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Grunge speak was a hoax created by Megan Jasper, a sales representative for Sub Pop Records. Under pressure from a reporter for The New York Times who wanted to know if grunge fans had their own slang, Jasper, 25 at the time, told the reporter a set of made-up on-the-spot slang terms that she claimed were associated with the Seattle grunge scene in the early 1990s. The information given by Jasper appeared in the sidebar of a November 15, 1992 feature article of the Times. The sidebar, titled "Lexicon of Grunge: Breaking the Code", also mistakenly said that Jasper was working for Caroline Records.

In truth, there was no particular slang language used in the Seattle grunge scene. Many had in fact resented the assumption by the Times that they even had a slang, as well as the claim that it was "coming soon to a high school or mall near you".

Thomas Frank of The Baffler, a journal of cultural criticism, demonstrated that the list was a hoax. He revealed that Jasper had purposely misled the Times as well as the British magazine Sky as a prank. Jasper had been sick of the attention that reporters were paying to people involved in the Seattle grunge scene, and thus pulled the prank to get back at them for their questioning.

The Times demanded that Frank fax over an apology for claiming it had printed false information, believing that it was Frank who was the hoaxer. Frank instead sent a letter standing by the story. "When The Newspaper of Record goes searching for the Next Big Thing and the Next Big Thing piddles on its leg," he wrote, "we think that's funny." Frank considered the article to be part of an attempt by mainstream culture to co-opt the grunge scene and felt that the Times had gotten what it deserved.

Shortly after the release of The Baffler's story, some people in Seattle began selling and wearing t-shirts with the words "lamestain" and "harsh realm" printed in the same font as the famous banner of the Times. The words themselves never caught on as actual slang within the grunge scene (though "score" and "dish" are in use elsewhere). One of the terms, "harsh realm", was used as the title of a science-fiction comic book and a short-lived 1999 television series based on it, and was used by characters in the Dirty Pair comics written and drawn by Adam Warren as part of their futuristic slang (where it had the same definition as the one Jasper created for the term). The events of Jasper's prank would also be documented in the 1996 film Hype!, a documentary about the grunge scene of the early 1990s.


Grunge speak words
During the interview, Jasper made up the following terms and their definitions:

bloated, big bag of blotation - drunk
bound-and-hagged - staying home on Friday or Saturday night
cob nobbler - loser
dish - desirable guy (actually used pre-hoax)
fuzz - heavy wool sweaters
harsh realm - bummer
lock - agreement
kickers - heavy boots
lamestain - uncool person
pain ride - bus trip
plats - platform shoes
rock on - a happy goodbye
score - great (actually used pre-hoax)
swingin' on the flippity-flop - hanging out
tom-tom club - uncool outsiders
wack slacks - old ripped jeans
mickey sticks - older music fan

1) What's their name?
rachel!i'll always remember it!

2) Does he/she have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
ya. me!

3) Would you go to Disneyland with them?
as long as she wouldn't throw up on me!

4) How old were you when you first met?
20

5) Has he/she ever tried to hump your leg?
probably,there's been many incidents by this stage!

6) Is this person older than you?
no,she's like 10!!accordin to a scumbag halloween night anyway!

7) When was the last time you saw this person?
the last time i turned around...

9) Are you related to this person?
NO!! that would be highly illegal!...ya i'l leave that as it is,well put gorgeous!

10) Are you their b/f or g/f?
i hope so!

11) Do you have a nickname for each other?
a few,none i'd publically post though.

12) Do you have pics of this person on your Bebo?
i think so!ya wait my profile pic!

13) How many times do you talk to this person?
whenever!especially when i'm in a mood at college!

14) Do you think they will repost this?
she posted it first!see rachel i did repost it so NYAAH!!

15) Could you live with this person?
i dunno we'd have to live in my bed if we did....once again,wont change it!

16) Why is this person your other half?
cos shes boarder line cool!

17) Have you seen this person cry?
...

1 Do you know this persons middle name?
antoinette claire

19) Have you ever been to the mall with this person?
we've been lotsa places...second base,third base...
home base.....we got wood..

20) Have you ever had a sleepover with this person?
too many,i'm an old man by 20!!

22) Have you ever gave this person something?
the test results are still pending...

23) Have you ever done something really stupid or illegal with this person?
i've done stupid things which she has helped correct.....such as trying to cause a major traffic accident and misspell the word third..


24) Do you know everything about this person?
im gettin there!

25) Does this person have a job?
spar up down by hilltop!not allowed serve me though!

26) Does this person have you as their other half?
whoever made out these questions was probably on e at bloc party last night.DIE!!

27) Do you think you & your other half will be best friends forever?
we better be!she has way too much dirt on me by now!

2 Have you ever made something with this person?
there's plans afoot for cookies...

29) Have you ever taken myspace pictures with this person?
myspace:the place for friends.harder to get going than a bull on ice skates.

30) Have you and your other half fought before?
not really!there's usually a bit of a furore when i break wind in bed though.

31) Is your other half on drugs?
only the drug of love...and cheese...

32) Does this person drink alcohol?
its how we met...

34) Have you and your top person made up a hand shake?
no, we're not 7

35) Have you and your other half done prank calls together?
no. we have sex.

36) Have you ever seen this person dance?
dance?
she claims she doesn't like to but she was groovin at bloc party last night

37) Have you ever seen this person sing?
dunno,she hasn't serenaded me yet!

3 Do you and this person have a certain saying?
we have a special sayin!

39) Do you know this persons Bebo password?
no but i could get it out of her if needs be!

40) Do you know who this person likes or who she or he is going out with?
in no particular order
1.)ville valo
2.)bam margera
3.)andrew maxwell
4.)bam the dog
5.)me

41) Have you and this person ever gotten into a fight that lasted?
no,we're not tards,if theres a problem its talked about!

42) Does this person have a dog?
the ever interrupting bam!

43) Does this person go on the computer often?
she is a computer...

44) Have you and this person gone clubbing?
clubbing?like seal clubbing?no
theres plans afoot for cow tipping though...

45) Disappeared!
is what madeleine did and i had nothin to do with

i know this is usually just on my profile but i need to ask as many people as possible:have you noticed?


now we all know that the start of oasis' don't look back in anger is a blatent rip off of john lennon's imagine BUT has anyone noticed that the guitar solo in that same song is the solo from damaged by primal scream?fucking shocking. then again, its oasis so not really. cigarettes and alcohol is a pixies riff. whats the story? (morning glory) is a beefed up version of the one i love by rem. so ya blur were totally better.