Another Double-Shot of Revisions to the American Vernacular

Over the summer, I posted a double-shot of revisions to the American English Vernacular. They were well received, so I'm back at it. First, a word to be dropped from the lexicon.

Selfie

Selfie is a newish term used to describe a self-portrait taken with a smartphone camera; frequently for the purpose of posting on social media. It has come into particular vogue after incidents such as Ellen Degeneres' mass-selfie-of-the-stars from this year's Academy Awards, and David Ortiz's photo-ambush of President Obama.

I don't like the term 'selfie' because it's pointless Photographic self-portraiture is almost as old as photography itself. This is the first 'selfie' ever taken:

The man pictured is Robert Cornelius. He took this daguerreotype of himself in 1839. When the Oxford English Dictionary named 'selfie' its Word of the Year for 2013, it traced the first known usage to an Australian online forum in 2002. That is a span of 163 years in which no distinct term was needed. What changed?

The obvious answer is social media, which provides an easy outlet for amateur photography, so making self-portraiture a popular form of expression. With popularity comes the desire for contraction, hence 'self-portrait' becomes 'selfie.'

False novelty is one thing. My greater issue with the word is how juvenile it sounds. Anything that ends in a hard 'E' reeks of faddishness. Self-portraiture is a timeless art form, and the language that describes it should reflect that. 'Selfie' needs to go.

A word to be added:

Reaganbeat

This is a word to describe popular music in general which dates to the Reagan Administration. Today it's known as 80's music, but that term is too bland and non-specific.

The foundational artists of Reaganbeat did all their significant work after President Carter left office, but before the fall of the Berlin Wall. This means acts as wide ranging as Madonna, Prince, Huey Lewis and the News, Motley Crue, Run-DMC, Luther Vandross, Whitesnake, Wham!, The Go-Go's, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran, Hall and Oates and many others can be considered Reaganbeat.

However, there are artists with a Reaganbeat sound do not qualify. The greatest example is Michael Jackson, whose creative prime ran from the late 60's with the Jackson 5 to Will You Be There? from the soundtrack to Free Willy. For this reason, he transcends the confines of Reaganbeat, despite his deep stylistic influence. Van Halen and U2 are not counted for the same reason.

Despite the current 1989 cutoff, I may yet add the first Bush Administration to the Reaganbeat era. This would include acts such as Warrant, Winger, and Paula Abdul. While most of their success came after the Reagan Administration, their work is based on, and bears no stylistic distinction from those big-haired innovators who composed the score to Morning in America.

This passage highlights the descriptive advantages that 'Reaganbeat' has over '80's music.'

Though once ridiculed as superficial and excessive, Reaganbeat has proved influential on popular music in the last 25 years. Lady Gaga's style is indebted to Reganbeat pioneers such as Madonna, and the Eurythmics, while Bruno Mars owes his vocal approach to SDI-era balladeers such as Peabo Bryson and Terrance Trent D'Arby. On the hip-hop side of things, MC's are rediscovering and integrating the techniques of Reganbeat rhymers like Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, and even The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Though President Reagan is no longer with us, the music of his Administration carries on like a Thousand Points of Light. 

Eat your heart out, Peggy Noonan.

Oh, and enjoy this Reaganbeat classic.