Are you fluent in BFF? You know, those ridiculous codes that you use with only your nearest and dearest, stuff that would be indecipherable to anyone other than your bestie? The BFF and I have known each other since the tender days of orthodontia and slap bracelets, so many of our conversations are reduced to a short hand discernible only to us: fur babies, work husbands and many a reference to Crispin Glover. A sampling of our dictionary:
to back out of plans that you've already committed to, to 'flake out' and disappoint
"I'm going to Dennis on the movie tonight; I know. I'm lame"
shus: [shuhs] noun
Overly fancy, excessive decorative stuff. Stuff on top of stuff.
"And she had this purse with lace and flowers and ...shus ... all over it. Totally cute though."
spandito: [span-dee-toe] noun
An cyclist (often a male) unnecessarily wearing high-tech, spandex cycling wear.
"You're biking three blocks to the video place - you don't need to put on your special shorts. Don't be a spandito, dude."
Targetista: [Tar-get-eestah] noun
Individuals employed by Target Corporate who must adhere to the company's strict and fashionable dress code. Often spotted en masse in downtown Minneapolis.
"I was feeling pretty good about my sweater vest till I ran into a herd of Targetistas on Nicollette Mall. I think I need to go self-medicate via shopping now."
What is the lexicon within your group of friends?
This is fantastic! I'm gonna have to start making up some cool words stat :)
ReplyDeleteAnnie
The Other Side of Gray
one of my friends and I have a madeup language we use when only sounds can convey our feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe only other word I can think of right now is "fluff." Used both as an insult and a term of endearment, fluff roughly means someone who is vapid and shallow. Except when it is a term of endearment, and then it means someone with whom I am comfortably familiar :-) We all understand which way we mean it when we say it.
"Code Purple!" - I'm not even sure what exactly this means anymore, but it's generally used to draw the BFF's attention so some kind of 'WTF?!' sighting. :)
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Dragonflight Apparel
This isn't entirely a secret language, but one person and I often communicated like the Martians in "Mars Attacks" by going Maaaaah! Mahp mah mah mah MAHP much to the confusion of those around us.
ReplyDeleteIn my BFF lingo we use the word "fwoom" a lot. It's the gender neutral for "dude."
ReplyDelete"Fwoom, you have got to come to the movies!" or just "Fwoom." as a statement of agreement.
Ahhh, I love the Targetistas one! I live downtown Minneapolis and yes, they always put my outfits to shame!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if my bff & I have any special slang, but we are known for giving people nicknames so we can talk about them in front of other people and no one is the wiser. For instance, in college, I was into this guy named Clinton. We started calling him Billy (a la Bill Clinton) and it stuck so much that sometimes I forget his real name!
"duffers" are cigarettes. to duff is to smoke.
ReplyDelete"back of the truck hot" is a hot guy who is kinda dirty that you only imagine hooking up with because the reality might be too frightening.
I love this post! It is fun. My friends and my sister and I have a few special words like that, but I can't think of any right now.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the nickname my sister's college friends came up with for her. She's Cassandra and they call her "Sanj" which is what the second syllable of her name sounds like. It's super cute.
Love this. I've been compiling a funny list of my favorite hybrid-neologisms. Recently, my friend sent me this link (not the actual link, but close enough): http://washingtonpostsmensainvitational.com/
ReplyDeleteNon-pillow - meaning someone who sucks from the James Franco episode of 30 rock
ReplyDeleteTotally fitness - means you've been to the gym heaps that week
Aldi - meaning very average, like the stuff you buy at Aldi
Pudan - something really cute. Like 'Oh look at the pudan!'
Having issue - means you're really pissed off
You pulled a *insert friends name* - they mean different things. If you pull a Quirk you've lost something important or waited too long to eat and now you're hungry and bitchy. If you pulled a Schmiess you completely changed your mind in the space of around 3 seconds. If you pulled a Jacobs (me) you worried about something trivial to the point of hyperventilating.
I'm beginnging to wonder if we speak English at all.
We call them Targetrons at my work...but for the exact same reason. I once saw about 20 of them packed into a Caribou Coffee one skyway block from their building: it was a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I endlessly quote from "Daria".
Oh my. I absolutely love this.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to my closest friends, family, and my boyfriend, we communicate in inside joke after inside joke. "In your face, avant garde, out there!", "maleon", "Out on Tuesday"; etc.
I have a tendency to come up with my own parlance as well, such as using "gourmet" (which I shorten to "gourm" on occasion) to describe things that are top shelf or calling things of bad quality "comic sans", or calling post modern artists "pomosexuals".
My friends and I like to come up with nicknames for things and people, such as Infernal Outfitters for Hot Topic or Hot Pocket for Hot Topic (obviously we don't care too much for Hot Topic), Teabag (which eventually became Teaslag) for someone we knew named Teanna, and 'Lude Boy for this one hipster who worked at the local records store. He talked really slow.
My cousin and I like to pluralize single nouns. My boyfriend and I constantly come up with stripper names for his brother. We also use the word "horcrux" for slut.
I have a bunch of code words from my early halcyon days, but that is content too adult for a public forum.
I put a glossary on my blog because I like to write the way I talk and mention people by their nicknames and so on.
My friend and I have nicknames for different guys that we know. Sometimes it's really hard to remember their real names.
ReplyDeleteFrankenhead
Tiny Tim
Little Boy
Dick Nixon
Mary Tyler Moore
Punch Hinkson
this cracks me up! over the years, i've used lots of different words with friends. (see what i did there?)
ReplyDeletein high school, we called smoking smishing and cigarettes smishes so our parents wouldn't know what we were talking about. we also spoke gibberish all the time.
in college, my friends had several words for things. "schnibbies and dippies" are snacks and dips (like appetizers at a party) and we often say "lovels" instead of "love you."