# Funky students



## moodywop

"Funky" as used in AE is one word whose meaning still escapes me even though I keep hearing it in movies. Leaving aside its use to refer to a musical style, what does it mean in this article I was reading about Providence, R.I.?

"Providence is home to the liberal bastion (and the I-can-be-*funkier* than you students) of Brown University"


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## Paulfromitaly

That's what an AE slang dictionary says:

*funky*:  1. Cool in an odd or quirky way. 2. Rotten or rancid in an odd way. 

Most of the times I hear it, I'd think it as a synonym of cool.


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## moodywop

Paulfromitaly said:
			
		

> That's what an AE slang dictionary says:
> 
> *funky*: 1. Cool in an odd or quirky way. 2. Rotten or rancid in an odd way.
> 
> Most of the times I hear it, I'd think it as a synonym of cool.


 
Yes, Paul, I've seen that definition, but it's pretty vague. "Cool" means different things to different people. I'd like some examples of what it really conveys. What's a funky car/apartment etc like?

Definitions in dictionaries appear to be contradictory. The Longman dictionary defines "funky" as "modern, fahionable and interesting". And yet I have another quote here mentioning "the funkiest old building".


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## Paulfromitaly

moodywop said:
			
		

> Yes, Paul, I've seen that definition, but it's pretty vague. "Cool" means different things to different people. I'd like some examples of what it really conveys. What's a funky car/apartment etc like?
> 
> Definitions in dictionaries appear to be contradictory. The Longman dictionary defines "funky" as "modern, fahionable and interesting". And yet I have another quote here mentioning "the funkiest old building".



After having found this, I'd move this thread to the English only forum and ask them what they mean when they use the word "funky"...

*"When asked which words in the English language are the most difficult to define precisely, a lexicographer would surely mention funky..."*


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## moodywop

Paulfromitaly said:
			
		

> *"When asked which words in the English language are the most difficult to define precisely, a lexicographer would surely mention funky..."*


 
Grazie, Paul!  It's nice to know even lexicographers have a hard time defining "funky" I'm curious. Where's the quote from?


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## Paulfromitaly

moodywop said:
			
		

> Grazie, Paul!  It's nice to know even lexicographers have a hard time defining "funky" I'm curious. Where's the quote from?



Here: http://www.answers.com/funky


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## moodywop

Paulfromitaly said:
			
		

> Here: http://www.answers.com/funky


 
Thanks again, Paul. That's an excellent entry, actually. It explains both of my quotes: "unconventional" fits the "funky students" quote and "characterized by originality" the "funkiest old building" quote.

I did search for "funky" in the EO forum. Strangely, it doesn't seem to have been discussed before.


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## TimLA

Funky is a great word, and typical of those words in English that are difficult to describe. I know "funky" when I see it.  

Other synonyms that I might use would be "Odd", "at the edge", "on the cutting edge", "atypical". But it would mostly be used in an "artistic", "aesthetic" setting.

Your first example about the Brown students, it would imply that they dress, act, eat and do everything "at the cutting edge" - they set the "new" styles.

A funky car might be a SMART car in the US, a VETTE in Italy, or any car that is painted very flashy with loud horns, big engine. A Ferrari in LA isn't funky, because there are so many of them.

A funky apartment would be very modern, probably with modern art on the walls, fancy electronics, piped-in music in the bathrooms.

An old funky building would be one that "catches your eye" - very few like it - maybe with a few gargoyles - anything atypical. The museum in Bilbao would be "funky" anywhere in the world.

There's a famous wine store in LA that sells a superb selection of non-standard Italian wines. When I go there to buy, I tell the owner "XX, I'm looking for pure funk - and it better smell like old gym socks". He knows what I mean, and I always get the best, funkiest wines! 

So if I had to summarize I might say "cutting-edge" for that "setting".


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## moodywop

Grazie mille, Tim! Ci hai fornito degli ottimi esempi.

I think I've also heard "funky" used for an old or vintage car but that was in England. An old, maybe battered car, for example, but "cool" exactly because it's the complete opposite of a flashy, gadget-ridden car.


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## Paul in Oz

"Funky" a modern version of "Groovy"


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## brian

I don't know...this is a really tough word.  Granted, I didn't read that article, but here's my opinion.  I most often think of funky in a more negative context.  If someone told me, "I have a funky car," I imagine that he has an old, beat up car that doesn't run well and is missing a passenger seat.  If I say I saw "an old funky building," I mean I saw a building where the door was hanging off its hinges and the roof needed patching.

I guess my sense of "funky" relates more to the "rotten" definition.  I'd say, "This cheese tastes a bit funky" to mean that there's something wrong with it but I can't quite put my finger on it.

I'd also say, "Excuse me waiter, this glass is not very clean...look, it has some funk on the bottom right here."  Okay so maybe I wouldn't say that to a waiter, but only because it's impolite.  You get the idea.

I also use "funky-looking" in a bad sense.  "Rebecca, I'm sorry but that dress is just funky-looking."  Though, this does imply a little bit of oddness and originality, but to the point of sheer weirdness and definite _bad taste_.

It's a tough word to explain.  It could also be a generational thing since I suppose the adjective form comes from the '70s use of "funk" in reference to disco funk.  But as we all know, disco died, and perhaps so did the word's positive connotation...


Brian


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## Alxmrphi

Sono daccordo con voi, e' anche vuol dire "off/smelly", spiacente se qualcuno ha gia' detto.


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## Moogey

I completely agree with Brian. The way he sees this word is the same I see it.

Unless you're talking about music, something funky is more than likely something less than desirable.

However, this is also one of those words whose meaning can be defined by the person using at the time he or she uses it, having a meaning not defined in any dictionary (because it's defined by who's using it), and is simply understood by the way it's used. If that makes any sense 

-M


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## DAH

moodywop said:
			
		

> Grazie mille, Tim! Ci hai fornito degli ottimi esempi. I think I've also heard "funky" used for an old or vintage car but that was in England. An old, maybe battered car, for example, but "cool" exactly because it's the complete opposite of a flashy, gadget-ridden car.


 
This is my take: _Slang._ Earthy and uncomplicated; natural.  Oh, I do remember saying: Wow man, funky!  
It is a "code" word much used by the tuned-in and dropped-out, myself included.


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## Gianni2

However, this is also one of those words whose meaning can be defined by the person using at the time he or she uses it, having a meaning not defined in any dictionary (because it's defined by who's using it), and is simply understood by the way it's used. If that makes any sense 

I couldn't agree more.  What's funky to one person could be 'junky' to another, whether it's clothing,  music, art, etc.


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## lsp

I use funky to mean whatever I need it to mean, including almost everything mentioned. I sounded a few out, though ... so it means, good, unique, bad, indescribable, cool, classic, vintage, supercool, jazzy (musically), ... am I helping?  

Funky apartment -odd, individual, not subject to standard descriptions or categorizations.
Funky dress - almost always a compliment.
There's a funky smell coming from the frig - NO possible misunderstanding, that's bad!
You OK? You look a little funky. Maybe your lunch didn't agree with you.
Wow, you look very funky today (where'd you get those shoes I have to have them).
The code is wrong, something funky is happening when the page loads - an unidentifiable something is not quite right about it.
I'm having a funky day, is it me or is everybody disagreeing with everyone in the office today.


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## Victoria32

lsp said:
			
		

> There's a funky smell coming from the frig - NO possible misunderstanding, that's bad!
> You OK? You look a little funky. Maybe your lunch didn't agree with you.
> Wow, you look very funky today (where'd you get those shoes I have to have them).
> The code is wrong, something funky is happening when the page loads - an unidentifiable something is not quite right about it.
> I'm having a funky day, is it me or is everybody disagreeing with everyone in the office today.



 These negative meanings are the primary ones to me, but I just asked my son and he said 'cool'... so maybe it's a generational thing...


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## Moogey

Victoria32 said:
			
		

> These negative meanings are the primary ones to me, but I just asked my son and he said 'cool'... so maybe it's a generational thing...


Maybe the best advice for both English natives and English learners is to ask "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" if there's uncertainty... it wouldn't sound odd  

-M


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## disegno

Una bella parola...molto versatile, puoi usarla per quasi ogni occasione, buona o cattiva!


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## Victoria32

Moogey said:
			
		

> Maybe the best advice for both English natives and English learners is to ask "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" if there's uncertainty... it wouldn't sound odd
> 
> -M


That's a good strategy....


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## nickditoro

Per Merriam-Webster "funky" is "having an earthy unsophisticated style and feeling ; _especially _*:* having the style and feeling of older black American music (as blues or gospel) or of funk <a slick, heavy beat that is unmistakably contemporary and irresistibly _funky_ -- Jay Cocks>."

I associate the word more with the pre-hip-hop world of the African-American "street" of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. When I lived in Manhattan in the 80's, the neighborhoods in which I would become more alert than usual I would describe as "funky." I don't think my Minnesota friends would use the word in that way, however. 

Nick


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## moodywop

Many thanks to everyone for the great examples. Now I've got the hang of it and I'm ready to sprinkle my speech with all the different senses of "funky" 

Gianni made a good point. What's funky to one person may well be totally unfunky to somebody else. The only sense that doesn't vary from person to person is probably "the funky smell coming from the fridge"


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## brian

You're right about the funky smell usage, possibly because that was its first meaning.

I think it might behoove you to check this out.


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## Victoria32

brian8733 said:
			
		

> You're right about the funky smell usage, possibly because that was its first meaning.
> 
> I think it might behoove you to check this out.



Of course! I had forgotten the first meaning I ever encountered for funk... fear! Enid Blyton used it so, in the childrens' books I read as a child (never more than once, I assure all here...) 

"He was in a blue funk" is an example, and it would occur not just in Enid Blyton, but in BE literature  generally, written or set in the time from the 1920s to the 1950s, and generally meant something like "He was shaking with fear" often with the implication of cowardice.

I was mightily puzzled by a song that said "Play that funky music white boy" (query by whom?) and a Steely Dan song ("FM") that includes the line " Give her some funked up music, she treats you nice" although thanks to this thread, I  now understand...


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## JDR

brian8733 said:
			
		

> You're right about the funky smell usage, possibly because that was its first meaning.



Hi all,

I remember as a teenager reading this word in early C20th novels, and it really confused me until I looked it up in the dictionary. I knew it only in the musical context until then. Maybe that's the cause of the confusion with the word (or some might say its richness). From its original meanings of "fear" and "bad smell'' it underwent some kind of transmutation to mean something "cool" or "groovy". But it cannot ever completely leave its roots - so its meaning can fluctuate between these two almost opposite poles. 

Maybe because the word has such a split personality, it can be used in speech and writing to mean so many, varied things - meanings that require context to be understood.

Additionaly, depending on the awareness of the reader/listener, its intended meaning may be coloured by its other meanings, even if the writer/speaker does not intend it.

That kind of makes it impossible to faithfully translate, doesn't it?

Jack

P.S. I couldn't write any of this in Italian, sorry.


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## Alxmrphi

Moogey said:
			
		

> I completely agree with Brian. The way he sees this word is the same I see it.
> 
> *Unless you're talking about music, something funky is more than likely something less than desirable.*
> 
> However, this is also one of those words whose meaning can be defined by the person using at the time he or she uses it, having a meaning not defined in any dictionary (because it's defined by who's using it), and is simply understood by the way it's used. If that makes any sense
> 
> -M


 
UGHH?!?!?!? What? No it doesn't!
If you describe music as funky it means groovey, where did you get "less than desirable" from?


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## lsp

Alex_Murphy said:
			
		

> UGHH?!?!?!? What? No it doesn't!
> If you describe music as funky it means groovey, where did you get "less than desirable" from?


(Welcome back  )
So he said, unless you're talking about music...


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## moodywop

Victoria32 said:
			
		

> I was mightily puzzled by a song that said "Play that funky music white boy" (query by whom?) ...


 
By Wild Cherry . The lyrics also have these lines:

_Now first it wasn't easy…changin' rock & roll and minds..._
_Oh, but now it's so much better …I'm *funkin out* in ev-er-y way_

Is "funking out" still related to dancing to funky music?

_Now I'm glad I didn't ask for this thread to be moved to English Only..._


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## Alxmrphi

lsp said:
			
		

> (Welcome back  )
> So he said, unless you're talking about music...



I am going back into the cupboard of embarassment and shame now then!
Why do I misread so many things?

Anche, thanks LSP


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## brian

There's nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, Alex.  If anything, your 999(!) posts would, I think, afford you _un piccolo margine d'azione_, vero?

As for "funkin' out," I've never heard it outside the context of that song.  But it's one of those phrases whose meaning, when you hear/read it, knowing full well the gamut of uses of "funk," you can clearly and easily infer.  It's a bit like "rock out" these days.  Both, I assume, come from "funk music" and "rock (and roll) music," respectively; but these days my friends will say things like, _Hey, hurry up, the party's about to start...let's rock out. (i.e., get moving, get out of here, start the show, etc.)_  It guess it imports the mentality of a rocker, as in _Let's go hit the stage / go to the party in a rock-fashion / with a rockstar mentality,_ is if we'll be the life of the party.  So I'd say _funkin' out_ just means _acting in a funky way, exuding funkiness, being funkalicious_.   (add that one to your vocabluarly)


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## DAH

moodywop said:
			
		

> _Now first it wasn't easy…changin' rock & roll and minds..._
> _Oh, but now it's so much better …I'm *funkin out* in ev-er-y way_
> 
> Is "funking out" still related to dancing to funky music?
> 
> _Now I'm glad I didn't ask for this thread to be moved to English Only..._


In this context, yes, it is related to the music.


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## JDR

Hi all,

Very interesting discussion, hope you don't mind me joining in.


			
				moodywop said:
			
		

> ...Oh, but now it's so much better …I'm *funkin out* in ev-er-y way



Here is something totally irrelevant to the discussion of the *contemporary* use of the word I discovered while doing an internet search. It shows another, much older, meaning to "funking out".

Now Toby jumped up nearly frightened to death,
And cut out of his stall, ne'er stoping for breath,
with a fol, &c.
He oft looked behind, to see if he was follow'd,
Some charity boys then arter him halloed
He'd heard 'em before, and he knew by their shout,
It was only them beggars been *funking* him *out*.
With his fol, &c.​
It's the last verse of a ballad written in the late C19th called:TOBY BRAD   
OR, FUNKING THE COBBLER.​The commentary to the ballad says.."Initially the reader is led to believe that [Toby Brad], whilst at work mending shoes, ... is visited by the devil. However, events take a comic turn when he discovers it was only some young boys trying to 'funk' or scare him."

Jack


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## giannid

I would agree with Nickditoro in that for me, funky is kind of 1970's black hippy style - afros and polyester in beautiful colors.  Shaft comes to mind.

As for some of those songs when they say play that funky music, I think they did that because they couldn't say Play that f***ing music.  I remember Gilda Radner singing Gimme Mick (Jagger) and saying I'm your biggest funked up fan.  It sounded so close to the other F word, you know the bad one.

Also, I once spent the afternoon and evening with a girl from Brown.  She dressed very simply (kind of a hippy-like) didn't wear make up either.  She looked ordinary but was quite intelligent.


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## Alxmrphi

Funky is just one of those words you can use anywhere, people understand what you mean, even though it means nothing, or it is so vague no-one gets a direct understanding of the word... seeing as funky can mean from good, to weird, to bad, it is such an ambigious word.. that unless you can't read the meaning off the expression on the persons face while they are saying it, then it really has no meaning, IMHO.


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## Victoria32

JDR said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> 
> Very interesting discussion, hope you don't mind me joining in.
> 
> 
> Here is something totally irrelevant to the discussion of the *contemporary* use of the word I discovered while doing an internet search. It shows another, much older, meaning to "funking out".
> Now Toby jumped up nearly frightened to death,
> And cut out of his stall, ne'er stoping for breath,
> with a fol, &c.
> He oft looked behind, to see if he was follow'd,
> Some charity boys then arter him halloed
> He'd heard 'em before, and he knew by their shout,
> It was only them beggars been *funking* him *out*.
> With his fol, &c.​ It's the last verse of a ballad written in the late C19th called:TOBY BRAD
> OR, FUNKING THE COBBLER.​The commentary to the ballad says.."Initially the reader is led to believe that [Toby Brad], whilst at work mending shoes, ... is visited by the devil. However, events take a comic turn when he discovers it was only some young boys trying to 'funk' or scare him."
> 
> Jack



Thanks for that ballad, JDR, it relates to the 'in a blue funk' usage I remember from my parents'  old books...

Thanks, to, Moodywop for indentifying that song... I was totally blanking on it!


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