Cool (Buzzword Research Paper)

What exactly is calm dget? While some realize words break dance the day after they are conceived, or can that be applied to a specific culture and geographical setting, serene is an of all time expanding word that knows no bounds. You can find it describing the temp ageture of the water that comes from the right side of the faucet, or explaining why a product is something that every single should own. It can describe the literary genre of music world listened to or a glance into someones personality. Not only has it been use in a multitude of phrases across the nation, it is alike one of the few shoot words to pay theories create in an effort to understand it.Although, understanding the word goes beyond dependable knowing what it means and how its used, an understanding of the words origin also plays a key role. Cool has had a variety of meanings throughout time, although tally out which was the outset to be used in a slang understanding varies on the sources looked at. Some take that the terms first use is dated abide to the origins of Beowulf, being used infrequently in the play by minor characters to describe the emotions of others as calm, dispassionate, or unexcited (Quinion).While this theme predates all of the other possibilities, the strongest and approximately prevalent speculation is that its pitch was in the 1940s with the jazz age alongside the genre of unruffled jazz, in which, Jazz aficionados used the term to distinguish this style from the heatable jazz(Quinion). Those who follow the thinker that the term was first coined in Beowulf give agree with the popularity and increase of use during the 1940s, but will also say that the term had changed several times before, and is a cumulative result of those changes.While those living the belief that poise was born during the jazz age will slump the claims, state that the term was only initially used to represent the melodies of undisturbed jazz, and didnt become a heavier slang term until the mid-1940s and into the 1950s (MacAdams). regardless of the debate over its first use, the different meanings quiet undertook were across the board. Time-traveling back to the 1840s and calling someone cool could have put a grimace on their face, or let them know that they needed to check their attitude.In this era it was attached to definitions such as assured, audacious, impudent, and could be found in phrases such as Cool as a cucumber or A cool fish. (Martin). Fast-forward ninety geezerhood only a hug drug before the cool jazz explosion and the word now takes a purely negative meaning thanks to its dictionary definition. According to Merriam-Webster, one of the many definitions of cool is, Marked by steady dispassionate unconcern and self- overlook(Merriam-Webster).Since being dispassionate and on top of things in the 30s whitethorn have implied that someone was withdrawn or depressed, referring to someone as being cool was typically an insult (Gioi a). It was due to this that phrases such as A cool reception and A cool personality were born. Ten days later came the birth of cool jazz, and the primary argument for the birth cool as a slang term. Only a few years beyond the jazz age in the 1950s, deuce new meanings for cool were born. The first held the meaning of controlled or discreet, and gave rise to phrases such as, Stay cool(Quinion).What is confusing however is that the minute usage meant one of the following restrained, relaxed, detached, stylish, excellent, or just about any other positive meaning, and was still used in the saying Stay cool(Quinion). Later on in the 1960s, the cool that meant relaxed or excellent, moved into common teen slang where it has since stayed unmoved for the past fifty years. Interestingly, while the words meanings are directly forward, its explanations for changing are not. Cool entered the English language as more than just a textbook explanation for temperature before the popularizati on of etymology.While most other slang words have also, their length of popularity was not as long, chatty, or as broad of a term, and because of this it makes determining the exact origin of change beyond difficult. Reasons for the changes between positive and negative connotations pre-1930s are approximately nonexistent however there is one major leading idea as to why the switch took place from the 30s to the 50s. The idea is that scurrilous American English took the term, reversed its meaning to be positive, became popular within the scorch community, and was then released back into mainstream language.The only evidence to support this is that it would not have been the first occurrence, If this is true, it wouldnt be the first example of a pillow slip of slang construction common in modern American Black English for example bad or wicked (Gioia). Cool goes beyond being just another slang term it also has its own theories based on its modern day interpretation. There are two major theories, the first being cool as a merchandising device. According to PBS, this theory states that cool is a manufactured and empty idea that can be exploited by leaders of companies.These leaders control a cycle of cooling and uncooling products to create a false sense of need in the buyers mind in an effort to control the market. The second theory is cool as an elusive essence. According to Malcolm Gladwell, a generator for the Newyorker, cool is real, but an unknowable property. Cool is something that exists, but can neer be obtained. This theory is defined by three major points discovering what is cool causes cool to move on, cool cant be made, only observed, and cool can only be seen by those who are already cool (Gladwell).The fact that cool is one of the longest lasting slang words in history promotes a lot of thought on its future uses and possibilities for change. Surprisingly, cool has avoided being sucked into professional use (as in care its slang meaning, but now as an acceptable reasoning for professions) and remained only a slang term primarily used by unfledged adults. Surviving several wars, and social evolutions, the future of cool looks ever expansive and limitless, which is cool all in itself.