6 ms·
In the very footer of this page: > Historical note: At the end of the 20th century when this was written, "cool" was an epithet of approval particularly among
by dfabulich 6y ago
In the very footer of this page:
> Historical note: At the end of the 20th century when this was written, "cool" was an epithet of approval particularly among young, indicating trendiness, quality, or appropriateness. In the rush to stake our DNS territory involved the choice of domain name and URI path were sometimes directed more toward apparent "coolness" than toward usefulness or longevity. This note is an attempt to redirect the energy behind the quest for coolness.
It's 2020 and "cool" still has that same meaning, as an informal positive epithet. I believe "cool" is the longest surviving informal positive epithet in the English language.
"Cool" has been cool since the 1920s, and it's still cool today. "Cool" has outlived "hip," "happening," "groovy," "fresh," "dope," "swell," "funky," "bad," "clutch," "epic," "fat," "primo," "radical," "bodacious," "sweet," "ace," "bitchin'," "smooth," and "fly."
My daughter says things are "cool." I predict that her children will say "cool," too.
Isn't that cool?
- gooseus 6y agoPretty sweet, but I'd disagree that all of those epithets have been "outlived".
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- kerkeslager 6y agoMinor correction: "fat" in your list of positive epithets is actually spelled "phat". I enjoyed reading your list, it was like a trip down memory lane.
- teekert 6y agoI knew that, because of Meet the Parents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkClkOqgt8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkClkOqgt8k
- qppo 6y agoproper URIs are all the go
- gfody 6y agoglitchin'
- phendrenad2 6y agoThat was so totally W3C validated URI yo.
- kristopolous 6y ago"dandy" might have had a longer lifetime ~1800-1950 RIP.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- marcosdumay 6y agoThe W3C is just betting on that URI outlasting "cool". It's a bold move.
- yellowstuff 6y ago"Smooth" is definitely still current slang, with a meaning similar to "cool." And "smooth" came first: > Slang meaning "superior, classy, clever" is attested from 1893. Sense of "stylish" is from 1922. > A 1599 dictionary has smoothboots "a flatterer, a faire spoken man, a cunning tongued fellow." It may be time to bring that one back. "Did you see Keith chatting up that girl at the bar? Total smoothboots." https://www.etymonline.com/word/smooth https://www.etymonline.com/word/smooth
- thaumasiotes 6y agoI would say the 1599 sense more accurately reflects the current sense of "smooth" than the 1893/1922 citations do.
- ggm 6y agoSophisticated used to mean false, as in sophistry: with intent to deceive. So a sophisticated wine, was an adulterated wine, that had something other than fermented grape juice in it.
- thaumasiotes 6y agoOr water, presumably? To the Romans, drinking wine merum (pure) was a sign of barbarity. They drank their wine diluted. I don't see a mention of "sophisticated" above - was this just a fun fact?
- ahoka 6y agoRoman wine was very strong, around 15-20% ABV. No wonder they added water to it (and sometimes lead as a sweetener).
- fouc 6y agoTIL. I was quite surprised that sophistication used to mean deceptive/misleading behavior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophistication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophistication
- SilasX 6y agoI've always liked how "fool" is at home everywhere from the King James Bible to gangsta rap.
- ggm 6y agoGoosberry Fool and Raspberry Fool are pretty delicious. As is Eton "Mess"
- jorvi 6y agoI'd say 'dope', 'fresh', 'sweet' are still alive.
- rootusrootus 6y agoI agree. And when I'm driving my Camaro, 'bitchin' still works.
- Macha 6y ago"fresh" in the vein of "cool" was definitely already in the list of "dad phrases" when I was in school. I think the usage as shorthand for "breath of fresh air" such as used in product reviews is distinct. "Sweet" is getting there faster than "cool" is. "Dope" as cool never took off here due to a local meaning of "dope" as "idiot".
- metalliqaz 6y agoThat's fetch
- arthurcolle 6y agoThe expression fetch, popularized by the 2006 American cultural meta-documentary and seminal work "Mean Girls" is in fact an abbreviation of the term "fetching", i.e. attractive in the British vernacular. I have spoken.
- metalliqaz 6y ago"Fetch" has become a perfectly cromulent word in its own right.
- bryanrasmussen 6y agofetch is perfectly cromulent, depending on your CORS settings.
- User23 6y agoCool is Lindy[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Effect
- 082349872349872 6y agoSchroeder, Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws, points out there are probability distributions which follow the Lindy effect, and suggests they be used for project planning. ("the longer an engineering task remains unfinished, the longer it will probably take to finish")
- tasogare 6y agoIt is also very international: can be used in Europe and East-Asia with the same meaning, probably globally in fact. Heck, the Japanese government started a "Cool Japan" program few years ago, and it has been borrowed as 酷 (kù) in Chinese. That’s cool.
- wilsonrocks 6y ago'Cool's cool.' I don't have my hard copy here and Google is failing me but this is addressed by Terry Pratchett in (I think) Only You Can Save Mankind. The context is some teen-agers talking about how it's not cool to say Yo, or Crucial, or Well Wicked, but Cool is always cool. Would appreciate the full quote if somebody can find!
- Moru 6y ago'Yo, Wobbler,' said Johnny. 'It's not cool to say Yo any more,' said Wobbler. 'Is it rad to say cool?' said Johnny. 'Cool's always cool. And no-one says rad any more, either.' Wobbler looked around conspiratorially and then fished a package from his bag. 'This is cool. Have a go at this.' 'What is it?' said Johnny. ... 'Yes. We call him Yo-less because he's not cool.' 'Anti-cool's quite cool too.' 'Is it? I didn't know that. Is it still cool to say "well wicked"?' 'Johnny! It was never cool to say "well wicked".' 'How about "vode"?' 'Vode's cool.' 'I just made it up.' The capsule drifted onwards. 'No reason why it can't be cool, though.'
- wilsonrocks 6y agoThank you - much better to have the text than my paraphrasing.
- haseeb6979 6y agoGood
- zelly 6y agoLindy
- toomanybeersies 6y ago"Sweet" is probably more common than "cool" in New Zealand, although it's usually tied into "sweet as", as in "that's a sweet as car" or "the weather is sweet as today".