Re: A Friday query

[Laura Lemay <lemay -at- DEATH -dot- KALEIDA -dot- COM>]

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

uh oh.  :)  Well, I'll contribute to the off-topic-ness, since I didn't
have much to say in those other two threads....


>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?


Funky.  Oh my.  Funky is indeed slang, but I expect that you'll get
different definitions depending on who you talk to, how old they are,
their socio-ecnomic status (ahem) and where they live.  I can think of
four definitions offhand:


"Funky" as in funky music; refers to the style of music known as funk.
Popular sometime in the 70s, its dancy music with lots of bass.

"Funky" as in not quite good.  I think this is a more general usage;
I've heard it used my older folks more often than not.  "That steak
looks really nice but it smells kind of funky."

"Funky" as in kistchy (or however that word is spelled), unusual or
eccentric in a not at all bad way.  "So you live in an 1889 victorian
with slanted floors, major drafts, little to no electricity and bats.
So what?  Its funky."

"Funky" synonymous with "cool," as used to express admiration or agreement:
"I got front row tickets to see Primus, dude."  "Funky!"


So there ya go.  A short lesson in american slang (or at least california,
upscale, twentysomething slang as of early 1994...)


Laura, hip chick