Nowadays when someone says something is "whack" that means is unappealing. When Murray walked I go the Val party he goes "This s*** is whack!" with an excited look on his face and mmediately starts dancing...when you'd think he'd have a look on his face like he just smelled poop.
Whack is very, very outdated. People don't say it anymore. Murray would probably say the party is "dope" or "banging" or "popping."
shareI disagree. I still hear "whack" now and then. It means off-the-wall/crazy so it isn't good or bad, Murray was just excited when he said it. Also Cher does say in a different scene, to Josh, "you know what would be dope of us?" And in another scene "The band was poppin'." I don't know why people say this movie is dated, I think remarkably little has changed in youth culture since 1995 in general as evidenced by this movie which is very surprising for a 20 year time gap!! I see the same fashions on my college campus for instance. I'm getting off-topic but I couldn't resist. I see 1995 as the very start of this long lasting era and for those who think otherwise I advise you to watch older movies to what dated REALLY means. Oh and at 29 I'm old enough to remember all of the '90s for myself, it was incredibly similar to now except for pre-1995 which was very '80s inflected still. People often cite 1993 as the start of grungy aspects and I agree but the 80s were alive and well too even in 1994. But then in 1995 came this whole skater-slacker/post-grunge/Internet/Britney Spears/Lady Gaga era. See what I mean? of course there are little things u could point out i.e. Ipads now, skinny jeans instead of baggy, superior cell phones. But it's largely still the same including in overall feel, you know? Compare to 1995 versus 1975 and it's like night and day!
shareYeah lots of areas were still pretty 80s through at least '93 and sometimes '94 but by '95 yeah it was all baggy pants from hip-hop and then all the dingy greasy grunge styles came along (and really to some extent they have never left, people still wear mostly relatively drab colors compared to pre-grunge and hair styles are still mostly pretty flat, no big or fancy hair styles for girls at all for the most part). This movie still had some color, but it was done in 90s styles. In real life at this time everyone went drab though mostly. By late mid 90s off-brown was considered a shockingly bright color haha.
That said the really huge differences are not even 1995+ to the 80s but to the 70s and then again to the early 60s. The 60s cultural revolution got rid of segregation in the South, gave women a lot more practical rights and freedom, stuff like dorm nannies, check in times for girls to dorms, no boys after 8PM rules and so on were all tossed out. And then the 80s were the other huge shift. The early 80s brought in the electronics/computer revolution and the modern pop culture revolution. So much slang still in use today was never heard before the 80s. And everything about pop culture was so different before the 80s. If you dropped someone from college today into college in 2006 they'd barely notice a difference, drop them in 1996 and they'd still get along fine, drop them in 1986 and while they might take a little adjustment to the pre-grunge/hip-hop influence at the end of the day they'd still have their TVs in dorm rooms, video games, home computers, word processing, portable music, be familiar with the better part of the slang, etc. But drop them (or heck even drop someone from 1986 in college) into 1976 and they'd be totally shocked. No word processing, no video games, no portable music, totally different slang, no modern block buster movies, no modern teen movies, no TVs in dorms, etc. and drop then in 1956 and lets make it in the South on top and they'd be just stunned.
So yeah I'd say changes in many ways are slowing down. The truly huge changes took place in the 60s revolutions and then in the 80s electronics/computer/pop culture revolution.
There were changes since the others. Pop culture went from an almost totally upbeat, fun, very suburban oriented variety as the mainstream to a more urban oriented, rougher, harder edged hardcore hip-hop oriented pop culture s the mainstream (especially for guys).
Grunge totally killed all the bright 80s styles and fancy hair for girls, just became a land of black, dark brown, brown, off-brown and flat, greasy hair and people wearing ski hats (which ironically was the geekiest, most loser thing you could do in the 80s; well unless you literally were an inner city gang member) and mainstream music became all about angst, depression, agitation.
And hardcore hip-hop brought in all the baggy styles for guys and droopy pants nonsense and also the ski hat stuff (funny how girls went from being afraid and totally rejecting that look to rejecting any suburban guy who didn't act like some ridiculous gangsta poser) and a rougher edge. Any light and fun got labelled corny and ridiculous.
And then all the scare stories on the news got everyone paranoid so people do seem, overall, more wary and less open today and quicker to jump to weird conclusions. And then the hipster brigade looking down on everything. And the PC brigade going so overboard that half the time it's now more just about people want an excuse to be self-righteously angry and get to attack someone or something (not that more reasonable PC didn't do some good things) and "safe zones" and other nonsense.
And of course texting now has everyone's nose buried in their phone 24-7 so half the time people don't even notice each other when they are walking outside. Personally I think all that makes it not quite as nice as it was in the 80s to early mid-90s. Overall the times just had a more gentle nicer ridiculous relaxed vibe and it seemed people were more agreeable on average.
But for all those changes since the 80s, I still say it's nothing like the difference to pre-80s, that's when things truly got radically different and when anyone who went to HS/college today dropped into the past would really be lost.
It's really a totally different world every since around maybe 1983. On average the college experience for someone graduating in say 2020 will be so much more like their parents was in some many ways than say someone who graduated in say '92's experience was compared to their parents experience in college.
That said times are still changing fast compared to some points in the past. Like I bet 1600 vs 1650 was basically exactly the same.
Yes. The 80s were the last truly distinctive era. Proof of that? My oldest kid had 80's dress up day in high school. 6 years later, my youngest, still had 80's dress up day in the same high school. No 90's dress up day. They'd just wear the same clothes they wear everyday.
shareYeah, sadly true.
It's just been the same old grungy/hip-hop/hipster dingy bleh who even bother's to try look since the 90s.
It's sort of like being stuck in a drabified 70s for the last 20 years, so to 80s kids it feels sort of like we have been stuck in the past and even a return to 80s styles would be like the future compared to today. Today is just like what a dingy version of what a much older cousin of an 80s HS kid might have styled like, if anything.
I guess the "man bun" and the "half shaved half long hair" of the last year or two are finally something new, but, if this is what passes for new these days, I'd have rather they just stuck with the same old grungy 90s stuff hah. Man buns and styling like you have mange.... can't bring back the 80s and get rid of that fast enough.
It's also a bit ironic that individualistic hipsters who reject mainstream pop culture look more 100% lock step the same than mainstream 80s kids ever did! Plus, hipsters don't even admit they ARE the mainstream.
I was just in the mall a couple days ago and a full 40% of the people looked exactly in every last single detail what I saw walking around the same mall in 1998 and another 55% didn't look far off it.
It's also a bit ironic that individualistic hipsters who reject mainstream pop culture look more 100% lock step the same than mainstream 80s kids ever did! Plus, hipsters don't even admit they ARE the mainstream.
yeah, true
Many words, especially slang words, have a way of changing as the generations pass. Back in the earlier part of the 20th century, the word "gay" meant happy and joyful. But in recent decades, it has taken an entirely different meaning.
shareMaybe some are confusing "whack" with "wack"?
"Whack" always meant to assassinate someone, the mob boss would have someone "whacked".
"Wack" generally means appealing in nature, usually unconventional.
..*.. TxMike ..*..
Take a risk, Take a chance, Make a change. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Yeah I mean wack. lol
share"Wack" originally meant bad or stupid. And never with an 'h' either.
shareWhack means crazy, back then and now.
Global Warming, it's a personal decision innit? - Nigel Tufnel
No, the saying "Crack is wack" is from the 80s and it has a negative meaning.
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