Get with the new hipster lingo

27 Jan 2022 (Adapted from Dec 2021 CitySunTimes article, incl artwork)

OK all you Midwesties, All Y’all’ers, Yinzers (you know who you are!) UP’ers, snowbirds and other winter visitors: You’re planning your escape from snow and freezing rain and setting course to sunny Arizona. (Oooh, it’s chilly outside here at 1 p.m. in the shade…64°!)

Or maybe you’re already here, hanging out by the hotel pool and figuring out what a “Camelback” is. Consider this your orientation to the new hipster slang for Valley locations that all the 20-bopper Scooters are dropping. 

So, ushering in the hopefully post-pandemic new year, we’re going to give you a break from all the sorry news in order to help you dig the new lingo and get your jols on for 2022. And we promise not to say “dig” again.

First off, let’s take a look at some Valley of the Sun locales so you know the cool terms to use when your 2nd wave rels from Yinzerland and Vancouvy come to help you enjoy the pool while we’re freezing with three layers of flannel and sweaters.

We begin with possibly the longest, skinniest continuing stretch of city in America, maybe the universe:

• Scoots (Scottsdale)
• NoSco (north Scottsdale — kinda like SoHo in NY)
• SoSco (south Scottsdale)
• New Town (area of Scottsdale, sometimes known as “Old Town” though there’s not much “old” there since it is mainly fashionable clubs where the 20-boppers do their booty popping, along with art galleries, museums, super-modern condos, and contemporary municipal buildings )
• Troon (just “Troon”— needs no jokey slang name)

Moving around the Valley…

• C-Creek (Cave Creek)
• Q-Creek (Queen Creek)
• C-Free! (Carefree…optional exclamation point)
• P-Val (Paradise Valley)
• NCFee (north central Phoenix)
• Tempers (Tempe, especially useful if you’re not sure which syllable gets the stress)
• Chandy (Chandler)
• The Mase (Mesa, this one is getting quite bussin’ with the 20-boppers. Also known as “La Mase” for a bit of flair au francais (just don’t plan to go bar-hoppin’ on a Sunday)
• Do-toe (downtown, or DownToe)
• Gilbayr (Gilbert, like the store, Tarzhay)
• Glendy (Glendale)
• The Tewk (Ahwatukee)
• Slakes (Sun Lakes)
• Presky (Prescott…just be sure not to say PresCOTT)
• Westie (west sider—technically west of Central Ave but in practice used for anyone west of the I-17)

Here are some non-geo items

• 20-boppers: what the teenyboppers grew up into. They can usually be found twerking in New Town
• pager: a hard cover book, as opposed to Kindle, Nook, EPUB or other online book; a “pager” is something where you actually turn pages
• erl-eve — early evening, for texting or cazh convos, “Let’s make it erl-eve for our hang-out”
• late-af — late afternoon, for texting or cazh convos

And now, some items we didn’t make up.

• whip: your car, a tongue in cheek reference to the former name for a fancy car, derived from horse and buggy days)
• devious lick: TikTok vids of kids stealing stuff from schools; we know the original use but no idea why it’s called this; spelling varies (and by the time you read this, it’s prob cheugy)
• cazh: casual (spoken, not written)
• rando: a stranger, i.e. random person, usually pejorative
• chief (verb): — to smoke you know what; also used as a codeword noun: weed
• bussin’: awesome
• stan: obsessive fan (combo of “stalker” and “fan” but mellowed out now)
• drop: to release a new song, podcast or other digital performance. Originally a 1990s hip-hop term that crossed over to the mainstream world. Nowadays every pop artist is “dropping” new singles, albums, podcasts, Tik Toks etc.

Finally: Old slang (please discard)

(these are so cheugy we’re not even going to define them)

• Bae
• cheugy
• woke
• cancel culture
• on fleek

Stay groovy all you crazy dudes and dudettes! And remember to not use a period at the end of texts

Some more interesting new words

It’s time to get groovy again with a new crop of hip words being used by the cool crew. (And we promise that’s the last you’ll hear that jargon)

First off…a gesture, not a word, per se, since images are the new words.

“BTS heart” gesture – The finger heart gesture is a trend that was popularized in South Korea during the 2010s by K-pop stars. The thumb and index finger of one hand are crossed to form a heart shape, and an invisible virtual heart is imagined above it.

20-Boppers — the 2020s version of old-school “teeny boppers.” The 20-boppers can be found in clubs and bars with distinctive clothing. The girls wear skimpy ripped shorts, spandex shorts, micro-mini skirts or colorful super-tight tights below, and midriff-baring blouses/shirts or halter-top-bra outfits above. The boys, not surprisingly, wear pretty much what they did in 2005: skinny jeans, clean t-shirts (or occasionally untucked button-up shirts) and the universal footwear for 15-30-year old guys…cool Vans. The 20-boppers descend on the clubs in droves, often arriving or leaving in concert. At the club, the dance modes are variations on individual or group twerking because the music typically consists of a throbbing bass line with hints of other instruments.

cheugy — The opposite of trendy, that is, once-stylish in middle school and high school but no longer in style and may include (but not limited to) fashion, social media habits and slang. My favorite offshoot: The “Cheugosphere!” But don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the term because like any teen- or 20-bopper-trending term, it will undoubtedly be gone in a month or so. (See, e.g. “bae” from a couple years ago or “on fleek.” As soon as it started to get picked up, it was dropped…as cheugy…by those in the know.)

NoFOMO – No Fear Of Missing Out. In pre-pandemic days, many people — young and old — had the FOMO condition, especially teens who say they would go to parties simply because they were afraid something cool would happen and they didn’t want to arrive at school on Monday and find that they missed the party of the year while parents were out of town. However, during the pandemic it gradually started to feel OK to simply stay in, chill with Netflix or Zoom calls and work on your TikTok—for the kids that is. But for older folks it wasn’t that much different: instead of going to happy hours, museum events, parties and Meetups, the adults could feel perfectly guilt-free and at ease alone…chillin’ with Netflix or Zoom calls. (Disclaimer: I invented this variation on the term FOMO.)

Soultel : (1) a place where you send your soul when you need to do something a bit shady; (2) a place you send your over-wrought soul for a needed vacay, e.g., instead of having a nervous breakdown. (Disclaimer: I invented this one too)

verbigerate (vuhr-BIJ-uh-rayt) To obsessively repeat meaningless words and phrases. From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on). Earliest documented use: 1656. “Then she started verbigerating ‘Hallelujah’ for hours.” You want to be careful inserting this in conversation but it seems like it could be quite useful when certain politicians get to yakkin’.

scaldabanco (skal-duh-BAHNG-koh) A fiery speaker, especially a preacher. From obsolete Italian scaldabanco (literally, heats the bench), from scaldare (to heat) + banco (bench). Earliest documented use: 1670.

gobemouche (GOB-moosh) noun: A gullible or credulous person. From French gobe-mouche (flycatcher, sucker), from gober (to suck or swallow) + mouche (fly). Earliest documented use: 1818.

Pigeon chess – a pointless exercise in argumentative futility. “Never play chess with a pigeon. It will just knock over the pieces, shit all over the board and strut around like it won.” https://extranewsfeed.com/the-first-victim-of-authoritarianism-is-language-ef27ae176fdf

And finally, a COVID-era term winging in from the travel world:

bleisure – basically “travel, business and leisure” or “business travel and leisure,” — business travel that coincides with a pleasure vacay via private jet charter. Although the word, which comes to us from the Airline Travel blog, has been around for a while, the concept caught fire during the pandemic…at least for those who could afford private jet charters.

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FYI: ‘verbigerate,’ ‘scaldabanco’ and ‘gobemouche’ were all posted in the various editions of the excellent A Word A Day newsletter

I also coined “20-boppers,” heh heh.