Is it only me who can't stand the word "wack"

psycho_monkey · 17th April 2007, 09:54 PM

I think it stems from that awful "FU Right back song"...."your sex was wack" - I mean is that even english?

Anyway, every time I hear someone use it in a post, it makes me cringe internally, and I kind of mentally assume that person is a kid in a playground - just the sound of the word I think.

Anyone else? or am i just losing it, one word at a time?

And as a pre-emptive strike...yes, I'm sure this is a "wack" post.....

AlexLakis · 17th April 2007, 10:30 PM

...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

psycho_monkey · 18th April 2007, 12:17 AM

yeah maybe that's the other reason I can't stand it..it looks like a misspelling.

Almost as much as it annoys me when people say "your" when they mean "you are".

Yes I'm sure there are more important things in life to get annoyed about.

Dor · 18th April 2007, 01:19 AM

This thread is wigitty wiggity WACK!

e-cue · 18th April 2007, 01:45 AM

even when used as a verb?

woomanmoomin · 18th April 2007, 02:00 AM

Even the adjective is probably in the Oxford English Dictionary by now (which is more or less the standard for British English). There are people at Oxford University Press who get paid to trawl through emails and websites, trying to work out which words are catching on, what exactly they mean, where they have come from, etc. It's mainly because of the Web (combined with other mass media) that slang words like this can catch on to such an extent. 'Bling' and 'chav' are just two recent additions to the dictionary here; the Oxford University Press has chosen not to be as hopelessly conservative as the French equivalent, the Académie Française.

Incidentally, it's because of dictionary policy here that I use the word 'emails' in the above. A few months ago, this would have been 'e-mails', and before that probably 'E-mails', but the officially preferred form is now the one without a hyphen. The English language will always be in flux. Otherwise it wouldn't survive.

AlexLakis · 18th April 2007, 02:03 AM

"Chav?"

Jazzpunk · 18th April 2007, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

Did you just finish yelling at some kids to get off your lawn when you wrote that?!

Urban Dictionary: wack

(heard that this is replacing Webster's!)

AlexLakis · 18th April 2007, 02:37 AM

No, I just finished weed-wHacking my lawn.

Ed1234 · 18th April 2007, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woomanmoomin

The English language will always be in flux. Otherwise it wouldn't survive.

What would happen to it then....would new terms and words just evolve naturally...so it would kind of be in flux again....untill it stopped again...and then....

Sorry, just felt the desire to jump all over that statement, cuz* its whack.

*Incidentally, I hate this spelling to.

AlexLakis · 18th April 2007, 03:10 AM

I'm pretty anal about spelling, but I've adopted some "shortenings."

I use "cuz," "thru," and "tho" a lot.

That's just kind of "short hand," tho. The lack of the letter H in "whack" just comes from people simply not knowing how to spell the word in the first place.

Jazzpunk · 18th April 2007, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

No, I just finished weed-wHacking my lawn.

Doesn't that make you go blind?!

woomanmoomin · 18th April 2007, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed1234

What would happen to it then....would new terms and words just evolve naturally...so it would kind of be in flux again....untill it stopped again...and then....

Sorry, just felt the desire to jump all over that statement, cuz* its whack.

*Incidentally, I hate this spelling to.

I'm sorry too, because I don't understand you. What I meant was that the language would always be changing. It would always be in flux. For instance, on a basic level, if we couldn't create new words, then the language would pretty quickly begin to lose its ability to represent a world where new objects continued to come along.

I think you agree with this, however, and that there's just been some misunderstanding.

AlexLakis, at least in Britain, a chav is a young, often brash, working-class person obsessed with garish, expensive designer-label fashion and jewelry (Burberry caps, chunky bracelets, and so on). That's probably not what it says in any of the dictionaries, and there's more to it anyway, but hopefully this will give you some idea of the people we non-chavs here think of when we use that word. Actually, I should have realised it wouldn't be an American word. It comes from a Romany word meaning 'chap' or 'child'. Chavs are often regarded as having a lot in common with Gypsies or 'pikeys'.

The arch-chav here is probably the musician (or whatever he is) Mike Skinner (aka The Streets), but there are a lot of footballers' (or soccer players') girlfriends who come close.

Ed1234 · 18th April 2007, 03:57 AM

[quote=woomanmoomin;1236821]I'm sorry too, because I don't understand you. What I meant was that the language would always be changing. It would always be in flux. For instance, on a basic level, if we couldn't create new words, then the language would pretty quickly begin to lose its ability to represent a world where new objects continued to come along.

I think you agree with this, however, and that there's just been some misunderstanding.

Yeah, I was just being butt-hole clenchingly irritating

. What you meant to say was "If official dictionaries didn't continue to keep up, as best they could, with the natural flux of language, then they would soon cease to be relevant to contemporary society". It was the idea that 'language' itself could ever cease to survive that I was being a tosser about.

But hey this thread has got a pedants vibe about it, so I'm just getting stuck in!

drmmrboy · 18th April 2007, 05:17 AM

You kidds are whack!! I think using the work waak iz dope! So back off, before you get wacked!

OK.. The spelling..??
Check the link, dig the results.

define: wack - Google Search

Blast9 · 18th April 2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

I much prefer whack --- it has more "thump"

TheReal7 · 18th April 2007, 02:53 PM

Anyone up for a game of 'WHACK FUСK'?

woomanmoomin · 19th April 2007, 04:17 AM

Everybody wang chung tonight.

max cooper · 19th April 2007, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

I think it's a different word.

"Whack" to me means when you hit someone/something, and has come to refer to murder.

"Wack" seems to have come from wacko, wack-job or wacky.

Mudnoc · 19th April 2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max cooper

I think it's a different word.

"Whack" to me means when you hit someone/something, and has come to refer to murder.

"Wack" seems to have come from wacko, wack-job or wacky.

By George, I think you're right.... I was a little confused reading all the replies since I thought these two words (though they sound the same) were totally different... Like I've had alot of wack rappers come to my studio...but I never got so mad that I felt the need to have one of them whacked.

woomanmoomin · 19th April 2007, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max cooper

I think it's a different word.

"Whack" to me means when you hit someone/something, and has come to refer to murder.

"Wack" seems to have come from wacko, wack-job or wacky.

I think you're right as far as the situation today is concerned, but Webster's acknowledges both 'wacky' and 'whacky' and suggests they may both come from 'whack'. I wonder if the form 'wack' is related to the phrase 'out of whack', which means something like 'out of order', 'out of sorts' or just 'wrong'.

joshelevator · 19th April 2007, 10:02 PM

i love the word wack, you wack-ass punk

AlexLakis · 19th April 2007, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woomanmoomin

I think you're right as far as the situation today is concerned, but Webster's acknowledges both 'wacky' and 'whacky' and suggests they may both come from 'whack'. I wonder if the form 'wack' is related to the phrase 'out of whack', which means something like 'out of order', 'out of sorts' or just 'wrong'.

Yup.

Enough people misspell a word, it starts to catch on, it starts showing up in arbitrary online "dictionaries," and all of a sudden, it's "a word."

Yet another example of how ignorance is rewarded in modern day society.

Oh well.

J Wubz · 19th April 2007, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

YES!

Dor · 20th April 2007, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtGarceau

Miggity miggity mac daddy?

I should have said wik wik wack!!

dacart · 20th April 2007, 10:14 PM

Slightly off subject but it drives me crazy when people use "loose" when they mean "lose." e.g. "Why do I keep loosing the left channel when I turn the pan pot to the right?"

Dan Carter
http://wwwdacartmusic.com

Tantrum The Cat · 20th April 2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

I think it stems from that awful "FU Right back song"...."your sex was wack" - I mean is that even english?

Hilarious responses on this thread!

"Wack" has been used in rap music to mean "bad / crappy / not up to par" for, oh... at least since about 1988... I was in junior high school back then and just discovering rap. It's likely been around even longer than that, one of those pieces of slang that gets revived every five years or so...

Tweek Audio · 1st May 2008, 09:00 PM

Rather than "this thread is wack", I much prefer they say "most pointless thread on Gearslutz?"
;0)

Bravo · 1st May 2008, 09:30 PM

'Wack' is the only Hip-Hop invented word to survive as long as it has along with the word 'Dope'. Funny how both words are exact opposites.

Considering it outlived words like 'Def', 'Fresh'(ok still usable), 'On the Strength', 'Doogie Gold Rope', and 'Balee-Dat' to exist today right along side words like 'Bling', 'Fo-Shizzle', 'Crunk', 'Myspace Ho' I think is quite an accomplishment.

Consider it the little annoying word that could.

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17th April 2007, 09:54 PM	#1
psycho_monkey Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London Posts: 2,686	Is it only me who can't stand the word "wack" I think it stems from that awful "FU Right back song"...."your sex was wack" - I mean is that even english? Anyway, every time I hear someone use it in a post, it makes me cringe internally, and I kind of mentally assume that person is a kid in a playground - just the sound of the word I think. Anyone else? or am i just losing it, one word at a time? And as a pre-emptive strike...yes, I'm sure this is a "wack" post.....

18th April 2007, 01:19 AM	#4
Dor Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Emeryville, CA Posts: 1,291	This thread is wigitty wiggity WACK! __________________ Dor www.boomspot.com

18th April 2007, 05:17 AM	#15
drmmrboy Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Philadelphia PA Posts: 1,835	You kidds are whack!! I think using the work waak iz dope! So back off, before you get wacked! OK.. The spelling..?? Check the link, dig the results. define: wack - Google Search __________________ Andrew "This game is really about being consistently "upper mediocre" on a regular basis. Brilliant on occasion and damn near never sucking" - Fletcher

1st May 2008, 09:30 PM	#29
Bravo Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kitchener, Canada Posts: 129	'Wack' is the only Hip-Hop invented word to survive as long as it has along with the word 'Dope'. Funny how both words are exact opposites. Considering it outlived words like 'Def', 'Fresh'(ok still usable), 'On the Strength', 'Doogie Gold Rope', and 'Balee-Dat' to exist today right along side words like 'Bling', 'Fo-Shizzle', 'Crunk', 'Myspace Ho' I think is quite an accomplishment. Consider it the little annoying word that could. __________________ Myspace

17th April 2007, 10:30 PM	#2
AlexLakis Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/L.A. Posts: 3,612	...Almost as much as I can't stand it when people misspell the word "whack."

18th April 2007, 12:17 AM	#3
psycho_monkey Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London Posts: 2,686	yeah maybe that's the other reason I can't stand it..it looks like a misspelling. Almost as much as it annoys me when people say "your" when they mean "you are". Yes I'm sure there are more important things in life to get annoyed about.

18th April 2007, 01:45 AM	#5
e-cue Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 3,883	even when used as a verb?

18th April 2007, 02:00 AM	#6
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,024	Even the adjective is probably in the Oxford English Dictionary by now (which is more or less the standard for British English). There are people at Oxford University Press who get paid to trawl through emails and websites, trying to work out which words are catching on, what exactly they mean, where they have come from, etc. It's mainly because of the Web (combined with other mass media) that slang words like this can catch on to such an extent. 'Bling' and 'chav' are just two recent additions to the dictionary here; the Oxford University Press has chosen not to be as hopelessly conservative as the French equivalent, the Académie Française. Incidentally, it's because of dictionary policy here that I use the word 'emails' in the above. A few months ago, this would have been 'e-mails', and before that probably 'E-mails', but the officially preferred form is now the one without a hyphen. The English language will always be in flux. Otherwise it wouldn't survive.

18th April 2007, 02:03 AM	#7
AlexLakis Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/L.A. Posts: 3,612	"Chav?"

18th April 2007, 02:37 AM	#9
AlexLakis Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/L.A. Posts: 3,612	No, I just finished weed-wHacking my lawn.

18th April 2007, 03:10 AM	#11
AlexLakis Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/L.A. Posts: 3,612	I'm pretty anal about spelling, but I've adopted some "shortenings." I use "cuz," "thru," and "tho" a lot. That's just kind of "short hand," tho. The lack of the letter H in "whack" just comes from people simply not knowing how to spell the word in the first place.

18th April 2007, 03:57 AM	#14
Ed1234 Gear Head Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 59	[quote=woomanmoomin;1236821]I'm sorry too, because I don't understand you. What I meant was that the language would always be changing. It would always be in flux. For instance, on a basic level, if we couldn't create new words, then the language would pretty quickly begin to lose its ability to represent a world where new objects continued to come along. I think you agree with this, however, and that there's just been some misunderstanding. Yeah, I was just being butt-hole clenchingly irritating . What you meant to say was "If official dictionaries didn't continue to keep up, as best they could, with the natural flux of language, then they would soon cease to be relevant to contemporary society". It was the idea that 'language' itself could ever cease to survive that I was being a tosser about. But hey this thread has got a pedants vibe about it, so I'm just getting stuck in!

19th April 2007, 04:17 AM	#18
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,024	Everybody wang chung tonight.

19th April 2007, 10:02 PM	#22
joshelevator Gear addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Berlin Posts: 453	i love the word wack, you wack-ass punk

20th April 2007, 10:14 PM	#26
dacart Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 71	Slightly off subject but it drives me crazy when people use "loose" when they mean "lose." e.g. "Why do I keep loosing the left channel when I turn the pan pot to the right?" Dan Carter http://wwwdacartmusic.com

1st May 2008, 09:00 PM	#28
Tweek Audio Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Concord NH Posts: 19	Rather than "this thread is wack", I much prefer they say "most pointless thread on Gearslutz?" ;0)

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