Thursday, May 29, 2008

OAD on "Punk"

In light of recent discussions concerning 20th century musical movements with my new friend Christopher Scott Thielen (of Mon Marie fame), I thought this was funny:
punk |pə ng k|
noun
     1 informal a worthless person (often used as a general term of abuse).
          • a criminal or hoodlum.
          • derogatory (in prison slang) a passive male homosexual.
          • an inexperienced young person; a novice.
     2 (also punk rock) a loud, fast-moving, and aggressive form of rock music, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
          • (also punk rocker) an admirer or player of such music, typically characterized by colored spiked hair and clothing decorated with safety pins or zippers.
     3 soft, crumbly wood that has been attacked by fungus, sometimes used as tinder.

adjective
     1 informal in poor or bad condition : I felt too punk to eat.
     2 of or relating to punk rock and its associated subculture : a punk band | a punk haircut.

DERIVATIVES
     punkish |ˈpəŋkɪʃ| adjective
     punky |ˈpəŋki| adjective

ORIGIN late 17th cent. (sense 3) : perhaps, in some senses, related to archaic punk [prostitute,] also to spunk .

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