I was talking to a bunch of my Valley Girl friends, and started wondering where the oft-used term “hardcore” comes from. A search at the OED yields a bit from 1851 about stuff used as filler for construction, and parts of fruit, but doesn’t really help me with modern usage of the word to convey the utter rockin’-ness and general radical nature of the thing described.
As a regional narcissist, I suspect that “hardcore” was used to describe pornography, and since porn is one of the Valley’s major exports, we kids couldn’t help picking it up. But I know young people in other places say that things are hardcore, too. What gives?
Right. That works for hardcore punk rockers. But I have sweaters that have been described as “totally hardcore,” and they have no devotion to any political causes at all. There aren’t even slogans printed on them. That’s the usage I don’t understand.
I guess I should just chalk it up to dumbass kids who use “tubular” as a compliment. But I wish there were some sort of rhyme or reason to this teenage slang business.