Every once in a while, and by that I mean constantly, my roommate and I pick up catchphrases, which we overuse incorrectly and inappropriately. We say these things so often, our friends visibly wince when they see the wheels turning in our heads as we contemplate using one of these phrases.
Relax, we're not Elle Woods trying to infuse legal jargon into our everyday lives. No, no, our slang is much more cas (pronounced "cahhhj" for those of you still having that debate). Our past favorites include "aww, yeah!" "yeah, buddy," and "whoops." Our newest phrase is "get weird."
Obviously, this phrase, like our others, didn't start with us. Maybe you saw it on a sorority T-shirt, or maybe some inebriated guy yelled it out to you as he ran across the railroad tracks. We don't have it trademarked. We're not original for using it. In fact, maybe we were a little late to jump on the bandwagon, but that hasn't stopped us from using it like it's going out of style.
At first, it really weirded - for lack of a better word - our friends out. Surprisingly, when they called us to go to dinner, they were not trying to get weird. They actually just wanted to go to Panera. Slowly but surely they came around. Now they expect us to get weird when we hang out.
In an attempt to explain what it means to "get weird," I went to the ever-reliable Urban Dictionary. The definitions definitely got weird. They ranged from "getting completely effed up!" to "the act of smoking spice, potpourri or incense. "
OK, whoops! That's not what we meant. At this point I'd like to assure my parents, future employers and casual readers I didn't even know "get weird" could translate to that. I didn't even know people engaged in such activities. I mean really, who knew that potpourri could even be smoked?
Could Urban Dictionary have a more accurate definition? No, actually. Except for the good-looking guy in the Southern Tide ad on the side of my screen, Urban Dictionary was entirely disappointing. Besides their basic ineptitude, the entrants' grammar is appalling; I'm sure Merriam-Webster would flinch at the thought of this website being identified as a dictionary. That's when I realized something about Urban Dictionary I'd forgotten or maybe never actually realized. Urban Dictionary was the website boys at my middle school used to make up words to describe each other. Somewhere along the line I forgot that and actually started considering it a legitimate source. Well, I'm not making that mistake again.
I'm sure you're wondering now, what does "get weird" actually mean? "Get weird" is, in fact, a verb. Take notes, urban lexicographers! It refers to acting strange or silly to blow off steam. As for its use in a sentence, simmer on this:
Roommate One: I'm so bored of school and homework.
Roommate Two: Well, what are you trying to do tonight?
Roommate One: Get weird!
The point of this column isn't to convince you to reform U.S. slang, although that should definitely happen. Rather, my goal is to urge you to get weird too.
We get too caught up in being serious here. Yeah, we're all here for school. We're here to go to class, go to the library and get good grades so we can "reach our full potential." But those things alone are enough to drive us all wild - and not the good kind.
Even going out becomes serious. You're obligated to make
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