily offender who uses the word “ridiculous” to describe everything—which in and of itself is ridiculous—I am deeply humored by the variety of words floating around popular culture, peppering our lives with the little bit of flavor we didn’t know we were missing.

Sometimes a word’s slang use seems so perfect, so legit, so solid, as if the thing being described needed a made-up meaning to fully encapsulate it. Other times it’s a bit of a stretch, a bit sorry, borderline weak. But when I hear what comes out of people’s mouths, I can’t help but think its remarkable what passes for language.

Yet, it’s not just what passes for language that’s remarkable, for most of us need merely grunt to get a point across, it’s the meanings that are commonly understood and culturally adopted as definition that are so astonishing. Slang is defined as, “an informal, nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech.” Ah yes, “facetious figures of speech,” a.k.a. shady noise. Ridiculous in the City has traced slang’s origins to the 12^th century when people first adopted the use of popular phrases to meet their needs. The word wretched meant “awesome” and the word shrew was a categorical “hell no.”

What’s interesting today is that the words being used are ridiculous, at best. “Bomb” is a term whose popularity in the slang annals is more curious than amusing. I mean, bomb? A word that literally means, “an explosive devise,” somehow passes as an enthusiastic affirmation, leading to the phrase, “It’s the bomb.” Or how about “wet?” Wet, a term for “soaked with liquid,” doubles as a descriptor for something that is distasteful, unappealing, a total no… Dude, it’s wet.

What of phrases like “fronting,” “busting,” and “jocking?” Jocking is not actually a word, but a slang term derived from the word “jock,” meaning “athlete” or “a person devoted to a single pursuit or interest.” Jock, of course, comes from “jockstrap,” making its definition both amusing and literal. But the term “jocking” refers to liking someone so much so that you are often blindly into them. I believe NWA said it best, “Cruisin’ down the street in my 6-4, jockin’ the bitches, slappin’ the hoes.”

Jockstraps and crushing on fools, I see the parallels.

Is it that slang is so open to interpretation that anything can pass for an accepted definition? It would certainly seem to be the case in phrases like “off the chain” and “off the hook,” both of which are commonly used to describe something which is insanely good, not an item that has, in fact, fallen off said chain. And what of the linguistic license being taken in the use of terms like trippin,’ or wigging? Wigging or wiggin,’ is a slang word for “freaking out.” No doubt its use came from the word “wig,” and the act of flipping ones wig when freaking out, but wiggin’ is a word that sounds utterly ridiculous.

Sites like Urbandictionary.com have given rise to more widespread knowledge of slang terms we once thought only our friends were using and given even the most ridiculous slang terms a place in the world of defined words, but that’s no surprise, the internet is responsible for furthering many etymological oddities. Phrases like “amaze,” “cray,” and “totes,” which aren’t even whole words, but bastardized abbreviations of words we once knew and loved. Their use is totes cray, but somehow they succeed in filling the brains of slang users everywhere.

I harken back to a time when slang was slang and it meant something, when words like “hard” and “fresh” could have kicked cray’s weak ass. When a word like “rad,” not only expressed how exceedingly cool something was, but as an abbreviation of “radical,” its adoption as a categorical “yes,” was radical in itself. Words like “tight” and “beat” are close to my heart and, even though I occasionally hear a slang term that should mos def be peaced, I love slang. I love the invented aspect of it, ridiculous terminology meeting meaning in a stroke of pure genius. I love saying something lame is totally beat, super wack, busted, needs to be eighty-sixed. I love that something that was once “major” is now so major it’s “epic,” like insanely, epic. I love the phrase “fine” as physical descriptor—“Is he hot?” “Girl, his ass is fine.” I love saying something amazing is ridiculous, dope, tight as hell.

Nothing is more boss than something that’s tight as hell.

As an entity, slang has the uncanny ability to speak of a time in history, reference particular geographical locations, and also be socially current. If you grew up in the early 1980s in Los Angeles, your slang terminology and references are quite different than someone who hails from New York City, or mid 1990s London. But, I’d venture to guess that, today, we are all using some of the same slang (“That shiz be ridiculously fly, homie.”), due in large part to popular music, television and movies that have given rise to shared terms around the world.

Slang is a cultural touchstone and social unifier in a way few things can be. Cue “We Are the World.” On the other hand, slang can also make you feel as though you are aging more rapidly than you realized. Hearing kids say new phrases I am ignorant of makes me feel like an elderly alien, standing in the corner mumbling, “Wait, I’m still down,” as my tears form little pools in my crow’s feet. But I continue to smile at new word interpretations that, on some level, only kids can invent. And I have long since given up the fight on thinking that I had slang terms that were mine and mine alone. Yes, everyone else was also saying “sketchy” and referring to cheesy dudes as “Cha Chis.”

I pledge to you that I will never get too old to love slang, never hate on the words I know and love, never stop embracing new descriptors—at least those that don’t suck, and never, ever stop flagging those that do. And I hope I never get too old or too culturally deaf to be in the know on hip phrases. Should that occur, there are always some tweens I can stalk.

Although, I’m sure at least one person started reading this and thought, “Oh my god, no one says ‘wicked’ any more.” Which is cool, wicked was busted from day one. Fo shiz.