The Death of an Icon

Not an actual icon. The word. Specifically, the word “iconic”.

I told Randy this evening that we are witnessing the death of a word and there isn’t a goddamn thing we can do about it.

I noticed this about a month ago.

I had some interactions with people younger than 75% of our kids where they used the word “iconic” in a way I didn’t fully understand.

I meet with a group of humorists (Comedians? Funny motherfuckers?) Anyway, I meet with a group of people once a month and we work on stand up material. Last month, I met a young woman, Ariel, and we had the following conversation:

Ariel: You should perform at the LGBQT clubs. We love iconic older women. 

Me: Okay. So, to be fair, I am only older. 

Ariel: See? That is hilarious!

Me: Okay. 

I was terribly confused. Because I’m not an icon and, therefore, am not iconic. But she was awesome and funny and I loved meeting her.

As it turns out, Ariel took the same improv class that I took, just on a different night. She ended up making up one of her classes, in my class, a few days after we met where she said I was an iconic older woman. During the class she told one of my classmates that she could tell he was an iconic man.

And I thought “Oh, I get it. I think it might mean something else now.”

Just this evening, Randy was texting with our granddaughter, Madelyn. Randy and the grands share music here and there. Randy sent Madelyn a link to a Bob Marley song and Madelyn responded “Bob is so iconic!”

To be clear, Bob Marley, is an icon. He is iconic. Saying he is “so iconic” just isn’t quite right. Right?

I’m guessing iconic sort of just means “cool” now? Because everything that is cool isn’t also iconic. At least it wasn’t a little while ago.

Me: That’s it. It is all over for the word “iconic”. It’s dying. Maybe dead. 

Randy: You think? 

Me: Absolutely. We’re old. We know your name has to be Marilyn or Elvis or Madonna to be iconic. Or maybe you are bell bottom jeans, because they’re definitely iconic. Anyway, we’re old and dying. They’re misusing the word and that misuse will become the new definition. 

Randy: That’s depressing. 

Me: Right? Pretty soon we will have no icons because everything will be iconic. Like the new flavor of Mt. Dew will be iconic. 

Randy: Or my jokes will be iconic. 

Me:…

Me:…

Me: Still no. 

Randy: How about the joke about the goat? 

Me: Nope. 

Randy: Oh well. 

Randy: What do you want to do this weekend? 

Me: Let’s watch all the Nick and Nora Charles movies

Me: They’re so iconic.

Randy: There you go! Assimilate. 

I mean, in the big scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. You know, with our democracy on the line and all.

Please check your voter registration. Deadlines are coming up fast.

We aren’t going to let him back in office, right? That would be so not iconic.

 

 

10 Thoughts.

  1. Firstly, I don’t think I know the joke about the goat. Next, I’m with you on our language is being changed from what is correct to what youngsters think it is. And they can out yell us. I never minded being a ‘Boomer’ until they added the OK in front of it. Now it’s an insult and we should just all go off and die and make room for relevant people. Although, being cranky makes me add – why do all the Gen X people steal the Boomer’s growing up events – like being out all day and drinking from hoses, etc. You may have grown up having house keys, but so the hell did we. Where do you think you learned it from? Fine, that’s out of my system now. Rant over. Phew.

  2. I just commented on a younger cousins post about how “they” are controlling the weather. Who the hell are they? I guess im not iconic.

  3. OMG – THANK YOUUUU… I watch RuPaul’s Drag Race a lot and their use of “iconic” makes me want to scream… just cuz you have a unique look that day does NOT make you iconic. If you are doing a great impression of Cher, who is an icon, then OKAY, you get to be iconic that day. I thought I was going crazy hating on recent uses of the word lately. You’ve restored my sanity just a little today!!!

  4. Someone interviewing Frank Zappa tried to call him an iconoclast and he wasn’t having it: “I don’t go around destroying religious artifacts.”
    People rip words away from their original meanings all of the damn time, and I do sometimes find it annoying. Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” for a self-replicating idea, not a picture with a caption. He wanted a word for the informational equivalent of a gene. But I guess we do need a word for a picture with a caption in it. 1960 boomer here, can you tell?
    They mail our ballots out starting Monday, not that our California votes will make much of a difference in the presidential race: my homegirl is gonna squish Fergus like a bug here.
    And Marge, sweetie, if we could control the weather, there would be a tornado right in your butt this very minute…

    • This “And Marge, sweetie, if we could control the weather, there would be a tornado right in your butt this very minute…” made me almost spit out my coffee. So true, LMFAO!!!

  5. First, I work with a woman who has a dog named Asta. And any doubt about where that name came from was erased when we were in a Zoom call and she had a Thin Man poster behind her.
    I think I understand how some adults back in the ‘80’s felt when kids my age started overusing “awesome”. And to be fair we did overuse it. To be fairer they started it with all the slang they came up with in the ‘60’s. They made creatively altering language hip. Still “iconic” kind of grates. It’s not as bad, though, as the time I was talking to a friend’s daughter and did my impression of Katherine Hepburn singing “She Drives Me Crazy”. The daughter said she didn’t know who Hepburn was or the song so I said “In that case let me tell you a funny story about Milton Berle…”

  6. Very very late (like 17 months) catching up on your blog (I was cleaning up tabs on Ye Olde iPad which had your post from last spring) – depression + long Covid + having my own financial security wrecked by eminent domain has put me down a very deep chasm.
    I’m such a bad cyber-friend that I didn’t even manage to mail you a sympathy card for dear Alfie, I know y’all still miss him.
    At this point I couldn’t tell you whether I need a deeper dive into Eastern medicine (I’m in the last week of an 8-week experiment with acupuncture, which has helped my insomnia but no real change in other nagging symptoms: shortness of breath/fatigue/exercise intolerance being the worst of it), ketamine infusions, electroshock therapy or what? But nothing to do but keep my head down, keep trudging forward as I try to rebuild my devastated financial portfolio, and set myself a new goal. (Last spring it was my son’s long-awaited college graduation; now it might be his wedding although such a date has not been set)

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