Vocab Lesson 1--New Word of the Day--HIPSTER

What is a hipster? Browsing around on various blogs, I have come across the word "Hipster" more than a few times. Apparently this word has been around for a while...so why am I just now being exposed to it? Well today, I finally got fed up with not knowing exactly what one is, so I looked it up on Urbandictionary.com and found several useful (and quite amusing) definitions of the term being used to refer to a person or group of people....

This takes me back to December 2007 when I taught my aunt's 2nd graders the word "OBLITERATE". I wrote it on the black board, along with my own derived definition, the word meaning "to destroy". Some of the kids actually remembered the word the next day, and asked for a new word to learn. I love kids that are not my family. They are so absorbant to knowledge, and it really gives me a feeling of warmth. Now I see how teachers get attached to other people's children, but can barely stand or take care of their own. It's a scary thought, but more of a reality than not...anyhoo...back to the topic at hand...what is a hipster?


1) Hipster
Listens to bands that you have never heard of. Has hairstyle that can only be described as "complicated." (Most likely achieved by a minimum of one week not washing it.) Probably tattooed. Maybe gay. Definitely cooler than you. Reads Black Book, Nylon, and the Styles section of the New York Times. Drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon. Often. Complains. Always denies being a hipster. Hates the word. Probably living off parents money - and spends a great deal of it to look like they don't have any. Has friends and/or self cut hair. Dyes it frequently (black, white-blonde, etc. and until scalp bleeds). Has a closet full of clothing but usually wears same three things OVER AND OVER (most likely very tight black pants, scarf, and ironic tee-shirt). Chips off nail polish artfully after $50 manicure. Sleeps with everyone and talks about it at great volume in crowded coffee shops. Addicted to coffee, cigarettes (Parliaments, Kamel Reds, Lucky Strikes, etc.), and possibly cocaine. Claims to be in a band. Rehearsals consist of choosing outfits for next show and drinking PBR. Always on the list. Majors or majored in art, writing, or queer studies. Name-drops. May go by "Penny Lane," "Eleanor Rigby," etc. when drunk. On PBR. Which is usually.

Used in a sentence: I am not a fucking hipster! (sweeps bangs to side dramatically and takes a swig of PBR)

5) Hipster
Someone who thinks that they are being "special" and "unique" for liking some underground bullshit no one else cares about. And they pointlessly look down on people who don't know anything about indie culture, because that's the only thing they know anything about. They're quick to call the rest of the world conformists when in reality, they are the ones conforming by partaking in a "too cool for mainstream so i am going to reject it by looking and acting like a grungy asshole" way of life only to seem uber-fashionable. They just end up looking like idiots.

Used in a dialogue:
1) Hipster: I won't drink at starbucks, it's too corporate.

2)Non-Hipster: I want a Louis Vitton purse because they are cool

Hipster: You're such a conformist, haveing a Louis Vitton purse is so unoriginal. I like my purse I found in the gutter for $4 dollars.

Non-hipster: but it's fugly Hipster: yah, but no one else has it. It's completely unique.

Non-hipster: that bum over there has something pretty similar though.

Hipster: You're ignorant because you can't see the real beauty in life. I don't have time for this, I'm gonna go to my cave of an apartment and listen to some indie rock you've probably never heard of....

Non hipster: You need to see a therapist

Hipster: I am my own therapist.

6) Hipster
\hip-stur\n. One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck.") The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.

-The Hipster Handbook, Robert Lanham
Typically a Hipster can be identified by vintage or thrift-store bougt clothing, a taste for obscure or underground music, a penchant for irony and an elitist attitude.

Me using hipster in a sentence (to show my comprehension of the meaning of this word): That hipster looks dusty as hell...oh wait! That's...Michael...dang... (lol...pre-ghetto days of a dude I know)

And this my friends, concludes today's vocab lesson! Take the time to either a) use this word in a sentence during normal, everyday conversations b) spot a hipster on your own... I think I can think of a few people right off the top of my head.