(The following excerpt from the Introduction talks about that wonderful “Lexicon of Grunge” hoax perpetrated by Sub Pop’s Megan Jasper. Sorry about the double spacing. I can’t seem to rectify that one.)
The outside world just didn’t get it, and Seattle wanted it that
way. In 1992 a New York Times reporter phoned Megan Jasper,
then a sales rep at Sub Pop Records. The caller inquired about
the hip grunge slang. One problem remained, however: there
was no hip grunge slang. Jasper, by then completely tired of the
incessant media attention, decided to have some fun. She told the
reporter to name some common terms, and she would happily
provide the corresponding grunge expressions. As the reporter
rattled off phrases like “uncool person” and “hanging out,” Jasper
responded with “lamestain” and “swingin’ on the flippity-flop.”
The exchange was published in the November 15, 1992 issue of
the New York Times under the title “Lexicon of Grunge: Breaking
the Code.”* Jasper and Seattle enjoyed a good laugh.
Mudhoney, a Seattle grunge band then receiving international
attention, decided to take the joke a step further. After
the “Lexicon of Grunge” showed up in the Times, the band
gave interviews with the made-up terms sprinkled throughout.
“When we heard about that,” says Mudhoney’s front man Mark
Arm, “[for] our next round of interviews we threw out as many
of those terms as often as possible.”
* From The New York Times, (c) November 15, 1992 The New York Times all
rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the
United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the
Material without express written permission is prohibited. The Material is available
online at http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/style/grunge-a-success-story.
html?pagewanted=5.
