While chatting it up with a couple of homies on the way from work, one of them said that something was "so ghetto"( a girl slapping a bumper sticker on her car that read miss tig ol' bitties 2006). I quickly chimed in, as I often do to save "ghetto", and suggested she use the word "tacky" or"innovative" in it's place from now on. Tacky was the obvious substitution for ghetto in this scenario. I pointed out the extreme improper and over use of "ghetto" and continued to give examples to help her through this concept. While many situations are often ghetto not all apply.
I will now give you some examples to help you through this very difficult transition. But first it might be best for you to know what the terms actually mean. (definitions are according to my understanding of what Webster's has taught me through the years)
Ghetto is an adjective used to describe a certain attire, way of speech or lifestyle that originates in a low-income environment.
A. If you meet your significant other's mother and she comes out of the house in curlers, a head-scarf, flop flips and wielding a ciggy...that is G to the Hetto (extremely ghetto) and also a scene from some childhood cartoon and/or In Living Color.
Innovative is a crafting/creative or alternative manner of approach.
B. Scratching off the chipped portions of your glasses in order to save the integrity of your eye wear of choice is not ghetto. Alas, it is innovative and simply cost effective, especially when the turn out to be whole new pair of glasses).
Tacky seems to come from the word "tactless" meaning but on a more crude level. rather than inconsiderate it is more... uncouth or classless way going about or doing things.
C. That girl slapping a window decal on her rear windshield that reads "Miss Tig Ol' Bitties 2006" adorned with a rose for elegance.... is TACKY!
Now I will test your knowledge by giving you a the following sentence .
D. "While conversating (NOT A WORD) with a colleague it was intimated that she disliked me irregardless (NOT A WORD) of the fact that I said she had Tig Ol' Bitties."
This is neither an example of "being ghetto" or "innovative". This an example of a double whammy! This is someone being "sadiddy" (someone self-important and seemingly educated and uppity) and "tacky". In the end they just sound stupid.
I hope this tutorial has helped sharpen your verbal skills on such matters and allow you to leave dat ghetto s@&# at home!
Apr 26, 2007
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