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Link
Yaco! We don’t live
in the United States, we live... Well, I suppose the youngsters who never had to live through it. Let us continue with our dictionary of the slang of the 1970s. You youngsters might lose your era-envy when you read some of the words we had to use in daily conversation. This week, the last five letters of the alphabet are presented. That's the letters U through Z, for those of us who survived the seventies but lost our ability to count backwards any more than necessary to pass a sobriety test. -U- Uncool -pejorative socially unacceptable, foolish, embarrassing, even morally despicable. Although "cool" was considered out-of-date '60s slang, "uncool" remained very much in use. It is perhaps indicative of the times that coolness was less in need of a term than uncoolness. Maybe nothing was that cool any more. Underground -rhetoric 1. in opposition to or an alternative to usual tastes, styles, or methods. See ALTERNATIVE, COUNTERCULTURE. 2. diminutive of "underground newspaper," a local publication sponsored by stereo stores and yogurt shops. Un-hip -pejorative as with "uncool," "unhip" remained in currency while "hip" was considered out-of-date. See UNCOOL. Unindicted co-conspirator -rhetoric euphemistic term for any of Nixon's evil henchmen in the Watergate conspiracy. In the '60s this same phrase meant anyone who was in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention. Unisex -sexual mores style of dress, hair, and affect that purported to remove gender distinctions. See BOUTIQUE, SHAG. Unreal -pejorative irritating and beyond the bounds of normal behavior. An ironic post-'60s use. See REAL. Untogether - psychological state disorganized in either a logistical and philosophical sense. Unrelated to the phrase "Getting together." See GET IT TOGETHER, OZONE, SPACED Uptight -psychological state 1. tense, nervous, upset, anxious, perhaps neurotic. 2. a generally conservative, rigid outlook. Not enlightened or liberated, repressed sexually, politically, or otherwise. See BRING DOWN, BUMMER, COMING DOWN, FREAK, HASSLE, STRUNG OUT. Upper -drug use a stimulant such as amphetamine (speed). Up yours -pejorative short for "shove it up your ass," an insult and a sodomistic threat. See CRAM IT, SHOVE IT, STICK IT. -V- Veggie -social behavior 1. a vegetarian. 2. a vegetable serving. Veg out -psychological state to enter a vegetative state, to relax, to approach a peaceful blessed mindlessness. Often achieved with the aid of television. See DOWNED OUT, LAID BACK, MELLOW Vibes -psychological state diminutive of vibrations meaning unspoken emotional intensity either sexual or hostile. VPL -sexual mores acronym for Visible Panty Line. The raised outline of a woman's underwear was to the era of polyester slacks was the garter belt was to the era of crinoline. -W- Wail -social behavior 1. to produce a loud shrill noise, of possible musical value. See JAM. 2. to improvise quickly, forcefully, and for some duration. (e.g. "That was the first time he ever picked up a mop and wash bucket in his life, but after a few tokes, he got into it and really started wailing.") 3. to practice violence, physical or verbal, on an object or person. (e.g. "That straight dude said it wasn't cool to wear the Viet Cong flag, so I told him some righteous shit about the War, man, and really started wailing on him.") Wasted -drug use See RIPPED, TOAST, TRASHED. Waterbed -fashion, style, and trend originally developed for therapeutic treatment, this water-filled plastic mattress came with several surprises: 1) algae can grow in the dark. 2) crashing out for eight hours on an un-insulated waterbed can lower your body temperature to room temperature. As the former is best left at 98.6F and the latter is around 72F, this is not healthy or pleasant. 3) despite the undulating motion, water can be harder than steel. 3) if you can synchronize your body movements to the rhythm of the waves, sex can be accomplished with half the effort. Way to go -superlative expression of congratulation, shorthand for the phrase "That was a wonderful way in which to go and do such a thing." Origins in Jock culture. See NO WAY. Wavelength -psychological state train of thought, general concept. (e.g. "You say we're out of money and there's no booze in the house except cooking sherry? Yeah, I think we're on the same wavelength."). Weed -drug use marijuana. See DOOBIE, DOPE, GRASS, JAY, JOINT, NUMBER, POT, ROACH. Wet-lip -drug use to soak the end of a marijuana cigarette with saliva by holding it too long or too deeply in overly-moistened lips. Particularly offensive in communal usage. Also called, by shamefully rural cousins, "Ubangi-lip." These same idiots would eagerly seek to imitate the culture, language, dress, and music of Afro-americans but still be compelled to make this sort of bullshit remark. See BOGART, BOGUE. What's happening? -social behavior interrogative expression. A general inquiry into the state of one's personal life. What it is -social behavior a salutation produced in effort to emulate the social patterns of our Black brothers. It sounded particularly dorky coming from a Sears-clad bourgie with a blonde Beatle haircut. See HAPPENING, WHAT'S-, MAN, WHAT IT IS, MY-, PEACE, SMOKEDOPE. Whip it out -social behavior to produce evidence, to make a grand display, to chagrin others or oneself. Whipped -social behavior 1. tired, exhausted, physically overwhelmed. 2. dominated by a woman, diminutive of "pussy whipped." 3. feminine, despicable, feeble, and repellent, especially to teenage boys, living with their parents, and subject to maternal supervision. Wicked -superlative superlative. A New England regionalism. See BOMB, BAD, BAD ASS, BODACIOUS, COSMIC, HEAVY, HOT, KILLER, MEGA-, MINDBLOWER, PRIMO, RIGHT ON, RIGHTEOUS, SERIOUS. Wimp -pejorative a weakling, a fool. Jock slang used by Freeks in an effort to overcome their effeminate long-hair image. See PUD. Windowpane -drug use a type of acid, formulated on a small gelatin square about the size of four match heads. Reckoned at a dosage of approximately 1,000 micrograms. See ACID, HIT, MIC. Wiped, Wiped Out -drug use See WASTED. Whoa! -superlative expression of surprise or delight. Wuss -pejorative diminutive of "wussie," a variation of "pussy," a slang term for vagina. A pejorative meaning effeminate. Jock slang. Ironically, "wussie" was used by adolescent males in attempted expression of male bravado yet it was a timid alternative to "pussy," the use of which might get them in trouble with their mothers and (mostly female) teachers. See CHOMP, DORK, DOOFUS, NURD, PUD, SNATCH. -X- X-rated -sexual mores anything with sexual connotations. Xerox-art -social behavior graphic art produced with the aid of a photo-reproduction machine, especially if multiple generations of photo-copying are utilized to achieve a grainy texture. -Y- Yogurt -fashion, style, and trend an all-purpose ingredient for foodstuffs (e.g. yogurt-coated chocolates, yoplait, frogurt) and the health and beauty aisle of the supermarket (e.g. shampoo, skin creams, douches). See CO-OPT, BOUTIQUE. Yoni -sexual mores another obscure term for the female sexual orifice. Any etymological resemblance to the East Indian fertility goddess remains unproved. Yo Momma -pejorative shorthand for an insult (e.g. "Your mother is so ugly that..."). -Z- Z - -social behavior a moment of sleep. Derived from the word balloons of cartoons of sleeping characters--Z-Z-Z. (e.g. "To cop some Zs."). To be distinguished from Oz. See CRASH. Zoned -psychological state See SPACED.
Link Yaco has written comic books for several publishers. He is currently working on a couple comics-related paperbacks. He has been a copywriter, technical writer, newspaper journalist, and magazine entertainment writer. He has a Masters' degree in Telecommunications and was a technical manager at MIT for five years. Link lives in West Greenwich Village with his wife, Susannah, a Senior Vice President at an independent film company. Check out his web page here Read last week's column Visit Link Yaco Home Page COPYRIGHT 1999 LINK YACO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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richard e. schiff,
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