I'm home from the State Speech trip. I had a lot of fun hanging with my kids, and the other coach, but I'm glad to be back. For one, I'll be happy to not hear about the British boy band, One Direction, for awhile!
I couldn't believe how crazy my girls were for this group. They asked me if I'd ever been this in love with a band. I told them I didn't think so. The next day I found out they know the boys from the band's middle names and shoe sizes! I told them NO, I have definitely never been that into a band.
Shoe sizes? How did they find that out? Why is that information even out there? Who cares?!
Anyway, I also listened a lot to how they talk to each other, the language they use, etc. Some of them did use a lot slang, particularly shortening of words. "She cray." (Meaning, "she's crazy," in case you didn't know.) But, the funny thing is, they use it like they're making fun of it.
They always use a bit of a goofy voice when they say these kinds of things, like it's a joke. And I honestly believe that if they were to read it in a book about teens, they would roll their eyes and say, "teens don't really talk that way."
I should note, too, that not all of them did use those kinds of expressions. For the most part I find that teens don't really talk all that differently than my friends and I do. (Despite the fact that we are ridiculously old ladies in our early thirties.) ;)
Never heard of the Other Direction. Of course I'm one of thoese ridiculously old ladies in my thirties too.
ReplyDeleteIn my day, all you had was Teen Beat or Young Miss or some other magazine to learn all about your favorite celebrity. But now so much flows through the internet. Makes me wonder how much of it is correct though--especially silly things like shoe size.
I was never that crazy obsessed about any actors or boy bands back then, but I had some friends that were.
None of my friends were, either. This was all pretty new to me. :)
DeleteAs a teen I was never boy band obsessed either, but I did have my favorites.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Thanks. :) I mainly listen to country, (dorky, I know) so I never really followed the boy bands.
DeleteWhen I was a tween I definitely knew that much about boys in a particular band (names have been withheld to protect the guilty). And I know what you mean about the joking about language thing. I think you're right too, I think they would roll their eyes at it if they saw it in a book.
ReplyDeleteReally?! Ha, that's funny. It actually was kind of fun to watch them. It's a fun energy to be around. :)
DeleteMy deepest apologies that Britain unleashed One Direction on you lol! Cute as they are, I will never understand what makes them better than any of the other (and in my opinion, better) boybands we have produced over the years!
ReplyDeleteThey are cute, I guess, but to be honest, (I'm so old) they all just look like little boys to me! The girls also talked with an English accent all weekend, too. :) For some reason, "Bob's your uncle" was repeated a lot. I'm guessing the guys from the band must have said that in some interview.
DeleteLOL! Sometimes I forget how much fun it was to be a teenager! When I was a kid, my friends and I loved an Irish boyband, and we spent a lot of time talking with Irish accents! :D
DeleteThat's the thing, it is so much fun! And it is a fun energy to be around. (It just gets exhausting after awhile.) :)
DeleteHi Rachel- I'm a bit older, (the big 4-0) and I have to say I agree with you 100%. When I look at boy bands or someone like Justin Bieber, oh my word, they look like nothing but little babies to me! Yet all of these young girls think their so sexy. It completely grosses me out.
ReplyDeleteThe really weird thing is looking at pictures from my old yearbook and thinking how little everyone looks. I mean, we were so grown-up then! Ha.
DeleteI've never heard of that band, and I'm a teenager, if that makes you feel better.
ReplyDeleteHa, where are you from? I wonder if you'll be spared or if you'll hear others your age talking about them soon. :)
DeleteI'm a Brit, and I like One Direction! I'm not obsessive, not like some of my friends *rolls eyes*. They're pretty rubbish live, though - on X Factor UK (they came 3rd) no one liked them very much except for Simon Cowell, but auto-tuning works wonders!
ReplyDeleteIf you heard the specifics of their conversations, did you hear any favourite band members? Apparently over in the states everyone likes Irish Niall and dark haired Zayn (mmmm Zayn), whereas in the UK everyone's mad over curly-bonce Harry Styles. I hate Harry Styles.
/derail
I know Harry and um, Liam(?) were mentioned a lot. They did seem to think Zayn was the more serious, sexy one. ;)
DeleteHaha, I was that way about Dream Street when I was a teenager. Couldn't get enough of them. I needed to know absolutely everything about all the members of the band. I think I still have some of the posters around.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. :) (But I don't actually know who they are. Sorry.) I never had many posters at all. Although I did get a Princess Bride one as a gift once. I did like to look at Wesley. :)
DeleteI didn't care that much about bands when I was in HS. I jumped on the N'Sync band wagon, but I never even knew their names, let alone their shoe sizes!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was really young, I listened to (and idolized) New Kids On The Block. I had a huge crush on the youngest one, Joey I think. I had a "Fan book" so I knew he loved Mexican food -AND...we had the same birthday! It was fate, I knew it! ;)
Fate! Of course. :) They decided a lot of things were fate, too. Like their favorite song coming on the radio just when they were talking about it! (Imagine the coincidence!) ;)
DeleteIt makes me wonder what I said and did as a teen that made adults laugh knowingly.
ReplyDeleteI know mine, I totally dated a 'bad boy.' My poor parents. Lol. :)
DeleteMy 12 year old son came home complaining about the "One Direction Infection" that has invaded his school. Too funny :)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny! Yeah, I had never heard of them until about two weeks ago.
DeleteI feel weird writing slang for that very reason, these kids are going to roll their eyes at how silly it sounds. And you've peaked my curiosity. Now I want to look up One Direction--never heard of them.
ReplyDelete