The Days & Nights of the Lipstick Librarian!

A Shout-Out to My Pepys

If you've been a semi-regular reader of this blog, you know I have a fondness (nay, my husband calls it an embarrassing weakness) for the hip-hop lingo. Words like cronkite or phat just say so much more than plain olde English. Why can't we, as a profession, create our own groovy language? Sure, we have terms like "digital archives" or "YA services" or "competitive salary with great benefits", but they're just so boring. Why don't we take a cue from Ice Cube and come up with some ever-so-colorful in-house phrases, such as:

• MARCin': filling your time with meticulous little tasks to avoid doing difficult jobs. Ex. "I know I was supposed to finish writing that grant, but I was MARCin' time by organizing my Powerpoint presentations by design templates."
• Going Gorman: dressing up for occasions where you know you will stand out. Ex. "I think I'll be going gorman for the Gale reception tonight." See also pimpin' and stylin'.
• Small-Worldin' It: Someone so engrossed as a children's librarian that it begins affecting other areas of their life. Ex. "Marci was small-worldin' it big-time when she broke into a Raffi song in the middle of last week's public services meeting."
• BB Banging: Planning your socializing at conferences according to the kind of buffet/host bar a vendor is offering. Ex. "Thompson had some bad BB-banging this year--it was a beer-and-wine only!"
• 245: 1.) The proper name of a person. Ex. "Jerry's 245 is Jerome". 2.) The proper position title someone holds. Ex. "Jerome's 245 is Digital Library Development Team Leader, not "that XML guy".
• Digital EX: using e-mail to say you're sick because you're too chicken to call.
• Tennant Yourself: portraying yourself as a cutting-edge librarian. Ex. "Don't tennant yourself at today's systems meeting--I know the only programming language you know is COBOL."
• P-A Slide: The hemming and hawing someone does when they can't come out and say no. Ex. "Janet's really on the P-A slide this term--she's giving 30 tours a week!"
• "Givin' the QQ": Reference questions the questioner thinks should be very easy to answer but aren't. Ex. "She thought finding a three-page article on the Industrial Revolution's influence on global warming would be givin' me the QQ."
• K-Schneidering: having the last word.

Can you guess where some of these terms come from? Let me know.

P.S.--I promise to finish my HS film influences in the very near future; in the interim, keep thinking about Roger Daltrey's pants!