While I know Urban Dictionary exists I prefer to think of my own origin stories and definitions for words.

Names as verbs and adjectives

Have you ever told some to “stop joshing around”? Or talked about how your passion “petered out”? When you used these phrases did you notice there are names in the phrase? I did and I think it is fun to think of the hyperbolic characters that instigated these phrases. For instance, I enjoy thinking about a guy named Josh who’s incessant joking became so well-known around town that people created a verb to label joking that has reached the point of annoyance. And what about petering out? Maybe Peter was the son of a great builder who showed great promise as an apprentice under his father. Then when Peter took over the business from his father he for some reason was never able to complete a job. He would start with vigor and then wane slowly in effort and enthusiasm. Then he would move onto another building telling the owner’s of the last house he would be back. A few years later half the houses in the village were half complete and the villagers finally caught on…

Below is the word or phrase, the name within the word or phrase, and the proposed story of that person.

1. Joshing around – Josh – incessantly joking (like Jim Carrey I presume)
2. Petered out – Peter – the builder who never finished a house
3. Hankering – Hank – a baker who knew exactly what he wanted for dinner upon awaking each morning
4. Frankly – Frank – a banker who never told a lie
5. Tuckered out – Tucker – the sleepiest of seven brothers who always fell asleep in the middle of the day during chores on the farm

Lingo, Slang, Vernacular, Lexicon

I have started to notice more and more slang that appears to have origins from machines and electronics. Makes sense considering the ubiquity of machines and electronics in our everyday life. I see these words as a new kind of word; while the word already exists, it is repurposed, with the definition of the word being connected to a functional component of a machine or electronic device that serves a similar role to the thing being described by the word. The appearance of these words has me asking three questions: 1) Will some of these words be completely replaced by the new slang iterations? I assume there will always be manual cars because people like novelty in cars but I could see plugs becoming obsolete with wireless charging of devices becoming more common. 2) Or will our words accrue more and more definitions? 3) What in the world was providing inspiration for slang words before machines and electronic devices? Farm animals? Nobility? Jewelry?

Below I have begun to catalog some of the words I have heard that I think have origins from parts of machines and electronics. I use the word in a sentence, provide my own definition based on context from hearing it, and provide a possible machine or electronic device that involves the original use of the word and provided inspiration for repurposing it.

1. clutch – sentence: That Gatorade was clutch for after the hike. – definition: critical to happiness and/or success – origin: the clutch of a manual car which is required to successfully operate it.
2. plug – sentence: Adam hooked me up with a plug for weed last week. – definition: provide a connection to get drugs. – origin: plugging in an electronic device to .
3. bars – sentence: Man, you throwing down bars. – definition: playing great music – origin: the digital bars on a mix table that rise and fall as the song plays.
4. lit – sentence: That party was lit. – definition: of high quality. – origin: either the state of lights being on in an establishment open for business or the past tense of lighting a cigarette with a lighter.