I'm chatting with someone who has a very specific definition of a word they're trying to "take back" (more power to them!), and now I'm terribly curious...
What's something - a word, a style, an attitude, a food craze, an era, a mannerism - that you're on a mission to take/bring back? Something you'd love to see other people invoke the same way again?
(Answers can and should range from the goofy to the profound!)
HOMGOSH YES. 😍
No capes, darling! No capes!"
-- Emma Mode, "The Incredibles"
Hah, I knew the source at once. Nice one.
But I'm going to double down: formal capes AND kick-ass walk-out music that just plays in the air around every masc-presenting person so inclined.
😊 Gents deserve a bit of fun and flash wherever they go!
Personally, I'd enjoy a cape, although in the heat and humidity of Florida, when we wear shorts and flip-flops, their practicality is limited.
Businessmen used to wear hats. That's certainly out of vogue. There are a few photos of JFK wearing a business hat but he hated them. He wore a top hat on inauguration day.
@MLClark @WordsmithFL @FreedomATX Actually they are making a comeback… https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/a43144450/mens-capes-trend/
@WordsmithFL @MLClark @FreedomATX
Edna Mode is right. NO CAPES!
@MLClark There's an ongoing joke in "Clerks II" about "taking back" a certain racist phrase that Jay keeps using.
I'm not going to repeat it ... 🙄
Some things can die in a ditch! I know the reference - whew, that takes me back.
What about you? Is there a narrative style, genre trend, or something about a political culture you moved within that you'd love to see in vogue again? Or even just a way of treating people that you recall from another era, that's sadly lapsed in most circles today?
@MLClark Hmmm ... I have an answer, but it's a bit too personal. 😉
I wonder how Jewish Kohanim feel about the Vulcan salute, since 
was borrowed from a ritual where they made the sign for Shin "Almighty God."
Maybe they give it a pass since Leonard was Jewish.
@MLClark Answering your question in general, though, I really can't think of anything. I know cultural standards come and go. The universe doesn't care. What works for my generation might not work for yours which might not work for Generation Z. So I tend to shrug away such things.
I do get a bit annoyed when people try to force the clock turned back to the standards of their era. Live your own life the way you want, but you don't get to impose 1950s morals on others.
@MLClark bring back giant T-shirts with a buckle you then paired with leggings.
I used to swim in giant T-shirts all the time. :) Always felt safest in my body with them on.
I do not and have not ever owned leggings, though! Should I try this item out and see what I'm missing? Any material recommendations?
So comfortable! I have some Under Armour, Fabletics... look for good fit and stretch, comfortable waistband and length. Hope this helps 😋
@MLClark every so often here and back on classic Twitter my intermittent mission is to bring awareness of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Most recently I brought it to my kid’s high school Civics teacher’s attention. My controversial stance is focusing and framing civil rights, laws, policies on shared humanity rather than carving out niches that pit groups against each other.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
I most strenuously cosign that one. We had a moment of great momentum back then - which we could have built upon ever since. We still can, and must: If our shared humanity isn't first and foremost in public policy, we all suffer for it - unequally, but in ways that diminish us all.
Thank you for your work on this important theme.
@MLClark pass it along in your work. The horrors of WWII prompted great humanitarian efforts and prompted a great deal of Social Psychological research. The military integration of WWII probably helped build some support for Civil Rights legislation to follow.
Presently, I also want to bring back the use of “presently” in writing.
Oh, I promise you, as a self-proclaimed "global humanist", that document informs everything I try to do. :)
Presently, colour me intrigued by your interest in the word "presently"! Do you want it to replace anything overused?
@MLClark not as a direct replacement. Presently, I’d like to see the phrase “that’s so cringe” retired. I recoil at its use or similar derivations.
@MLClark I was reading an old book and when they said something was gross or unattractive - in this case it was a man's hat - they called it "undelicious" and I think that would be a cool way to comment on something you don't like. "Yes I went to that movie but walked out halfway through because honestly I found it too undelicious."
Oooo, the perfect offset to "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?" from The Witch.
Let's do it! Let's bring 'em both back!
@MLClark Right after I finish this undelicious work I had to bring home lol. 😄
It actually works better in print, it's difficult to say with a straight face. Like now if you tell someone they have an undelicious hat, they'll be like "You tried to eat my hat?"
We were having a CoSo chat about Spanish-lang sex words earlier today (it was a silly Sunday), so it occurs to me to mention that "deliciosa" is definitely used en flagrante... a lot. Which can be off-putting for those of us who associate "delicious" with food alone - but I guess we English-lang prudes need to catch up and get salivating (or not!) over inedible objects again! 😂
@MLClark It's not such a stretch for English speakers either, I've heard a lot of people comment on another person as "Yummy!" 😄
Long skirts. Today's exhibitionism takes away all the mystery, all the real sexiness, dontcha think? Remember the days when folks were excited if they accidentally glimpsed a bit of ankle? 😮 🤣
Seriously, if I had to pick one fashion era to bring back, it would be the 1910s-1920s.
But if that isn't possible, 70s fashion. And most 70s slang: crib, threads, foxy, dynamite, boogy, groovy...
And finally, kilts, especially for men, and not just for weddings. Men in kilts every day.
YES!
I love the swish of a long skirt. I knew fellows and ladies alike who adored rocking one.
Someone pointed out in pandemic that it made perfect sense for brasieres and high heels to disappear after the influenza pandemic of 1918-20, and my mind was blown. Yes! Flats and slinky simple dresses after isolation from their own bout of plague! We can make this happen again! 🤞
Also, everyday kilts... and utili-kilts? Yes please! More functional breathing room for everyone!
Woo! Don't forget to pay the #KiltTax when you treat yourself to one!
Utili-kilts! 😂 All lengths, all genders. Pleats are universally flattering, people!!!
I've never thought about the previous pandemic's influence on fashion, but I'll look it up. Intriguing...
Here's a wee starting point, via CBC 2021!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/covid-fashion-2021-flappers-spanish-flu-1.5868505
@MLClark
I'd like people to be equally comfortable using the word "gay" to mean homosexual *or* bright, colourful and happy.
"We'll have a gay old time" as the Flintstones used to sing.
We still make the Yuletide gay!
We just have to figure out how to get it into the rest of the calendar now... 🤔
@MLClark Formal capes for men.