The language of hipsters. Twelve Hypocritical Words in the Hipster Lexicon

The history of substitution of concepts is long and vicious: the sophists, Orwellian Newspeak, modern journalism of military conflicts or ordinary conversations on the train. When we don’t want to call a spade a spade, euphemisms come to the rescue - deception words. With which you can hide yourself, like masks in a commedia dell'arte. What do people who profess the sharing economy and call themselves downshifters or media consultants really mean?

Flex vegetarian = meat eater

We heard an interesting term at a picnic from Borjomi, where the Minsk Cycling Society encouraged people to switch to bicycles and go on vacation. Restaurateur Alexey Sadovoy called himself a flex vegetarian. This is a vegetarian who allows himself to eat meat once or twice a week, without ceasing to be a vegetarian. Paradox! - you say. No, just the crafty magic of linguistics. After this incident, we collected the top inverted words common in Belarus, which help you to be not exactly who you are.

Downshifter = parasite

About this theme: A dozen Belarusian pearls with history

When you desperately don’t want to work, pay rent, see people and build a career, downshifting will come to the rescue. By calling yourself this word, you, of course, become a little eccentric in the eyes of your interlocutor, but still a romantic. Especially if you remember that Buddha is officially recognized as the first downshifter in history - about 2.5 thousand years ago, while he was still Prince Siddhartha Gautama from the Shakya-Muni clan, he left his luxury home, his beloved wife and son and left to be homeless and reflect on the essence of life. Belarusians have the most popular destination vagrancy is still Goa. Another option is to leave the city, buy a farm and set up an agricultural estate there (like the estate of Ales Bely near Volozhin, for example). In neighboring Russia, entire movements are being created, such as a VKontakte group called “Development of Abandoned Villages. Common cause. Like-minded people, unite and return to Mother Earth!” ( https://vk.com/osvoenie), which, by the way, consists of more than 16 thousand people.

Trainee = unpaid worker

Let's say you come to work in an office, but you haven't been paid yet. Because " probation", "little experience", and in general you are practically from the street. The word intern is filled with the romance of prospect. You are like a caterpillar about to become a butterfly. Like a chick that is about to be able to break away from its mother and fly to a bright future. Another plus is that interns are often pitied. For example, in 2006, in Hamburg, there was a gang called the “Robin Hood Gang,” which posted an ad on the Internet that it was distributing food to interns, because interns are the most vulnerable part of society (the action was inspired by the film “The Educators”).

One way or another, experience is important. But when they tell you again that you are not yet competent enough to receive even 3 million rubles, think about the Google and Facebook interns who earn from $5 thousand monthly.

Procrastinator = loafer

When you need to urgently and convincingly explain why all the deadlines have been missed, the work has not been done, and what you were doing here in general, the following term comes to the rescue. As soon as you publicly declare that you are a procrastinator, you rush to catch knowing glances and encouraging nods. Everyone knows this wonderful feeling of putting off tasks, setting the alarm clock for another half a minute and “I urgently need to educate myself and watch a chemistry lecture” when I have to submit an urgent report. We recommend using the word procrastinator with additional references to literature, which will confirm that this is not a deviation or fiction, but a character trait. If that doesn’t work, you can put on your desk the book “The Art of Procrastination” by John Perry, which describes how to procrastinate and procrastinate correctly and profitably. And try to convince your bosses and colleagues that you have almost mastered procrastinator zen. But the deadline will still catch up with you. Sooner or later.

Sharing economy or “joint consumption” = poverty


About this theme: Cohousing in Belarusian: “Where you stock the refrigerator, there is a home.”

Admit that you use BlaBlaCar not because you love travel companions, but because you don’t have money. Since it’s embarrassing to admit this, a now fashionable term comes to the rescue. The advantages of joint consumption are an obvious trend in the modern economy. In 2011, Time magazine even included this concept in its list of ten ideas that will change the world.

If you start talking about the sharing economy, don’t forget to bring all the fashionable resources into the conversation: from Uber to Airbnb. You can go further and tell your interlocutor about Airpnp - a map with accessible and verified toilets throughout Europe. In Belarus, perhaps not familiar to everyone fashionable term sharing economy, but this does not prevent us from jointly consuming, sharing and saving. What's it worth? group on VKontakte where food is shared. More than five thousand people are ready to give away or take away excess, unnecessary or even simply over-salted food.

Blogger = a person without a specific profession

You have a LiveJournal or a Facebook account – that’s probably all. Being a blogger has many benefits. On the one hand, you are invited to events, courted from different sides, fed and poured alcohol on you for posts with photos of the label. You need to be careful here, because bloggers in Belarus (with the exception of talented and original individuals like Malishevsky) have a so-so reputation. They say they write poorly and only for food. So if you call yourself a blogger, you have to work hard to prove that you are really worth something. On the other hand, a blogger is a title with more status than just a “freelancer.” If a person says that he freelances on a large scale, in his speech there will certainly be markers like “serious customer”, “one new project, but I can’t talk yet,” and so on.

Coach = demagoguery for money

About this theme: “You don’t have to sit and jerk off in front of the mirror at how bad everything is.” Marathon Banker's Rules of Survival

You worked in a prestigious company, realized what exactly the main problem was, quit and are ready to share your experience. Read: open the way to heaven for people at $300 per training. You can talk platitudes for three hours without examples or explanations about how important it is to learn to work effectively. You can urge the audience to become stupid and decisive, insult everyone left and right and kick people out of the audience, suspecting them of religiosity (as it happened), you can advise leaders large companies govern according to the principle of totalitarian cruelty (as it was). Carefully! In America, the psychotraining system failed after some of its graduates began to end up in psychiatric clinics or commit suicide.

Situational gay = gay

They say once doesn't count. When you really want it. The beauty of the design is that depending on your environment, “situational gay” can easily turn into “situational straight.” Remember: I twist and turn and want to confuse you, and you may end up hanging between a situational straight man and a situational gay man, sooner or later you will confuse the situations. And then trouble is not far away. And vice versa. It is curious that in Russian scientific literature a term that dates back to Soviet times is more often used - “false homosexuality” (as opposed to “true homosexuality”), implying temporary sexual same-sex behavior, or bisexuality.

Orthodox atheist = Orthodox on holidays

Indications for use are the same as in the case of situational gays. Essentially, an Orthodox atheist is a person who is Orthodox by baptism, but does not share religious views. In fact, while maintaining your status as an atheist, you can go to church with peace of mind, paint eggs and swim in the illuminated font at Epiphany.

In the same way, you can celebrate Sukkot, Kurban Bayram and Veles Awakening Day without remorse. Be careful and try not to hurt anyone's feelings. According to research by the sociological center ZERKALO-INFO LLC, in 2013, as many as 68% of Belarusians called themselves Orthodox. And only 4% are atheists.

Expert = talking head person

About this theme: Alexey Aleksenko: “The fact that hipsters like Nabokov does not make them intelligentsia”

If you have no professional merit or experience in some field, but you damn well have something to say, sooner or later you will come across a PR person who is writing an article, organizing an event, preparing a lecture, advertising a new shampoo. A PR man needs a speaker, but he hasn’t found a professional. But it turned up talking head, which needs to be named somehow. An expert always sounds respectable. Just listen: expert opinion, expert review, expert advice. Experts are often invited to court and to conferences, they are asked to comment and appear on TV. But they say that experts are paid mainly not with money, but with fame. There is only one way out: tighten your expert belt and retrain as a media consultant. Compared to a blogger, a media consultant has an obvious advantage: for some time you will probably be able to receive money for the work done. The danger is that they may not believe you.

I smoke-while-drinking = drinking and smoking

By imposing conditions on smoking, you demonstrate the following: embarrassment of your own bad habits. Although there are certainly advantages to using tobacco with alcohol. Because nicotine stimulates nervous system, you can stay awake for quite a long time and have conversations over a glass of sparkling wine all night long. This is also where the disadvantages come from. First of all, smoking kills. And secondly, there is a high probability that you will become so accustomed to drinking that you smoke more often that you will simultaneously destroy your liver, lungs and good name.

If you notice an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl+Enter

  1. A person who has subscribed to all the latest social networks, all groups that promise expansion of consciousness and self-development, has a presence in all significant social networks, and deals with languages ​​on the Internet.
  2. Often, you can distinguish hipsters from healthy people steam from steam generators, discussion of “YouTubers”, trousers with cuffs, two weeks of unshaven hair, hoverboards. Often they have their own microblog. An integral part of the image is coffee from the indie Starbucks cafe. In fashion, they prefer either “I’m my mom’s DOWNshifter” or “actually, it’s me, I just look good.” In art and music it is expressed towards indie projects, there is a complete rejection of any “heavy music” or classical music. Individuals from the end of 2016 are often used in nonverbal communication skateboards, if they don’t have enough money, hoverboards and Appe devices. The attitude towards alcohol is negative, unless it is floral or fruity wines and beer. Often there are tattoos. communication, formal and informal, sprinkled with phrases of varying degrees of vanilla and stupidity. Having a mind on this moment remains in question.
  3. IN figuratively passively participating in homosexual relationships with persons older than his age.

Example text: A hipster rode by on a hoverboard, wagging his butt. The old women on the benches spat and affectionately remembered punks and drug addicts, while the grandfathers shed tears at what the defended Motherland had become. It’s a pity, but this was the very moment when no one could rejoice.

Origin: from English. hipster.

Synonyms: whore.

(General use)

If you look at Hipsters and admire the way they look, then you can try to become one of them. Try joining the ranks of these trendy Instagrammers and join a subculture that fights against the mainstream culture.

You can't turn into a hipster overnight, it takes a while certain time. Buying hipster clothes will immediately cost you a pretty penny, and you will look just like. Make changes to your wardrobe gradually, be patient, and you will understand how become a real beatnik.

Looking like a true hipster is hard enough because your main goal is to stand out from the crowd.

However, any beatnik will always be different from the rest. It's funny that in the end you can become the same as others who go out of their way to be different.

Wear clothes in neutral colors. Black should be your favorite color. It goes with everything and makes you look slimmer. To prevent you from looking like a goth, paired with black, you need to add bright colors or a mixture of olive, dark blue and khaki.

Wear clothes every time various colors so that they don't come close to each other. You need to create a smorgasbord of shades instead of the same thing repeating over and over again.

You should mix not only models, but also styles. Two different stripes on your jacket and pants can work together to match a simple T-shirt.

Become a Hipster step 3

Combine clothes with unique accessories. Your main goal is to look different and stand out among all the people who wear mass produced clothes. You will need a few items in your wardrobe:

Jacket from old skin or denim;

V-neck T-shirt simple colors for overlay;

Baggy sweaters, sweatshirts or flannel shirts;

An old hat or cap;

Skinny jeans;

Any kind of leather boots, vintage sneakers or moccasins;

Become a Hipster step 4

You must show others that your musical tastes are broad and that you are constantly looking for something new. You should know that classical and indie music has several subgenres, so you'll no doubt discover some new favorites.

Become a Hipster step 16

The Internet is the biggest help for hipsters, namely Instagram, Tumblr, And Facebook. You will have the opportunity to write an article about a new indie band that has appeared or post photos " secret"new juice in a cafe that you recently found. The World Wide Web is a tool that will allow you to show your wardrobe to others, as well as what work it takes to be a beatnik.

Become a Hipster step 17

Try living a vegan lifestyle. Very often, dudes are confused with, because in some ways these two subcultures are very similar. Eating plant-based foods is another way to show everyone that you are helping the environment.

Become a Hipster step 18

Buy yourself a bike and use it to get around the city. If you really decide to become a hipster, you need to buy bike without changing gears and use it as your main transport. This will give you a physical workout and at the same time you will help the environment.

Become a Hipster step 19

A lot of travel and record your adventures in the form of photos and videos. You can try to thoroughly explore your own city. Use social media to find new ones interesting places to visit or find new ones yourself attractions.

Before you go to new town, you need to find out as much as possible about it in advance.

Become a Hipster step 20

hang out with other hipsters. Being around other hipsters will help you understand this subculture much deeper. You shouldn't give up old friends, but you should definitely make new ones.

The most popular pastime for hipsters is coffee shops, music recordings, books, concerts or youth stores.

Who are HIPSTERS?

Hipsters (hipsters) are representatives of a youth subculture that promotes freedom of expression and claims to be a kind of elitism. This word comes from: (there are three options)
  • Option 1. borrowed from the American slang "hip", which can be translated as "a person in the know", an understanding dude" (see the meaning of the word dude)
  • Option 2. from the jargon "to be hip", which means "to be in the know"
  • Option 3. was borrowed from in English"Hipster", "funny person, fashionista".
The term “hipster” appeared, like most new words, in the USA in the forties of the last century. A hipster was, first of all, a person who rejected the traditional way of life and tried to replace it with something else (see what nihilism is) If we go to Wikipedia , then we will find there a phrase related to hipsters: " put sensory-emotional sensations first instead of logical-abstract methods of cognition".

In real life, this meant other passions, hobbies, other appearance, other conversations and behavior (see the meaning of the word postcrossing).

In the Russian Federation, as in other countries, hipster appeared much later in the 21st century, many years after it was forgotten in America and died long ago or was replaced by the subcultures of Rastafarians, emo, punks, goths and other yuppies and hippies.

On some Internet sites, publications periodically appear that describe Russian hipsters. Children of rich parents are fond of this “business” in our country, or speaking in simple words“golden youth”, or more precisely, these are residents of large and small cities, representatives of the middle class, often with unearned income, a certain education and a large number of free time. They are very little involved in real life society, apolitical, their interests concern the manifestations of such movements in art as arthouse (see the meaning of the word arthouse), they prefer to listen to the radio " silver Rain"reading magazines" Hooligan" And " Poster", listen to indie rock, but completely reject popular culture and recognize “their own” in the crowd solely by their clothes.

Hipster style

  • Moleskine is Italian Notebook, hipsters prefer the very first product of the company (dermantine with elastic)
  • Glasses with very thick plastic frames, usually with simple lenses.
  • T-shirt with an unusual print.
  • Various products of the late Steve Jobs, purely for show off.
  • Lomograph camera "Lomo Compact-Automatic", Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association.
  • Sneakers, preferably bright and colored.
  • Distinctive feature- skinny jeans.

The most important appearance hipster style is considered retro


Stereotypes about hipsters video

And yet, who is a hipster?

The desire not to be like others, the desire to be different is inherent in human nature. This state of mind is most widespread among young people and teenagers. For some, pride or cunning does not allow them to show their hipster aspirations in an open form. Other people, who have willpower and talent, they can stand out in a crowd without any special tricks. The “gray” majority has to make some efforts, come up with something, somehow dodge. However, this is not an easy task, because all people have two legs, two arms and one head. How to stand out? All that remains is the appearance or the music. Hence these speakers on window sills and on motorcycles, the postman's bag covered in shoulder patches, the Mohawk hairstyle, dyed in bright color hair, a poisonous shade of sneakers, and rings in the nose.

However, just like that, you don’t have to put it on yourself special meaning, many will simply consider you a quiet abnormal or will not notice you at all. But if there are many of you, if you are all together, if you walk with a thoughtful and mysterious look, conduct conversations in slang, that is, with your whole appearance you demonstrate elitism, freedom of expression and freethinking, and if " take a plunge"to the Great Web, then here you have both a subculture and social media, and now you’re all so unusual and mysterious, many people turn to look at you, girls pay attention and wonder where you are.” hanging out"and is it possible with you (see the meaning of the expression Smoke with a rocker).

From all of the above, a definite conclusion arises that all these boutiques, strange hairstyles, haircuts, lace panties- it’s purely a matter of age. Over time, the hipster will lose his temper and become a full-fledged member of society.

Song Bee 2 about hipsters

Hipsters, or indie kids, are quite new for Russia, but already very common youth subculture. Her object of cult is not the action, but the surroundings: things, accessories, fashion trends. The average hipster will not walk through a cemetery at night and will not cut his wrists while crying, but will narcissistically discuss arthouse cinema, music “not for everyone”, countercultural books, complex and contemporary art, and fashionable clothes, shopping in London or the latest Afisha picnic.

(Login to clear the page.)

How to spot a hipster

Hipsters is a term that originated in the 1940s in New York City. The word is derived from the slang “to be hip,” which translates roughly as “to be in the know” (hence the “hippie”). In the forties, everyone who was “against the grain” called themselves hipsters. In the 21st century, the concept has significantly transformed. In Russia today this is what they call prolific young people in sneakers and skinny jeans, looking through horned glasses at their iPad (iPod and iPhone also included). Other features hipster - long bangs, bright scarf, T-shirts and bags with prints, love for unknown indie bands, vinyl records, vegetarianism and organic food, TV channel “2x2”, exhibitions at Winzavod, magazines “Afisha” and “TimOut”.

In general, hipsters are not trying to change the world, their goal is simply to be fashionable.

Their fetish is indie, handmade, their philosophy is non-commercial things, non-consumer lifestyle, external and internal freedom. Clothes “from grandma’s chest”, second-hand ones are welcome, however, Zara, Topman, Topshop, Pull & Bear, Gap, KixBox stores are also suitable.

Being a hipster is quite tiring: for example, your “responsibilities” include the ability to understand promising trends in music and promising debutants. By the way, play on some musical instrument necessary too. And you also need to have a bunch of different things: in addition to the entire line of gadgets with a bitten apple, you also need a moleskine and a camera (Lomo, Zenit or Holga). Photographs, by the way, are worth a special mention: hipsters love to take pictures of themselves (and you can’t smile in the frame), as well as photograph all sorts of strange things like their own sneakers next to horn-rimmed glasses.

Wikipedia lists the following signs of a hipster:

  • Unisex prevails in clothing;
  • vintage is used in combination with the latest fashion trends;
  • skinny jeans, colored leggings, tights torn to large holes;
  • glasses with massive colored plastic frames (for example Ray Ban Wayfarer), usually without blackout;
  • beards;
  • classic haircuts, haircuts in the style of the Hitler Youth, the use of hairsprays and wax, deliberate negligence, hair tied up in a bun;
  • hair dyed green, blue, pink color;
  • sweaters;
  • stretched and worn T-shirts;
  • sneakers or massive heels and platforms, top-siders, loafers;
  • voluminous scarves;
  • colorful clothes;
  • triangle tattoo;
  • modern SLR camera;
  • Apple products (iPod, MacBook, iPad)

On the Internet, hipsters are usually treated quite tolerantly; they do not cause rabid hatred, like, for example, emo. But the standardness and predictability of the image cannot but cause ridicule.

Hipster bingo

How many hipsters does it take to change a light bulb?

Well... This is such a little-known number. You won't understand him.

Facebook

Twitter

“Listen, let’s hang out in a coworking space, I have an idea for a startup, I’ve already done some research. I’m done with a smoothie!” - have you, dear friend, ever heard something similar from your friend in tight pants? Didn’t you want to immediately pour his own latte on him after hearing this?

Vgorode was seriously concerned about the topic of newfangled words and decided to make a whole selection of such neologisms. After all, you must admit that behind all this verbal husk it is often very difficult to grasp the meaning of what is being said, and the person saying this sometimes himself, in such a simple way, tries to seem smarter and more fashionable than he really is.

So, to better understand the urban hipsters living among us, check out the list below.

Brunch. The average city dweller believes (we checked) that brunch is a late lunch. No, friends, the word brunch was formed as a result of the merger of breakfast and lunch and is usually served between 11 and 14 pm. To avoid confusion, it is better to call our afternoon snack an afternoon snack.

Granola. What we previously called “muesli” has transformed into granola. Alternatively, a mixture of cereals, nuts and dried fruits with the mysteriously melodic name “granola” is much more readily sold in cafes than tired muesli. Marketing and nothing personal.

Cupcake. See "muffin" with a cap of cream on top and the same injected into the biscuit using a syringe. In England they say that fairies eat cupcakes. Dear fairies, be careful when eating cupcakes - you can turn from a fairy into an elephant.

Muffin. Cupcakes became sad when the fashion for muffins came. After all, a muffin is the same as a cupcake, but in a cuter shape. The true muffin should fit in the palm of your hand. Mi-mi-mi!

Meatballs. Were you fed meatballs in kindergarten and did it leave an indelible mark on your memory? You have grown up. Grow a beard and bravely order meatballs at the nearest canteen. The taste of childhood is with you again.

Polenta. In the Carpathians, for example, polenta is called mamalyga. But, you must admit, you wouldn’t dare pay two hundred hryvnia in a restaurant for mamalyga, but for the mysterious polenta...

Smoothie. Mash the strawberries thoroughly with a fork. Press well until smooth. Congratulations, your smoothie is ready.

Case. Case, case - translated from English. Hipsters use it instead of the word "task". That is, when your mother makes you take out the trash, she puts a case in front of you. Mom has many cases, you could say she is your case manager.

Collaboration. This is when at the institute you and Masha were preparing for the laboratory together. Or any other Team work two or more people to achieve common goals.

Coaching. If you are already a subscriber to public pages like the “millionaire’s commandments,” then the next step for you will be to go to a training where a coach (English “trainer”) will teach you how to become rich/make your mother happy/be successful with women/find nirvana/grow a lemon from bones.

Lifehack. Oh, we have them for you

Compliance reference. P try saying it out loud. It seems that this spell can cause a thunderstorm, but no.Reference for compliance, as explained to us smart people, this is a link to the code of corporate conduct. If a conductor is rude to you on a tram, give her a reference. For compliance, of course.

Startup. All young entrepreneurs want to be like Zuckerberg. Therefore, in pursuit of “cash” and popularity, they put an economics degree on the back burner and produce various short term projects and businesses proudly called startups.

Facelift. Minimal updates that are made to a model to increase consumer demand for it until it is released new model. Classic example- history with iPhones.

Eichar. Personnel officer. All.

Barbershop. Men's hairdresser. "Honey, I'm going to the hairdresser!" - does not sound very courageous. Or it’s the case with men in a barbershop, where a courageous man will courageously shave your manly cheeks.

Onion. If a girl asks you to “check out her onions,” don’t look for the one in her hands. Take a better look at her outfit and exclaim with delight: “Anrial! Test!”

Snickers. Well, there’s nothing complicated here, you might think. Snickers is a sneaker in English. But no. A sneaker is a sneaker, and a snickers is a platform sneaker (for girls only).

Sweatshirt. The name is derived from the combination English words"sweater" (sweater) and "shirt" (shirt). When you wear a sweatshirt instead of a sweater with deer, there's only one sad grandma in the world.