I’ve never been hip to slang, street language, urban speak or other forms of non-standard language. Words from those worlds that were mainstreamed eluded me.
Example: for the longest time, I didn’t fully grasp the meaning of scoreboard! Friends used it in a vain attempt to end an argument.
“Scoreboard!” one would shout.
“Huh? What does a scoreboard have to do with a disagreement over who is the greatest rock-n-roll guitarist,” I thought to myself.
The verbal sparring continued, so my question was never answered for me.
I sort of figured it out in recent years on the softball field when opponents full of attitude would be chirping at us about their superiority while we piled on the runs. My guys didn’t jaw with them, but in the dugout I’d hear scoreboard spoken softly amongst the team.
We had substantially more runs. The team that scores the most runs wins. That’s a fact. Numbers on the scoreboard are cold hard facts. They represent the truth.
Word!
I speak the truth.
From Urban Dictionary:
"Word" is the shortened form of the phrase: "my word is my bond" which was originated by inmates in U.S. prisons. The longer phrase was shortened to "word is bond" before becoming "word," which is most commonly used. It basically means "truth." Or "to speak the truth."
And no, I didn’t understand what the heck people meant when the exclaimed “Word!”
It will be a sign of the apocalypse when I see “Scoreboard!” or “Word!” in business communications.
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