US – Tuesday, February 9
The week's releases
Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.
 
Stern: I’d do ‘Idol’ for $100M
Howard Stern took to his radio show yesterday to address the rumors that he’s a possible replacement for Simon Cowell for the next season of “American Idol.” To sum it up? He’s not going for it.
 
Dancing while the skinny lady sings
You’ve heard of the jukebox musical? David Parsons and singers AnnMarie Milazzo and Tyley Ross of the East Village Opera Co. offer a jukebox opera, playing nightly at the Joyce. Eleven Parsons dancers share the stage with Milazzo and Ross, who clutch microphones cranked to 11 and stroll through the action. On the recorded soundtrack, three drummers create a wall of sound so loud you — well, I — want to hide under the seat. Digital video of abstract patterns, natural landscapes and stunning architecture change for each song.
 
The facets of Anne Frank and her diary
Generations of schoolchildren have read and recognized their own experiences in the words of Anne Frank, finding surprising commonalities with this young girl despite the passage of generations and the unique horror of  her situation. But according to Francine Prose’s fascinating new account of the writing of Frank’s diary, our veneration of her outpourings has eclipsed a proper assessment of Anne Frank — conscientious author.

 
Channing Tatum on love and war
Channing Tatum has worked in his fair share of genres, from indie films (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) to dance flicks (“Step Up”) to blockbusters (“G.I. Joe”). In his latest, “Dear John,” the Alabama native takes on a heavy Nicholas Sparks love story about a soldier in love while at war. He talks with us about true love and blowing stuff up.
 
Updated 21:26, March the 3rd, 2009
 
 

Watch your slanguage

By the time you’re done reading this, these terms may well be outdated

“[Slang catches on] very similarly to the way disease is spread.”  Barrett

 

Do you know what a “cougay” is? Or a “spicy edit”? Or what the heck ROFLCOPTER means? Take heart — it’s not a sign that you’re totally unhip if you answer with a vacant “no.” It’s just that new expressions are popping up faster than you can say “Wiki wiki” — which is slang for “quick and easy” in Hawaiian, by the way.

While these terms are cool one day and passé the next, the real question isn’t what is in today, but how these phrases sneak into our conversations in the first place.

“Part of it is vanity,” explains Professor Michael Smith of Campbell University. “[It’s] that ‘I know something that you don’t know.’”

Smith argues that we create slang as part of a code, a language intended to separate those it’s intended for from those it is to be used against.

“You could say [derogatory] things in front of somebody and you and the person that knew the code could enjoy the satisfaction of thinking, ‘We’ve just insulted them and they don’t even know it,’” Smith says. “It’s about power in some ways. It’s also about setting yourself apart.”

With the onslaught of chat and texting lingo — how many of us now say OMG as if it’s an actual word? — other terms become abbreviated out of convenience. Changing technology and culture also create a need for these new word hybrids.

“Most new words do not last, but a word that’s successful does a really good job of filling a lexical hole in the language,” says Grant Barrett, author of  “The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English.” He sites the term “motel” — meaning a motor hotel — as the classic example.

But how many of us are mystified by the way words such as “badonkadonk” become ubiquitous almost overnight? Barrett says the fate of a new phrase’s survival rests with its popularizer; the bigger the source, such as a television show like “Saturday Night Live,” the faster the phrase takes hold in our vocabulary.


“If you think back to the term ‘bling bling,’ which came out of a song from 1999 by B.G. and the Cash Money Millionaires, you’ll find that that term took off because the song was so successful,” Barrett says. “It works very similarly to the way disease is spread.”

A QUICK GLOSSARY OF NEW SLANG

 

Cougay

An older gay man who acts like a cougar, which is the slang term for an older woman who pursues younger men. 

 
 

ROFLCOPTER

Chat speak for “rolling on the floor laughing and spinning around.” 

 

Toats

An abbreviated version of the word “totally.” 

 

Epic Fail

A term originating in the gaming community to describe an egregious mistake. 

 

Cupcake

To stay home with your boyfriend/ girlfriend to cuddle. 

 
 

Noiding out

To get anxious about something that is driven more by paranoia than a true cause for concern. 

HEIDI PATALANO

 
 
 
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MMMpod
The February MMMpod features conversation from Ozzy Osbourne. Michael Emerson from "Lost" tells us about his days enjoying punk rock in Boston. We also dig up an old interview from the late great Howard Zinn. We have a song from Delta Spirit and The Soft Pack, who tell us where they got their name.

 
 
 
Metro Life Panel