Saturday 29 August 2015

Needing Lessons in Yacs.

I read a comment on YouTube last night that was completely unintelligible. A few of the smaller words were English; the rest sort of looked English, but were ones I’d never heard before. There was no grammar of any recognisable sort and I was completely at a loss to know what to make of it. I assumed that the writer was using some sort of Young Alternative Culture Speak (let’s call it Yacs for future reference - not to be confused with Yaks, which splendid animals I assume have fifty different moos for mountain) so…

I replied with a comment of my own couched in the best purple prose I could manage after a beer and a couple of scotches, to the effect that I didn’t understand a word of what the writer was saying but I really liked her hat (which I did.) Today I got a reply from somebody I assume to be a member of the same alternative culture. It said:

the fuck

Well, although this is what Word likes to call a ‘fragment’ and is therefore ungrammatical, and although the ‘t’ is lower case and therefore not strictly correct, at least I’m familiar with the meaning of both words so I suppose it isn’t quite true Yacs, but it’s close enough. I think I might go out on a limb and guess that it means:

What the hell is this weird bunch of crap all about?

I intend that my riposte should be:

Take me to your leader.

*  *  *

In stark contrast, I also got a reply to a comment I made about a Denez Prigent song. (That one was more lyrical than purple because the song warranted it and I wasn’t trying to be funny.) This one said:

Well said, and I couldn’t agree more.

Isn’t it nice to be sprinkled by a cooling shower on a hot day in Barbados instead of being hailed on with bananas? It is. (Although I have to admit that I’ve never been to Barbados, but I assume it is.)

4 comments:

Madeline said...

Ah, Yacs. I imagine I'll have to become at least partially fluent as I'm supposed to teach a bunch of youths this semester. The problem is that I am always mistaken as one of the youths myself. My mother suggested I wear my hair in a bun "like a nineteenth-century schoolmarm" to make myself look more mature.

JJ said...

I wonder whether this another example of being divided by a common language. In UK English, the term 'youth' when used to refer to individuals and not in the generic sense is only applied to adolescent boys. You had me confused since you look quite unlike an adolescent boy or any other version of male with which I'm familiar, so I assume you mean what we would call a bunch of young people.

The bun might work, especially if augmented by pince nez and a shawl. And don't forget to use a clay pipe as a pointer.

Madeline said...

Interesting. When I use the word "youths" it's mostly in a facetious tone, with an implicit reference to Joe Pesci. This is probably lost on people who haven't seen "My Cousin Vinny":

https://youtu.be/eNZ1O2KTOOg?t=31s

JJ said...

Just read a synopsis and it looks interesting. Must see whether any of the charity shops have a second hand copy. I wouldn't dream of paying more than £1.50 for a DVD, and I only venture into YouTube after midnight because of restrictions on my bandwidth.