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Chris -- 2018-04-11
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From hearing my nieces, young people online, etc., I’m getting the impression that in the current 16-25 generation, the word “random” has taken on a slightly different usage.
You’ll hear them say “wow, that was like, random” in response to an offhand witty comment you make, or they’ll say “I like to be random” meaning spontaneous.
When commenting on movies or TV shows that are unusual or that they feel have an edge to them, they’ll say “it’s random.”
The general feeling they’re giving the word is a meaning of unusual, out of the ordinary, unrestrained, unconventional, etc., and it seems like it’s starting to be a buzzword (whats the slangish, youngish version of buzzword?).
Almost taking on a role similar to what “cool” was for some of us approaching joint-creakiness.
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I’ve definitely noticed that younger people use “random” more than people of my (presumably, our) generation, but in my experience so far it usually seems to be negative—having the familiar sense of “lacking clear motivation” but with an added edge of injustice. A remark like “His comments were totally random” often seems to translate to “unexpected and unfair.”
I haven’t noticed a positive spin on it, but I’ll keep my ears open when I’m around my students—who are in the right demographic.
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Like Pat, I had understood such uses of random as having neutral or negative connotations. I didn’t see the usage as positive, but I hadn’t looked carefully. The following is not quite a “careful” look, but it is at least generally empirical.
Since I often hear things described as “the most random (thing)”, I searched Google for “most random”. A glance at ten arbitrarily (though not actually randomly – in the old sense) selected results suggested that positive connotations are relatively frequent, contrary to my subjective impression.
Three pages use the phrase most random with clearly positive connotations, as determined by its collocation with fun, favoritest [sic], favorite, marvel, etc. (Note also the exclamation points and the emoticon in excerpt 2.) One additional page features similar positive words on the page, though not near most random.
Six pages were deemed neutral, since they use no clearly positive nor clearly negative words in close collocation with most random. No pages featured obviously negative words (hate, ugly etc.) within one sentence of the phrase.
So much for the intuitions of a middle aged man (at least this one).
Clearly positive
Fill out this fun The MOST random survey EVER Survey and then share it with your friends on myspace or anywhere else.
http://www.quizopolis.com/survey/4743/T … ER-Survey/
The most random food survey known to man!!! :-)
3 favoritest foods: Cheese, bread, boca burgers ¶ Favorite snack food:Mini pretzles hands down
http://caloriecount.about.com/most-rand … n-ft126869
Possibly positive
Guinness’ Most Random Records—2009 Edition
... [full paragraph in which random does not appear]
If some of these potential achievements sound arbitrary, they are and that’s the point. Ridiculousness is part of what makes Guinness fun.
http://www.asylum.com.au/2008/11/24/gui … 9-edition/
Neutral
the most random blog post ever
These stuffed monsters are so something I would take up to John in a gift shop and say, “Daddy, can we take it home?†He would look at me like I was nuts and I would mope away, putting it back on the shelf. He is so not an impulsive shopper.
http://betsyandjohn.net/blog/?p=2531
This has to be one of the most random nintendo games I have ever seen. I wonder if it will ever come out for the Wii…
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/3 … 63585.html
Most Random Ever
There in present ward. Mike merkins young sirs and yap. Here is a mon gentlemen. It’s not coming off.
http://www.nateatnight.com/sleeptalking … andom_Ever
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Yes, unplanned spontaneity is a strong cultural value for the last couple of generations, and “random†is very often, more often than not by my impression, used positively. “Committing random acts of kindness†is definitely preferred over committing to and carrying out systematic and planned kindnesses, much as (randomly) falling in love is preferred to committing to marriage, and committing random acts of violence is somehow ameliorated by the fact that the acts are done spontaneously. For some (I have heard this advanced in quite philosophical terms) if it is not spontaneous, unplanned, instinctive and out of conscious control, it isn’t “real†or sincere. Our real self is the visceral self, no longer the self-controlled, consciously choosing self.
.
(fwiw I am not proof against the fun of the spontaneous, and love something rightly random. But I’m old and crochety enough to appreciate the sincerity of real commitment too.)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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I’ve been trying for some time to figure out just what my teenagers and their friends mean by “random.” Much of the time it seems to mean “out of left field” and therefore has a negative connotation.
Just sayin’
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As a friend of mine phrased it, “out of the left blue yonderâ€. But the ‘therefore’ often does not follow.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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