by David Hoffman
Starting a few years ago, in everyday conversations with my wife Sharon, when she would make a point I thought was especially relevant or well said, I would reply: "Word."
I promise you this was mostly meant to be self-mocking. I was way too old to be using such an urban slang-ish term, and anyway that use of "Word" had jumped the shark years before. But it was a highly efficient way to convey multiple meanings: humorously acknowledging that I'm tragically unhip; poking fun at the possibility that I might mistake myself for hip because I'm around younger people so often; saluting our relationship, in which love makes self-mockery painless and enjoyable; and, yes, agreeing with Sharon's point and phrasing.
At least, that's what it meant when I started. But before long my using "Word" to acknowledge Sharon's points had become a habit--a bad one, in her view, since the term seemed drained of its humor by overuse. So she started to push back: "Stop saying 'Word!'"
But even her pushing back was kind of funny, because she was accusing me of being so extremely unhip that I was blind to the falseness of my self-mockery. So I had to fight back. I pointed out that she also overused a phrase: Every time our dog Bucky jumped on the sofa, she would yell "Don't sit on Bucky!," as if I was always just one warning away from crushing the canine. To mock her, I switched phrases: Whenever I would previously have said, "Word," I would instead say, "Don't sit on Bucky!"
Then she started using "Don't sit on Bucky" the same way, and we sort of got used to it. The result is this: In my home, "Don't sit on Bucky" is a synonym for "I fully endorse what you just said." (Also: "Seriously, don't sit on the dog").
I love that words are not fixed, and all of us have the power, through relationships, to create local meanings that extend our capacity to know and communicate with each other. What are some of the meanings you've helped to create? What's your "Don't sit on Bucky"?
Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from the Office of Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter.
Starting a few years ago, in everyday conversations with my wife Sharon, when she would make a point I thought was especially relevant or well said, I would reply: "Word."
I promise you this was mostly meant to be self-mocking. I was way too old to be using such an urban slang-ish term, and anyway that use of "Word" had jumped the shark years before. But it was a highly efficient way to convey multiple meanings: humorously acknowledging that I'm tragically unhip; poking fun at the possibility that I might mistake myself for hip because I'm around younger people so often; saluting our relationship, in which love makes self-mockery painless and enjoyable; and, yes, agreeing with Sharon's point and phrasing.
At least, that's what it meant when I started. But before long my using "Word" to acknowledge Sharon's points had become a habit--a bad one, in her view, since the term seemed drained of its humor by overuse. So she started to push back: "Stop saying 'Word!'"
But even her pushing back was kind of funny, because she was accusing me of being so extremely unhip that I was blind to the falseness of my self-mockery. So I had to fight back. I pointed out that she also overused a phrase: Every time our dog Bucky jumped on the sofa, she would yell "Don't sit on Bucky!," as if I was always just one warning away from crushing the canine. To mock her, I switched phrases: Whenever I would previously have said, "Word," I would instead say, "Don't sit on Bucky!"
Then she started using "Don't sit on Bucky" the same way, and we sort of got used to it. The result is this: In my home, "Don't sit on Bucky" is a synonym for "I fully endorse what you just said." (Also: "Seriously, don't sit on the dog").
I love that words are not fixed, and all of us have the power, through relationships, to create local meanings that extend our capacity to know and communicate with each other. What are some of the meanings you've helped to create? What's your "Don't sit on Bucky"?
Co-Create UMBC is a blog for and about UMBC, written by David Hoffman and Craig Berger from the Office of Student Life. Join the Co-Create UMBC group on MyUMBC. Like Co-Create UMBC on Facebook. And follow David and Craig on Twitter.
