by All the hoopla about Soundgarden’s 20th anniversary reissue of “Superunknown,” coupled with their upcoming White River Amphitheater (that’s in Auburn y’all) and topped off with the news of an upcoming documentary has got the Northwest Music Scene feeling a little nostalgic for the early 1990s.
In the course of soothing that longing for days of dropped-D tuning past we stumbled upon this, a 1992 New York Times article describing the trend called Grunge. Although the article glosses over the impact of the music that fueled the phenomena, it does a wonderful job of detailing the fashion industries capitalization of the flannel, boots and knit cap uniform.
The article is most notable for the inclusion of the guide to “grunge speak.
“All subcultures speak in code; grunge is no exception. Megan Jasper, a 25-year-old sales representative at Caroline Records in Seattle, provided this lexicon of grunge speak, coming soon to a high school or mall near you:”
The list is perhaps one of the finest pranks of all time, however,made up by Megan Jasper, who actually worked for Sub Pop not Caroline. (she’s now the Sub Pop executive vice president!).
So here’s your refresher course cob knobbler. Rock on!
WACK SLACKS: Old ripped jeans
FUZZ: Heavy wool sweaters
PLATS: Platform shoes
KICKERS: Heavy boots
SWINGIN’ ON THE FLIPPITY-FLOP: Hanging out
BOUND-AND-HAGGED: Staying home on Friday or Saturday night
SCORE: Great
HARSH REALM: Bummer
COB NOBBLER: Loser
DISH: Desirable guy
BLOATED, BIG BAG OF BLOATATION: Drunk
LAMESTAIN: Uncool person
TOM-TOM CLUB: Uncool outsiders
ROCK ON: A happy goodbye
