Half-penny thoughts — 05feb26

I am probably the only person in the world annoyed with this, but the rampant use of acronyms like O.G. (“original gangster”) for everything and anyone, and G.O.A.T. (“greatest of all time”) bugs me in ways that I can’t express.

Under current usage, someone can apply O.G. to Bob Dylan for his crossover folk/rock music. And there are bound to be people who are certain he is the G.O.A.T.

The first (O.G.) was the headscratcher when my eldest used it in reference to the post-punk band Joy Division (active 1976-1980). Having grown up in a neighborhood where O.G. meant something entirely different, I made a scrunched up face to let her know that I was almighty confused by what she had said. “Echo and the Bunnymen” was another band that she labeled O.G.

Now, I’m lame and out of touch, but I was trying to understand just how Joy Division were original gangsters… She then informs me as to the current meaning, which is applied to when what most people I know will think “old school” will work just fine. The Cure? O.G. goth? Wut?

Don’t get me started as to how silly “greatest of all time” sounds when you critically think about it. Before, now and forever? Really? Will you even remember the person you called a GOAT in three years? And yes, it is bandied about with flash-in-the-pan personalities even more than long-standing talent of all kinds.

Am I just an old fuddy-duddy? Or do you find some of these things to be just outright silly (“SIXSEVEN!”)? Are there slang quirks that bother you? Do you really hate it when I say “Groovy, man”? Do I need to get to hepcat and quit being so square?

Please note: I am not mortally offended by any these things, but they do seem quite silly and absurd in terms of slang developments over the years. Keep comments, should you have any, lighthearted and fun.


30 responses to “Half-penny thoughts — 05feb26”

  1. Chico’s Mom Avatar

    We have a very mixed group where I work. Our oldest employee is 65 and our youngest is 20. We use an app to talk to each other instead of slower e-mails or an intercom system. The younger ones will get on there all the time and talk about or use terms I’m clueless about, such as Cameron Whitcomb. I have no idea who that is. So when they all start talking about things I know nothing about, I put up an emoji of an owl. 🦉 They all know it’s me. And someone will tell me who or what they are talking about. 😂 Someone I can hear others laugh and say, I didn’t know that either. 😂

    1. michael raven Avatar

      Lol. Cameron whosit? 🤣 I’m so old.

      1. Chico’s Mom Avatar

        They make me feel old all the time. I’m so not up on current culture. I was going to say pop culture but most of them don’t like pop music.

        1. michael raven Avatar

          What I find amusing is that my twins can’t STAND modern music and listen to the 80s/90s stations (or stream those songs). No attempt on my part to encourage it, as I usually drive in silence. They tell me that modern music sucks. 🤣

  2. lyndhurstlaura Avatar

    All these current acronyms get on my nerves too, Michael – I can’t keep up! Even when I was teaching (for my sins) many years ago I was out of touch, hence I had a symathetic student gently telling me that having ‘a smoke’ meant illicit substances. Not in my vocab, mate; we did that too, but smoking just means an innocent cigarette. Your reference to ‘GOAT’ brings to mind a recent ad here in the UK which makes the point. It was for male toiletries – bath gel, deodorant etc – and aimed at the black community, including the rap music and voiceover. It contained cartoon images, including a frequent one of a goat, as in the animal with horns, and insisted that using this range of toiletries would make the user the GOAT. Big problem, as to those of us watching who weren’t of that section of society, and to whom goats smell bad (it’s a fact, if you’ve ever been to a farm where they’re kept) – and from that you can draw a certain inference which I won’t state here. The ad didn’t last long, which I presume was because somebody or somebodies let the company know that they’d misjudged this one. They may have sold toiletries to their target market, but they also invited a negative impact elsewhere. Conclusion? For these acronyms to work when used in this way it’s necessary for everbody – and I mean everybody – to be clear on what’s meant by them. Just try to speak your own language in a way that can be understood by all.

    1. michael raven Avatar

      You never know, goat might be an improvement for some people (I might prefer it over the patchouli that was popular in my 20s, which smells like bad BO used to cover up BO in my opinion).

      I sometimes wonder who test markets those kinds of ideas and who gave it the thumbs up to proceed.

      My job is filled with acronyms and I am constantly scrambling to decipher what people are trying to tell me when they are talking about something like a SWMU (pronounced “schmoo”, for whatever reason), or some other environmental engineering coded acronym. They just assume I know it because… reasons.

      I hear you.

      1. lyndhurstlaura Avatar

        You have my sympathy for the issue of acronyms at work, but not for the patchouli, which I loved in my teens, along with Afghan coats! To sum up my attitude now – DILLIGAF. 🙂

        1. michael raven Avatar

          Yep. Had to look that up. 😂

          To be fair, the kids in the 90s wearing it were unbathed for as much as a year (occasionally more) because of some weird anti-bathing fetish. It seemed to enhance their BO, not cover it, and anytime I smell it these days it smells like BO in my mind.

          I’m sure they said the same when I wore myrrh. Except I like bathing, always have.

          1. lyndhurstlaura Avatar

            Ditto. I wore it in the seventies, when we liked bathing a whole lot more, and wore flowers in our hair too. I can understand it linking to the unwashed smell in your memory, which is pretty unfair on the patchouli but the fault of those unwashed ones. Maybe that’s where the GOAT thing comes into it, in the original sense. 😂

          2. michael raven Avatar

            LMAO. It may very well be.

  3. lodestarwytch Avatar

    ….even I had to google Sixseven 😅 😂 🤣

    1. michael raven Avatar

      I think it is a US thing. And it is already dead and buried according to my twins. “It was never cool dad, and now it is just sad when someone says it.” 😂

      1. Jennifer Patino Avatar

        How quickly their own slang becomes “uncool” is fascinating to me. Two week shelf life, I swear. 🙃

        1. michael raven Avatar

          The problem, as I understand it, is when the adults started to use it as a joke. That killed it right away.

          1. Jennifer Patino Avatar

            Yeah I think it’s that. My brother told me the best way to stop his kids from using a slang he can’t stand is to start using it excessively. 😁

      2. chrisnelson61 Avatar

        I find it all quite hilarious really the speed with which new generations – although these things happen far more quickly thanks to the ways in which communication has changed – invent new words/acronyms/meanings to make themselves feel different and apart; and once they become accepted new ones are required!
        I must admit to being someone who takes the piss a bit when I hear such things!
        Having said that these young ‘uns do have a bit of sympathy from me – what can they do to shock and appear different when us older folk have seen it all?

        1. michael raven Avatar

          To quote Jane’s Addition: “TV has those images / TV’s got them all / Nothing’s Shocking”.

          Although, what the younger generations will eat of nonfood items to get hits on their social media sites is a bit disturbing.

          1. chrisnelson61 Avatar

            🤣 PLEASE LOOK AT ME!!!

          2. michael raven Avatar

            How’s that Tide pod working for you?

  4. Bob Avatar

    I’m with you on the acronyms. Just don’t get it. GOAT just drives me nuts. Especially seeing how much it’s used.

  5. Jennifer Patino Avatar

    Eh, I say let them have it. We had our fair share of slang. I liked using slang from different eras in high school that I wasn’t even around for. “You’re the bees knees” etc In 20 years maybe I’ll bust out “rizz” or something just for kicks. 😉

    1. michael raven Avatar

      Everyone rolls their eyes at groovy. Or when I say, “There’s this one cat I know and he…” Drives people crazy. 😁

      1. Jennifer Patino Avatar

        Some people… smh

  6. Bridgette Avatar

    Some of the phrases do sort of grate against my skin, but mostly I chuckle at how silly the english language is. How we always seem to find new ways to say things, and who knows what will take off. A sure fire way to stop your kids from saying anything, in my experience, is to start saying it. Suddenly it’s not as cool anymore!

    1. michael raven Avatar

      I’m lucky that the girls are largely unimpressed by slang fads and make up their own with their friends that no one else uses, so they always keep it interesting. But if I want to kill it, I just overuse it. I get the stink eye really quick. Lol.

      1. Bridgette Avatar

        Sounds about right.

  7. shredbobted Avatar

    “That’s when a sport was a sport, and groovin’ was groovin’ . . .”

Leave a comment. Markdown use is permitted.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.