| Slang
of the Week: trash (verb)
1. criticize (a person) 2. destroy (a place)
Example:
After Bob left Jeanette for a waitress at the truck stop, she trashed
him to all her friends. Then she trashed his car by pushing
it off a cliff.
Celebrity quote:
“When you have 2 guys fighting over the same girl, one has been
trashing the other, you know the other guy isn't going
to be too happy."
-Jerry Springer, explaining how he predicts fights on his talk show
If you’ve never seen the Jerry Springer Show, you have missed out
on some essential American culture. Topics of discussion center on love
triangles, especially those involving brothers and sisters, men in drag
(women’s clothing), and illegitimate children. Because of the violent
arguments that make up much of the hour, the most commonly heard word
on the show is bleep! (the sound made to cover offensive
language).
Trash is appropriate vocabulary for Springer’s
show, since the word can also be used to describe most of his guests.
As a noun, it means a person of low behavior, usually from a “bad”
family. An interesting subgroup is trailer trash: poor,
trashy people who live in prefabricated homes (trailers)
in trailer parks. Though you can find trailer trash anywhere
in the US, they are usually stereotyped as ignorant Southerners.
Redneck, a related term, describes a bigoted rural Southerner.
According to southern comedian Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a redneck
if you have more tattoos than teeth, shave your legs with your husband's
fishing knife, have a Jack Daniel's poster in your living room, answer
the door carrying a shotgun, and have at least once thoughtfully placed
a six-pack of beer into your friend’s casket before he was buried.
While rednecks are not identical to trailer trash, it
is entirely possible to belong to both groups at the same time. For more
information on trash, check out our new movie quote offerings
below.
What’s new at Slang City?
Classic trash cinema explained! Our new translated movie quotes highlight
the work of “king of trash” film director John Waters: Pink
Flamingos, Female Trouble
and Hairspray.
Slang
City Bookstore
The Hipster Handbook. Learn about being fin and deck in this month's pick
on ultra-cool people and how to become one.
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