Confession Friday: I Had to Google "Twerking"

August 30, 2013 Humor 50

Hey there Bookworms!

Happy Friday! It’s been a while since I’ve hit the confessional, so I thought I’d clue y’all in to how utterly out of touch and uncool I truly am. All week everyone has been talking about the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs, for anyone that’s even more out of touch than I am.) I did not watch the VMAs. I was folding laundry, reading books about nuclear war, and going to bed at a reasonable hour. It was only thanks to the internet I knew anything about Miley Cyrus’s antics. A starlet acting out for attention is not interesting to me… But… What in the sam heck is this “twerking” all the kids are talking about?

I shall now don the dunce cap of the culturally ignorant. (Image Source)

I shall now don the dunce cap of the culturally ignorant. (Image Source)

I HAD TO GOOGLE TWERKING. I figured it was a dance move, but I was expecting it to look… different. I thought the term “twerk” was born of the combination of “tweak” and “jerk.” Thanks to having read Under the Dome by Stephen King, I feel like I know a little something about the effects of Meth on the human body… And since taking a hit of Meth is sometimes called “tweaking” and people who are super stoned do weird things, like, say, have muscle spasms, it made sense to me. What I couldn’t figure out was how this move was supposed to be attractive since I was picturing something more akin to an involuntary twitch of the head and shoulders… Turns out? “Twerk” just another name for pelvic thrusting/booty shaking. I was a little disappointed to learn I was wrong and that popular dance wasn’t moving in a completely bizarre direction. Like that scene from Can’t Buy Me Love when Patrick Dempsey is a nerd and gets his moves from a PBS documentary instead of Soul Train? (The fact that I just referenced a movie made in 1987 only proves that I am as “hip” and “with it” as your average 90 year old.)

In other news, I wrote a guest post today for the lovely Lauren over at Books, Tea, and Me. It’s about books that make me laugh, and there’s totally a Mary Poppins reference, so you obviously should go and read it. CLICKETY CLICK HERE! 

50 Responses to “Confession Friday: I Had to Google "Twerking"”

  1. theliterarylollipop

    I didn’t watch the VMAs either, and I also didn’t have a clue about twerking. When I finally understood what that Cyrus hubbub was all about, I could only sigh and shake my head with confusion at the state of our culture. 🙂

    Reply

  2. Melinda

    I also didn’t know what “twerking” is! Now I do, thanks to you. The same with “werk”, which in my language is “work”, and yet I still can’t find something on the net that explains why so many celebrities use it. I honestly thought they were trying to speak Afrikaans 😉

    Reply

  7. nerdinthebrain

    Hehe. I also didn’t watch the VMAs (we’re so dreadfully unhip that we don’t even have cable) and only became aware of Miley’s nutty behavior the next day. Thank goodness for google because I also had no idea what twerking was. I’ve heard that particular “style” of dance called something much less attractive than twerking, so I’m kind of glad someone came up with a new word. 😉

    Patrick D. is dreamy, by the way. You keep on watching your 80s movies! 😀

    Reply

  8. Sarah Says Read

    LOL. I know what twerking is because for some reason it’s in a lot of Vine video compilations, but what Miley did isn’t really the same… that’s just plain ol’ bending over and shaking your ass. This is as bad as the Harlem Shake craze recently – 90% of those stupid kids doing the “Harlem Shake” was in fact just twitching around like an idiot in a bad attempt at an old dance move… UGH.

    Also, “derp” and “selfie” were added to the dictionary too. I mean I get how they meet the criteria for being words worthy of the dictionary, I just wish we were making up better, more intelligent, not-social-media-slang words.

    Disclaimer: I don’t actually do any of these dances, because that would be ridiculous. But the honeyman explains a lot of these things to me. He makes me seem cooler than I am 😉

    Reply

    • normalisboringsoiheard

      “twerking” is to those of us from the R. Kelly “Bump and Grind” era. Going back Elvis “The Pelvis” when Ed Sullivan wouldn’t broadcast him from the waist down. Have our standards gone down. And I too didn’t watch till it was on Huffington Post the next day. I didn’t know what twerking was either, new name for rubbing each other in public, to confuse older people?

      Reply

        • normalisboringsoiheard

          I would of been a little more direct, lol. But yes exactly. Everything is a repeat from a previous generation. My daughter (12 knows all) tried to tell me “Blurred Lines” is a new song. I said okay, I’ve heard the tune before, sampled off Marvin Gaye. Really? 20 min argument. From now on – just agreeing. I knew everything when I was young too, I just got dumber as I aged and my Dad became the smartest man I know.

          Reply

  9. Megan M.

    I gave up watching the VMAs years ago, but I was already familiar with twerking. I love So You Think You Can Dance so I’ve learned the names of tons of dance moves that I would otherwise be clueless about. Speaking of them, there was a routine on this season that HAD to have been inspired by a routine that was in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (the dance movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt) and I feel like I am the only person who noticed!

    Reply

  10. Leah

    I had to google “twerking” a few months ago when someone on my Twitter was talking about it, so it’s not just you!

    Reply

  11. PinotNinja

    I watched the VMAs, including Miley’s piece of performance art (which should have been titled “F**k you Dad. Love, Miley.”), and I still cannot explain in words exactly what twerking is. It’s a tricky concept to be sure.

    Reply

  12. middleagebutch

    I am way too old for the VMAs. I feel like my parents must have back in the day. Who is this Madonna person and why is her bra so pointy? As for twerking, we were at the shore this summer and there were T-shirts for sale all over the place referencing twerking. Like “Twerk” Team Captain. My son had to explain then demonstrate twerking for me.

    Reply

  13. Turn the Page Reviews

    HA! I had to also- had no idea. And I didn’t watch the VMAs either- even less cool, I was watching Rock of Ages and cracking up and signing along to Quiet Riot- showing my age much?

    Reply

  14. Shannon (Giraffe Days)

    You are not alone, Katie! This week was the first time I heard the word “twerking” too, and I have to say that I don’t find it very catchy. Doesn’t really conjure up the right image for me – can’t see myself using it! But boy, I saw the clips of Miley Cy– (how do you spell her name again?) and gosh, how sad: a little Disney girl trying to grow up fast and going to stupid extremes a la Britney Spears. Next she’ll be flashing her vagina at cameras – because so far she hasn’t done anything original to get the attention!

    Reply

    • Words for Worms

      I imagine her goal was to be salacious and attract attention. The wisdom of this is debatable, but she certainly succeeded. I could do without another celeb breakdown though, I hope it’s just an act.

      Reply

  16. Darlene

    I only knew what it was because I have three teenagers.
    I wouldn’t watch the VMA’s anyway because I already assume it is gonna be trashy. Sorry.
    What Miley did makes me sad for her parents and MAD because I have teenage boys who have to live in a world where that crap is in their face even if they’re not looking for it.
    Let me think of something lovely now…..
    Ah…..reading……….

    Reply

  19. coffee2words

    Want to find out what Twerking is in style?! Jump on YouTube and search for Morgan Freeman twerking. Had me in stitches… And no, it isn’t actually him twerking, poor guy would probably bust a hip now.

    Reply

  20. the undeniable anglophile

    I’m genuinely afraid for Cyrus’ well-being in later life. I just don’t want her ending up like Amy Winehouse. I mean, the part about doing cocaine and stuff. Yeah, one can say that it’s just a music video, but seriously?

    Reply

  22. RebeccaScaglione - Love at First Book

    I sucked it up and watched the Miley clip after seeing everyone’s FB statuses. It was awful and I would have preferred it to have come out that she WAS on drugs and that it was a mistake instead of knowing she did all of that SOBER. Ew.

    Also, I was shocked by how many of my FB friends watched the VMAs. I can’t stand that stuff. Boooooring.

    Reply

  23. Allison @ The Book Wheel

    I had to Google it, too! Although, I didn’t think it had anything to do with jerky muscles while on meth 😉 What’s even more horrifying is that I told my mom that I had to look it up and she actually knew what it was! She blames it on having teenagers still living in the house, so she gets a free pass, but I felt pretty out of the loop after that.

    Reply

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