A Friday query

[Margaret Gerard <margaret%mailhost -at- TOSHIBA -dot- TIC -dot- OZ -dot- AU>]

Hi Techwhirlers,

In the spirit of the "barbecue" and "you've got another think
coming" threads..........

Some time back, someone (maybe Matthew Abe) posted some info
on things to do in Minneapolis during the conference.  In
describing a particular area he said something like:
        "There are lots of funky restaurants there."

I noticed the "funky" and thought it was a bit strange - I
didn't know what he meant but, since I wasn't going to the
conference, I didn't ask.

Today a post has come from Karla McMaster saying:
        "But the writer can't make a funky product look good,..."

Now "funky" is a word you don't hear much in Australia - I've
never read it in a magazine or heard it in conversation but I've
read it in novels and heard it on TV and I thought it was pre-war
British slang for "cowardly" i.e. "in a funk" means "terrified".
I also had a very vague idea that there is an entirely different
usage that has something to do with afro-american music.  So the
two usages that have popped up recently in this forum have left
me completely mystified.

What does "funky" mean?  Is it slang?  Is it confined to
converstaion? (I consider these posts to be conversation.)  What
is a funky restaurant?

By the way, aren't there going to be any posts from those
who attended the conference :>(

Cheers,
Margaret Gerard         email: margaret -at- toshiba -dot- tic -dot- oz -dot- au
Sydney
Australia.