#15

From time to time a word gets lodged in my head. Today she and I went to a shopping centre to pick up a few things. I noticed that the word “swanky” was in use at not one, but two different women’s clothing shops. It amazes me the English words and word-forms the Japanese adopt and use in their own language. Square pegs in round holes.

Swanky… eh?

Is it something you hear in the UK? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used in conversation. Out of boredom I decided to check up on the word and found the following definition and examples in the Urban Dictionary

Swanky

Very fancy, posh, or trendy.

• I love this swanky new club! It’s slammin’!
• ‘The OC’ is so swanky! I just love it to death.
• Joann is a swanky beast!
• The porno was super swanky!

The last example is completely mental.

Swanky is no more current, or with it, than a bell-bottomed space hopper, an oxymoron if there ever was one. A synonym for ‘fashionable’ that is, in itself, unfashionable.

The etymology is quite interesting though, dates back centuries apparently. No surprises there really as it sounds feckin’ ancient.

At least it wasn’t ’snazzy’.