[Vocabulary] What does the term 'funky' primarily mean to the Western world?

[theultimate1]

Hello Teachers, Veterans, and Fellow-learners

As the thread title suggests, what does most of the Western world (or English speaking nations) understand (or think of) upon hearing/reading the word "funky" first?

I've read up many a dictionary websites regarding this word, and while I know the many meanings the word has, I'm rather confused. Hence, the query.

Oh, and by the way, I plan to use the word in the form of an adjective.

TIA.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The word has a number of different meanings. Do you have a context for us?

 

[theultimate1]

I'm setting up a local entertainment company. The name will have two words, the first of which is planned to be "funky".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Well, I think we can rule out a moldy smell or unpleasant odor.

Have you checked these out?

https://www.google.com/search?q=fun...5.14231j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

 

[theultimate1]

I most certainly did. But what I wasn't able to zero in on.. is how most of the western world's population understands the word. Hence, this thread.

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, it doesn't have the "bad smell" meaning. The first time I ever heard that usage was from an AmE friend in Spain. Because of the context, I worked out what it meant and I filed it away in that little box in my brain marked "Differences between AmE and BrE"!

For me, "funky" is connected with music or (and this might be BrE only), "unusual or a bit different in a cool way". For example, I just Googled "funky shower curtain" and this was my first hit. That definitely fits with my definition of "funky".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Funky can certainly be associated with music. It also has the other meanings you listed.

 

[theultimate1]

I'm doing nothing related to music however. I'm going to be in the business of entertaining people... something they have "fun" about. I could go with the word "funny", but that's sort of limiting to comedy. That's why I thought of the word "funky" instead of the word 'cool'.

I just need to know if the word 'funky' immediately strikes as 'a cool thing' with most of the Western world.

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you read my reply?

 

[theultimate1]

Did you read my reply?

Yep... still not definitive a response to my query. I'm not discarding your opinion or observation however. Respectfully.

 

[emsr2d2]

You're not going to get a definitive reply. You've asked what a single word means to the entire Western world! You already know that the word has several accepted meanings. You also now know that two variants of English have a different initial understanding of the word.

 

[theultimate1]

You're not going to get a definitive reply. You've asked what a single word means to the entire Western world! You already know that the word has several accepted meanings. You also now know that two variants of English have a different initial understanding of the word.

I'm sorry if my previous post come across as harsh. I didn't mean to be offensive with you.

I also understand that I threw the word "definitive" rather loosely.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Ems, my initial understanding of the word is the same as yours. The smell/odor meanings are secondary for me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ah, OK. My AmE-speaking friend in Madrid told me she only used it in connection with bad smells.

 

[MikeNewYork]

That's odd. :shock: Play that funky music, white boy. (Wild Cherry, 1976)

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Fellow Learner:

I am 77 years old. I lived through the 1960s when everything was changing. That was the day of the flower children (hippies). [When you have time, please google those words for an explanation.]

During those years, it was fine to use the word "funky."

I think that it is accurate to say that in 2015, few people ever use that word or even know what it means. In other words, it is no longer funky (stylish) to use the word "funky."

I respectfully suggest that you NOT use that word for your entertainment company. There are thousands of better words that you could choose.



James

 

[MikeNewYork]

There are 169,000,000 hits om Google for "funky".

 

[tedmc]

I agree with TheParser about the word 'funky'.. It belonged to the 70's era as epitomised by the song by Wild Cherry. Another word is 'groovy', which belonged to the 60's era. The words are dated.
Youngsters these days cannot relate to these words.
The present day equivalents I can think of are 'cool' , 'hip', 'chic', awesome, etc.

Not a teacher

 

[MikeNewYork]

There is some evidence that funk and funky are more alive today than they were even in the 1960s and 1970s.

See here: https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...share=&direct_url=t1;,funk;,c0;.t1;,funky;,c0

 

[theultimate1]

Interesting conversation going on here...

And I'd like to thank everyone who spent their time to help me out here. This is why forums with good people will never go out of style.

However, since a suitable domain name isn't available, I have decided to drop the word 'funky'.

Thanks again, everyone.