w w 0 V V V V v w AV 10B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 4, 2004 The Michigan Dai . ... .... ... ... ...) ... .. . .J .. ....... . _ word. with Dan Mullkoff WHAT DID I JUST GET GOT? The Rant: Hang on, snoopy his is the true story of how conservatives punk'd a nation," reads the back of Thomas Frank's book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Tongue-in-cheek as its usage may often be, punk'd has escaped the bounds of MTV and entered our collective vocabulary. This current usage as a verb indi- cates that a person has been deceived, often by jack-assed trickery from the likes of Ashton Kutcher. The victim may not realize a punk'ng is amidst until afterwards, when the punk'r (as distinguished from a punker, 'a fan of punk music') clues him in with an announcement of the I catchphrase "you got punk'd!" The word punk has a long history with dozens of meanings, usually as a noun or an adjective. English speakers have used punk as a verb in a few ways: to punk meaning 'procure customers for a prostitute' (derived from the first meaning of punk, 'a prostitute') in 16th century England, and to punk out, meaning 'back out,' in the U.S. beginning in the 1920s. But Mr. Kutcher's usage as a transitive verb probably derives from the American-based adjecti- val meaning, 'devoid of worth or sense; poor in quality,' dating to the late 19th century. This meaning also provided the basis for the term punk rock, coined by Creem Mag- azine's Dave Marsh in 1971 while referencing Rudy Martinez (a.k.a. Question Mark) of the band ? and the Mysterians, of "96 Tears" fame (and whom I highly recommend). In saying the passive phrase, "You got punk'd!" the punk'r places himself in the role of an outside observer in order to empha- size that the person, in short, got punk'd. Using the passive construc- tion instead of the active "I punk'd you!" puts focus on the victim, and suggests that third-party observers would have the same reaction to the punk'ng. I should note that passive call- outs are nothing unique to punk'rs. Unwitting people can get dissed, schooled, burned, ho'd, shown up, etc. And, if the conditions are just right, and the stars so aligned, they just might find themselves on the receiving end of a serve. As the two utterances of the titular line in the film "You Got Served" exemplify, getting served suggests being demonstrably out- performed at a given task. To serve has meant 'to play a trick on someone' since the late 16th centu- ry, though in this sense it has most often been used as to serve a turn, and is rarely heard nowadays. This meaning better fits the connota- tions of getting punk'd, as trickery is a key component. A closer fit and a possible ori- gin for the current sense of getting served is an Australian slang verb phrase dating to the 1970s: to give a serve, meaning 'to reprimand sharply.' Speakers today usually use punk'd and served with the verb "to get" instead of the "to be" more common to formal passive construc- tions (e.g., "you were punk'd!"). According to English Prof. Anne Curzan, "Passives such as 'you got served' are often viewed as collo- quial and perhaps too informal or somehow improper (even though history shows that Jane Austen and Charles Dickens used them). It's possible, though, that passives can mean something slightly different from passives with 'to be,' which is why they can be useful: They can emphasize process, they can be emphatic, or they can suggest that the subject is in part responsible for what happened ('she got fired')." In the case of served, changing the verb alters the meaning, from the traditional definition 'have a ser- vice done for' to the more slang 'be outperformed.' Had the Brit- ish department-store comedy "Are You Being Served?" routinely featured plot-lines involving, say, Mr. Humphries out-break-dancing Capt. Peacock, perhaps "Are You Getting Served?" would have been an appropriate title. Unlike a punk'ng, which is decided by the punk'r, exactly who got served can be decided by a third party, such as the large audi- ences at the aforementioned film's climatic dance-offs. Whereas the use of the passive voice in "you got punk'd!" merely seeks to place the punk'r in the role of an outside observer, the passive voice of "you got served!" can reiterate the deci- sion of a present third party, insur- ing that the victim understands he got served. Another distinction involves the element of surprise: a serve vic- tim realizes he is a candidate to get served throughout the battle; a person who has been punk'd does not see it coming until the startling moment of revelation. There is also a level of seriousness unique to a serve. There may be great animosity between the one getting served and the one doing the serving. Follow- ing a punk'ng, on the other hand, the punk'r and the victim are most often on good terms, realizing it was all in good fun. When local resident Will Travers's television failed to work one day, he perhaps inadvertently highlighted the dif- ference between the two terms. Fearing the damage was perma- nent, he lamented, "Man, I hope we got punk'd, but I'm pretty sure we got served." Of note: In my Sept. 23 "Suf- fixgate" column, I defined -crat as 'a supporter of a specified form of government.' Thanks to Rackham student Aristotelis Babajimopoulos for clarifying the relevant ancient Greek root word, which is kratein, 'to be strong; to rule.' The English words democracy and democrat, as well as similar constructions, were derived from French. The French word dimocrate ('democrat') was back-formed from the French dmocratie ('democracy'), which was derived from ancient Greek. So, by way of the French, we use the suffix -crat to complement the Greek-based suffix -cracy. Dan also spends a lot of time wondering what "word up" actu- ally means. If you have any ideas, feel free to e-mail him at mullkoff@umich.edu. By Marshall W. Lee Daily Arts Writer When I heard through the grapevine that my rotund, flaxen-haired neighbor Mathilda was leaving Ann Arbor for a Peace Corps assignment in some drab and desolate third-world nation - let's say Tajikistan or, I don't know, Poland - my first thought was Bleah, gross, because I was eating something with coconut in it and I hate coconut. But my second thought was Selfish ingrate bitch! After all that we've been through together! OK, OK, so her and I have never actually, technically met. And yeah, I'm relatively certain that my aesthetic sensibilities would automatically refuse association with someone who wears copper bracelets and subscribes to Oprah Magazine. But over the course of our short time together Mathilda and I have managed to transcend the trite social formalities of acquaintance and communication, and to forge an expres- sive, significant bond rooted in deeper, dare I say sacred ground: We are both really fucking nosy. You see, I was first introduced to the mystery that is Mathilda one August afternoon when I returned from Meijer just in time to see a vaguely familiar, rounded silhouette shuffling sneakily away from my open mailbox and up the front steps next door. Rummaging through my personal correspondence! Well that's a federal offense, so what else could I possibly do but wait until dusk to go investi- gate the inside of her Plymouth with a flashlight (select highlights include: 8 empty packs of American Spirits, a Neil Diamond Best of cassette, and a dog-eared glossy pamphlet entitled "Is Satan in You?"). And things only escalated from here. Sideways glances and informal recon gave way to full on snooping; I don't know what Mathilda's excuse is, but frankly I just can't help it. Sure, I have a dazzling life of my own; in fact my everyday is a non-stop action spectacle filled with trials, tribulations and partial nudity, but the truth is that I've just never been able to keep my nose out of other people's business. The fault lies entirely with Duracell. When I was just a wee youngster, after the dimming double-As in my Walk- man reduced Kriss-Kross's masterful flow to a sputtering hum, I made a life-altering discovery. Did you know that perfect strangers, well within earshot, will unabashedly share their most private and intimate conversa- tions with just about anyone wearing headphones and nodding rhythmically at the ground? I didn't, and my life has never quite been the same. But all the eighth-grade locker probes, and all the neck-craning efforts to glimpse O.P.T.M. (Other Peoples Text Messa es, as if you didn't know), were mere cross-training for my epic battle wi Mathilda. And now, after all this time, th ungrateful Heidi-wannabe is just goin to pack up and leave me? I'm outrage I'm insulted! I'm, well, relieved. To te you the honest truth, Mathilda, I' been feeling restless and a bit bored. didn't know how to break it to you, b lately I've found your antics to be hal hearted and jejune. I mean c'mon, roo ing through our trash bins dressed < a bum - let's face it, the spark is gon Don't get me wrong, I am thankful fe the time that we've had together, but think we both saw this coming. Don worry kiddo, you'll find someone nev someone exciting who undresses wi the blinds open or gets unmarked pac ages from Katmandu; someone real great. So thanks for the memorie Mathilda, good luck and Godspeed. I Daily Arts MiX Tape ©"IS " REDUCTION UU DATE/TINE -NOISE REDUCTION Old America New America 1. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man - Chuck Berry 2. Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett 3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Banc 4. (Sittin' On) ) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding 5. Feel Flows - The Beach Boys 6. Cinnamon Girl - Neil 7. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash 8. I Just Want to Make Love to You - Etta James 9. My Back Pages - Bob bylan 10. Lodi - Creedence Clearwater Revival 11 One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - John Lee Hooker 12. bark Was The Night - Blind Willie Johnson id 3 1. When the Lights Go Out - The Black Keys 2. New Drink for the Old Drunk - Crooked Fingers d 3. Michigan Girls - Calif one 4. Just Be Simple - Songs: Ohia 5. Outfit - The Drive-By Truckers 6. Whatever - Masta Killa 7. Sex, Love and Money - Mos Def. 8. Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel 9. Good Woman - Cat Power 10. Wild Pack of Family Dogs - Modest Mouse 11. Get By - Talib Kweli 12. Forever - Circulatory System Two weeks ago, esteemed music staffer Matt Kivel printed a mix- tape, half of which was comprisec of British bands, the other half American. The problem? Matt's name was erroneously left off of his mix, which was printed beside no fewer than two pictures of myself. So with all due respect, this week I present my mix: A contrast of the old stalwarts of Americar music versus the up-and-comers. Some of the choices are obvious: You've probably heard of Chucl< Berry, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, The point, however, isn't obscurity but comparison: As great as Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" is, it's nearly as entertaining to hear Cali- fone deconstruct it on "Michigar Girls." Not all the songs have direci analogs, but the message should be clear: America's rich music tradi- tion is being re-imagined by a legior of young upstarts, and their work is as transcendent and indicative of the American experience as their forbears'. - Andrew M. Gaerig Total time: 79.51 NELP New England Literature Program y Mass Meeting& Slide Show Thursday, November 11 7:00 p.m. Aud. A, Angell Hall SPRING TERM IN NEW ENGLAND! Earn 8 Credits Read, write, and canoe in the Maine woods. Hike in New Hampshire's mountains. Visit Maine's seacoast. Literature, Art, Music, Nature Study. (It's not just for English majors!) For information call Jackie Livesay (734) 764-9505 or see "NELP": http://www.sa.umich.edu/eng Sh I ,s .,. I_ I * ., -4 l -* -1 11 1 , , . 9,