Members Jkater Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Many of us who speak (learn) english as a second (or third) language wish we would understand certain terms and expression used on this forum. This thread is for us to post a request to explain a term or word and for you, the english speakers who know the jargon, to help us. So I'll start : What does it mean when someone says " I dig that guitar"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 I dig = I like, I think it's cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Yeah, you can blame the 70's for that one (or the 60's, I don't know, one of the geezers responsible should 'fess up). //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by Shocker Yeah, you can blame the 70's for that one (or the 60's, I don't know, one of the geezers responsible should 'fess up).//S aw that's jazzman talk, cat, it's gotta go back to the 20s or 30s:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by jjpistols aw that's jazzman talk, cat, it's gotta go back to the 20s or 30s:cool: Oh yeah, you're right! Egg, it is on my face. //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LPbluesboy Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Jkater I have a Teaching English To Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Diploma and I would be more than happy to answer your questions!!! just PM me with any questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted May 16, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by LPbluesboy Jkater I have a Teaching English To Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Diploma and I would be more than happy to answer your questions!!! just PM me with any questions! Thanks for the offer! To use your help on the forum will benefit more people, I think. I also hope that other non-english speakers will use this chance as well because I can't think of all the expressions that have puzzled me at one time or another. P.S: It's not my english that's so bad (Well... it's good enough to get by anyway). It's my knowledge of the terms sometimes used on this forum. Also, I'm not a professional, gigging musician ( I gig occasionnally) and I 'd like to know a little more about the active musician's jargon. I thought of this thread, not only for myself, but for others too. Of course, it's not impossible that I'm the only one who needed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members satannica Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 > RASS is the Jamaican all-purpose word:excitement...RASS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by Jkater Thanks for the offer! To use your help on the forum will benefit more people, I think. I also hope that other non-english speakers will use this chance as well because I can't think of all the expressions that have puzzled me at one time or another. P.S: It's not my english that's so bad (Well... it's good enough to get by anyway). It's my knowledge of the terms sometimes used on this forum. Also, I'm not a professional, gigging musician ( I gig occasionnally) and I 'd like to know a little more about the active musician's jargon. I thought of this thread, not only for myself, but for others too. Of course, it's not impossible that I'm the only one who needed it! Nah, your english is very good. //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaXu Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 I find the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary very useful when I stumble upon terms or words that I'm not familiar with. Yes, the "I dig it" thing is in there too. I have it set as a quick search in my browser (Opera) so I just type "dict word-I'm-looking-for" in the address bar and get the answer. A similar setup can be done for Mozilla and (yuck) IE as well. One thing's been bothering me though, it's a music term. What the hell is a "breakdown"? I know it refers to a part in a song but what makes this or that part a "breakdown." I see this coming up all the time when talking about hardcore etc. music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarNed Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Hey JKATER -- I know just what you mean. You want to know the argot, the slang, that is peculiar to musicians in colloquial American English. Or that is frequently used here on these forums. It would be fun to compile a list. And you're right, a thread with a continually updating list would be useful to folks from all over. I'm sure it would also help native American speakers who are unfamiliar with forum argot. So -- lemme try to toss out at least a few terms, to get started. ASS -- an all purpose word. Not strictly a musician's term, but used a lot on the forum. If something sounds, looks, smells, feels or tastes very bad, we might say that it sounds or looks like ASS. MIM, MIA, MIK Made in Mexico, made in America, Made in Korea, etc. TOOL A foolish or inept person or a useless person might be called a "tool." TREM Tremolo. Also used to describe the vibrato feature on amps that claim to have a vibrato feature but do not. For example, Fender amps. They have trems, not vibratos. Also the tremolo bar on a guitar, which, oddly, really is a vibrato. Go figure. POTS The potentiometers on guitars that control tone or volume. CAPS CAPACITORS -- electronic electrical storage device commonly found in tube amps. They go bad, in which case you might have a broken cap. They retain a charge for a time after electricity is turned off, causing guitar players to break their arms when they stupidly rummage around inside their amps. SHRED Style of electric guitar play. Rapidly picked notes, power chords, more notes, more, more more. Pick melts in your hand. SOUND MAN A non-musician who commonly causes problems in a band and is normally ignored by band members. The sound man (who can just as easily be a sound woman) tries to get the musicians to play more quietly, or reduce or change elements of a musicians sound, in order to improve what the sound man calls "the mix." A "mix" is an invented and entirely imaginary term that describes the prejudices and irrelevant expectations the sound man may harbor. The sound man serves as a target for resentment and ridicule that band members might otherwise direct at each other, so it's good to have a sound man. DRUMMER Another type of non-musician. A natural enemy to the sound man. The drummer has the important job of establishing the over-all sound level at a gig. The musicians must all play a bit louder than the drummer. A healthy group will have both a sound man and a drummer. CLUB OWNER Person whose job it is to not pay the band, or to pay less than was agreed. Er, I may have strayed from the truth here or there on some of the definitions!! I'd like it if we could get a few more items from other Harmony folks. Great thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wizard of Ozz Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 IMHO = In my humble opinionAFAIK = As far as I knowIIRC = If I recall correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wizard of Ozz Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Here's another great source for "American Slang": www.urbandictionary.com ...everything you wanted to know the meaning of... but were too afraid to ask . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Recently returned from a trip to Germany. Nice folks, they have thier own slang. Apparently during my 2 years of German language classes no one informed me of the "common vernacular" of a region. I , as in any lauguage was taught "High German". Sort of the equivelent of learning English the way the English speak. Hmmm, never spoke anything like that in my life. So here I am in Germany thinking that I can speak the language and realizing after hearing the locals that I was in mighty deep waters. Worked out well enough though, just hard to try to say something that I have been taught to speak, then add the local "le" to words. I was in the Stuttgart region and they are Swabishe. The local Germans like to add an "le" to words just to confuse us visitors. So, for the help that I was given in Germany whilst I was there. I would like to return the favor here and help those that need any assistance with our terms. P.M. me and I will give it my best shot. BY the way, for our British friends, what is a wanker? Apparently it's different in many locations in Britan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddy.H Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 GAS ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Gutar Aquisition Syndrome........the NEED to buy guitars or equipment relating to guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarNed Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by bzja BY the way, for our British friends, what is a wanker? Apparently it's different in many locations in Britan. I'm not British, but I've always thought a wanker was a masturbator, a person who masturbates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 As did I, however I think that it was used by a british fellow that I met to describe someone whom was inept, or an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarNed Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Right. By extension. IOW, a masturbator is an inept or foolish person, a person who can be discounted. I've always liked the mental image that "wanker" evokes as a put-down. It would be unlikely for Tony Blair, for example, to criticize someone in the House of Commons by calling them a wanker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by bzja As did I, however I think that it was used by a british fellow that I met to describe someone whom was inept, or an idiot. same as we use "jerk off" you can jerk off or be a jerk off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by LaXu What the hell is a "breakdown"? I know it refers to a part in a song but what makes this or that part a "breakdown." I see this coming up all the time when talking about hardcore etc. music. I don't know about hardcore, but in bluegrass music, a breakdown is an energetic instrumental, showcasing individual soloists' talents. The name was borrowed from a "noisy, energetic American country dance" in which the dancefloor, building, or dancers would threaten to collapse, I guess. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Earl Scruggs is classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by jerry_picker I don't know about hardcore, but in bluegrass music, a breakdown is an energetic instrumental, showcasing individual soloists' talents. The name was borrowed from a "noisy, energetic American country dance" in which the dancefloor, building, or dancers would threaten to collapse, I guess. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Earl Scruggs is classic. In electronica (I honestly have no idea WTF "hardcore" music is), a breakdown comes when the song builds and builds to a crescendo, and finally "breaks down", getting to a variation on the main rhythm figure or introducing several elements at once, or any number of other things. This generally happens somewhere near the end of the song (usually with enough time to have a little fun with it. It can also be used to transfer between different segments of a song, usually between faster and slower parts. For instance, in the song Finished Symphony by Hybrid, there is a breakdown that starts building at 5:00 and finishes at 6:35. You can think of a breakdown as the logical resolution of a song (if "hardcore" is anything like electronica). //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by Shocker In electronica (I honestly have no idea WTF "hardcore" music is), a breakdown comes when the song builds and builds to a crescendo, and finally "breaks down", getting to a variation on the main rhythm figure or introducing several elements at once, or any number of other things. This generally happens somewhere near the end of the song (usually with enough time to have a little fun with it.It can also be used to transfer between different segments of a song, usually between faster and slower parts. For instance, in the song Finished Symphony by Hybrid, there is a breakdown that starts building at 5:00 and finishes at 6:35. You can think of a breakdown as the logical resolution of a song (if "hardcore" is anything like electronica).//S Hardcore is the style that began in the early 80s, often applied to bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Sick of It All, Bad Brains, Rollins Band, Fugazi, etc.--sort of "2nd wave" punk bands. They were sloppy punk bands that played with more intensity and heaviness than earlier ones like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, etc. Today's hardcore bands are tighter and much heavier, and can be divided into two general types (usually called East Coast or West Coast, for where the band is, but it's not always consistent). The first type are smoother, with heavy grooves that flow, with a vocalist that sings (or at least tries to) or shouts. The second type is heavier, with tight, stop-and-go rhythms and harsh vocals that are a cross between shouts and low screams http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/straight-edge-faq/section-19.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by LaXu One thing's been bothering me though, it's a music term. What the hell is a "breakdown"? I know it refers to a part in a song but what makes this or that part a "breakdown." I see this coming up all the time when talking about hardcore etc. music. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/music_styles/metalcore_and_hardcore_music.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted May 16, 2005 Members Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by k4df4l http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/music_styles/metalcore_and_hardcore_music.html Oh...it's a palm-muted rhythm riff played outside the box... WTF:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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