Re: A Friday query

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

Margaret Gerard posts a funky query:

> 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,..."

[...]

Here's what my "xwebster" shows for funky.

1funky \'fe{nj}-ke^-\
(1837)
:being in a state of funk: PANICKY

2funky adj  funk-i-er; -est
[funk (offensive odor)]
(1899)
1: having an offensive odor: FOUL
2: having an earthy unsophisticated style and feeling; esp: having
     the style and feeling of blues <funky piano playing>
3: odd or quaint in appearance or style
-- funk-i-ness n

I'd say that among all of the meanings (and I was surprised there were
so many), all of the uses of the word you included seem valid.

|Len Olszewski, Project Manager  |     "Not everyone who snores is    |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA|      sleeping." - Source Unknown   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|











> 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.