By Marie O'Neal, Staff Writer
We’re back with another slang article, but this time with a twist.
Last week, The Vantage asked Newman professors to try to define modern slang terms used by students. This week, we flipped the roles, with faculty and staff giving students popular slang terms from their younger days, and students trying to guess the meanings.
Once again, we’ll be relying on the top-rated Urban Dictionary definition for the official say-so.
To start off, Associate Director of Admissions Georgia Drewes challenged senior Clare Morgan to define some bomb ’90s slang, largely inspired by the movie “Clueless.”
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Kristi Barton-Edwards quizzed senior Stephania Lopez on some ’80s slang. Associate Professor of English Marguerite Regan brought it home stumping senior Dania Jumpa with her ’80s slang.
Drewes vs. Morgan
All that and a bag of chips
Morgan: “Oh, I know this one. My friend uses it all the time. It means you think you’re so great, plus more. Which is the bag of chips… preferably Baked Lays if you know what’s up.”
Urban Dictionary: To mean that a person is all that and more. Usually it is an opinion and the only one who thinks it is that person. Other people usually don’t believe the person is “all that and a bag of chips.”
WAZZUP
Morgan: “I feel like this was made relevant to my generation by ‘The Office.’”
Drewes: “Yeah, but do you know what movie made it relevant?”
Morgan: “Um, the one with two guys who play the air guitar? It’s something Deanne Zogleman would be disappointed in me for not knowing.”
Drewes: “It’s from the movie ‘Scary Movie.’ They make fun of the ghosty face guy from ‘Scream.’”
Urban Dictionary: A form of “What’s up?”
Get jiggy
Morgan: “Oh, get jiggy with it? Like kinda go crazy? I don’t know, they say it in ‘Scooby-Doo.’”
Drewes: “On the BuzzFeed ’90s slang list it’s “Dancing like nobody’s watching, or without inhibitions.”
Morgan: “That makes me think of Marie. Gettin’ jiggy with it.”
Urban Dictionary: A phrase used while disco dancing. But you can only use it on a Friday or Saturday night when there is a disco ball.
Eat my shorts
Morgan: “Eat my shorts. It just means what it means, like you can just deal with it.”
Drewes: “I’m pretty sure it’s off of ‘Beavis and Butthead’ or some type of cartoon.”
Urban Dictionary: As in the movie “The Breakfast Club,” another way to say “Eat my sh*t.”
Totally buggin’
Morgan: “Can I phone a friend for this one? I have absolutely no idea except just someone buggin’ out and going crazy.”
Drewes: “Yeah, pretty much. A lot of these are from ‘Clueless’ because Paul Rudd is in ‘Clueless’ and he’s basically not aged.”
Urban Dictionary: Trippin’ out.
Barton-Edwards vs. Lopez
Scrub
Lopez: “I’ve heard it, but I don’t really know what it means. Like somebody that’s like lazy and doesn’t dress up?”
Edwards: “I don’t want no scrub. A scrub is a guy that can’t… get no love from me. It’s a person who wants to have a relationship with you who has no resources. No power.”
Urban Dictionary: A guy who mooches off of everyone else and has nothing going for him in life. Probably still lives with his mama, doesn’t have a car, a job, or a plan.
Trippin’
Lopez: “Dang, how do I explain this? Like ‘you’re trippin’?’”
Edwards: “Like you’re totally speaking out of turn, maybe making stuff up. Just being crazy.”
Urban Dictionary: When someone is overreacting or getting all bent out of shape over something small.
Fly girl
Lopez: “You look so fly. Like you’re so cool.”
Edwards: “It’s for women. Like being a fly girl. I was a fly girl, ‘In Living Color’ Jennifer Lopez was a living fly girl. It means I’m really awesome.”
Urban Dictionary: A girl who knows what she wants and goes for it. She doesn’t care what anyone says about it.
Regan vs. Jumpa
Grody to the max
Jumpa: “Something that’s super awesome or super cool?”
Regan: “Something that’s super gross and disgusting.”
Urban Dictionary: Disgusting. Horrible. Literally a horse eating another horse’s poop.
Ralph
Jumpa: “You may have to use that in a sentence.”
Regan: “My sister ralphed in the closet.”
Jumpa: “She changed in the closet?”
Urban Dictionary: To throw up; lurch.
Head banger
Jumpa: “Um, I think it’s someone who moves their head in a certain way.”
Regan: “Yeah, I think Dr. Fox would be a good example of a head banger in the ’80s. Someone who listened to heavy metal and rocked out. With a leather jacket.”
Urban Dictionary: A guy who listens to heavy metal while vigorously nodding his head up and down. Ideally throwing his long hair back and forth for added effect.
No sh*t, Sherlock
Regan: “I think this one’s pretty obvious. We said it all the time.”
Jumpa: “Sherlock I’m assuming is referring to the detective. It’s just like when something is obvious.”
Urban Dictionary: A phrase often used towards someone who states the obvious.
PHOTO: Marie O'Neal, Staff Writer
