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On 'Weird' And The Evolution Of Terms
Posted by Austin
on
2:21 PM
in
crap
A question -- when did the term 'weird' get co-opted by teenage girls? Or, similarly, when did the term 'random' get stolen too?
Let's take a step back.
Over the last few days, I've been following the internet thrashing of an eleven year old girl by some cyber-bullies. That's not particularly funny, but what is funny is that eventually her dad got involved, and posted a YouTube video with a couple intensely memorable phrases. I'll let you watch that but, warning, there's some strong language.
Anyway, that's not the point. The whole drama with this teenage girl started over an internet rumor, and an incredibly obnoxious and self-involved YouTube video response she made back to it. In the video (which I'm not going to link, because it is probably the easiest way to ensure you never want children ever again), the teenage girl drops a pretty common phrase nowadays:
"I know, I'm weird..."
She says it with this sort of smile, as if there's an understated message there. And I think there is. I think the word 'weird' has been stolen by teenagers, and changed into something else entirely.
Back in the day, nobody wanted to be called 'weird'. Being weird was bad; hell, it was basically a social death sentence. The weird kid was the one in the Iron Maiden shirt, who smelled like pot and read fantasy novels at lunch. But somewhere along the line (and I'm not sure where), 'weird' got picked up as a synonym for 'interesting'.
More precisely, I think 'weird' got changed to short-hand for 'I think I'm a rare, special butterfly who sometimes does WAAAACKY stuff and lol aren't I so creative'. Evidence of this is everywhere; go on Twitter and search for 'I'm Weird', and see how many results you get. All from teenage girls. Even on my Facebook, I'll see status updates from teenage girls who are very clearly popular, but who are sure to alert the world: "lol I know I'm so weird".
(Fun Tip: Want to die inside? Search 'I'm Weird' basically anywhere.)
I think 'weird', and 'random', are basically dead. 'Weird', because it no longer actually describes weirdness, but is instead attached to any cookie-cutter teenage girl looking to differentiate herself from the rest of the masses. 'Random' is dead for a similar reason; any search of Twitter or Facebook or MySpace or anywhere where people socially network indicates that 'random' is the new 'LOL I CHEWED A WHOLE PACK OF GUM TODAY AREN'T I SO ORIGINAL AND CRAZY?!'
I'm not necessarily saying that 'weird' and 'random' losing meaning is a bad thing. Language changes, and it's nice to have words typically used as negative descriptors being used as 'positive' labels by younger groups. I just think it's disingenuous. Going to the mall and buying ice cream cones with your friends doesn't make you 'weird'. You're not 'random' because you suddenly started singing in the middle of the grocery store.
Maybe I'm just crotchety in regards to teenagers. Maybe the co-opting of 'weird' hits home in an unusual way because, throughout my younger years, I was sometimes called 'weird' and it wasn't endearing and it didn't make me popular. But 'weird' isn't your word. 'Weird' doesn't belong to the peroxide-blonde masses.
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Let's take a step back.
Over the last few days, I've been following the internet thrashing of an eleven year old girl by some cyber-bullies. That's not particularly funny, but what is funny is that eventually her dad got involved, and posted a YouTube video with a couple intensely memorable phrases. I'll let you watch that but, warning, there's some strong language.
Anyway, that's not the point. The whole drama with this teenage girl started over an internet rumor, and an incredibly obnoxious and self-involved YouTube video response she made back to it. In the video (which I'm not going to link, because it is probably the easiest way to ensure you never want children ever again), the teenage girl drops a pretty common phrase nowadays:
"I know, I'm weird..."
She says it with this sort of smile, as if there's an understated message there. And I think there is. I think the word 'weird' has been stolen by teenagers, and changed into something else entirely.
Back in the day, nobody wanted to be called 'weird'. Being weird was bad; hell, it was basically a social death sentence. The weird kid was the one in the Iron Maiden shirt, who smelled like pot and read fantasy novels at lunch. But somewhere along the line (and I'm not sure where), 'weird' got picked up as a synonym for 'interesting'.
More precisely, I think 'weird' got changed to short-hand for 'I think I'm a rare, special butterfly who sometimes does WAAAACKY stuff and lol aren't I so creative'. Evidence of this is everywhere; go on Twitter and search for 'I'm Weird', and see how many results you get. All from teenage girls. Even on my Facebook, I'll see status updates from teenage girls who are very clearly popular, but who are sure to alert the world: "lol I know I'm so weird".
(Fun Tip: Want to die inside? Search 'I'm Weird' basically anywhere.)
I think 'weird', and 'random', are basically dead. 'Weird', because it no longer actually describes weirdness, but is instead attached to any cookie-cutter teenage girl looking to differentiate herself from the rest of the masses. 'Random' is dead for a similar reason; any search of Twitter or Facebook or MySpace or anywhere where people socially network indicates that 'random' is the new 'LOL I CHEWED A WHOLE PACK OF GUM TODAY AREN'T I SO ORIGINAL AND CRAZY?!'
I'm not necessarily saying that 'weird' and 'random' losing meaning is a bad thing. Language changes, and it's nice to have words typically used as negative descriptors being used as 'positive' labels by younger groups. I just think it's disingenuous. Going to the mall and buying ice cream cones with your friends doesn't make you 'weird'. You're not 'random' because you suddenly started singing in the middle of the grocery store.
Maybe I'm just crotchety in regards to teenagers. Maybe the co-opting of 'weird' hits home in an unusual way because, throughout my younger years, I was sometimes called 'weird' and it wasn't endearing and it didn't make me popular. But 'weird' isn't your word. 'Weird' doesn't belong to the peroxide-blonde masses.
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