Senjuti Dutta

Ms. Laforet
ENG 4U1-08
10/03/2015
Honey, What is Basic?
The term, basic, an up and coming slang word, has reached its claws into
teenagers vocabularymyself includedin the year of 2015 all across North
America. However, I never realized how far-reaching the slangs influence was, until
my fresh-off-the-boat Indian mother asked me, Honey, what is basic?
(Incredulous, I stared at my mothers expectant gaze with a very comical
deer caught in the headlights expression. At first, I entertained the idea of fluffing
my mother off with a highly scientific definition Basic is the state of a solution of
having a pH level above 7, but quickly realized that I was not getting off that
easy. To appease her, I answered, A basic person is just someone who isnt very
interesting. Momentarily appeased, my mother went off to watch her pain-in-theass Indian dramas, while I prayed to God that I hadnt become her new urban
dictionary.
To be honest, as a teenager in the year 2015, I really have no clue about how
this ridiculous term came to fruition. I mean, really. The word basic used as an
adjective? Whats next, describing people as acidic? Not! And yet, I feel that there is
really no other word that can accurately describe someone who is, true to the word,
basic. (On the other hand words like boring and drab seem too adult and oldfashioned. Besides, you are more likely to hear someone using these two words to
describe curtains, not an actual person. In addition, words like plain-Jane and

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conservative dont really work either, as both allude to a virginal, church-goer.
Someone who is basic may not necessarily be one.)

(I know a high school student who truly is basic. She has a relatively great

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life: got straight As in math, history, and science; made the cheer squad; and has
an I-phone 6. Nonetheless, she also seems to ace basicness, because she has no
originality to speak of. She unwaveringly follows what others are doing to the T. She
makes sure she is a carbon copy of what she thinks to be the norm in the way that
she acts, in the way that she dresses, in the way that she thinks. She is blatantly,
unabashedly, shamelessly ordinary.)
Basic, then, is an adjective that describes a person who is very unoriginal,
truly simple-minded, and utterly bland. They are people who follow the norm
without having a sense of self identity. Also, hanging out with them, you will find
that they are as interesting as white bread. Spotting basic people is not really that
difficult: basic girls are clad in Roots sweatpants, beige Uggs, and TNA sweaters;
basic boys are dressed in Nike tube socks, Adidas sandals and snapbacks. Hey, Im
a teenager. I understand that, in order to fit in, we may hide our quirks and our
kinks; nevertheless, society thrives on originality andI say this with great irony
basic people just dont fit in.

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Semi Colon

Semi Colon
A

Joins 2
Independent
Clauses
Conjunctive
Adverb

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or Phrases

Diction that
convey a casual
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