In the 80's, we didn't say "...the F*&k?!" or "Jesus F*^k!". The time period was clearly the late 80's because they not only said so but the clothes, and the movie on the marquee and the cars, and the music, etc.
It just bugged me...
Though there was a lot of stuff in this movie that was out of place for 1989 kids in Central Maine, the swearing wasn't one of them. I've lived in Central Maine all my life, and I was 14 in 1989, and all of my friends "cussed like sailors", especially Corey. Not only did Corey swear like it was his job, but he also thought it was hilarious to string together swear words in unconventional ways. I started hanging out with Corey in the summer of '87 and he was always like that. He even swore around, and at, his parents. More specifically, he swore around his father but not at him, because his father would kick the shit out of him if he did that. He swore at his mother all the time though. I heard him say, "What the fuck, Ma?" more times than I can count.
sharePeople DID say "What the fuck" but the problem is that the movie characters just say "...the fuck!" which is modern.
Movies USED to get the vernacular right for period pictures in earlier decades, but now they just use whatever current buzzwords and catchphrases the Millennials like as if they had been part of the language forever.
Depending on how someone talks, "What the fuck?" can be barely distinguishable from "... the fuck?"
I didn't notice any dialog that struck me as anachronistic, aside from "mullet" to refer to a hairstyle. That term didn't exist in 1989, at least not in the sense of a hairstyle. I first heard it in about 2000 on the internet, and had to look it up to find out what it referred to (aside from a type of fish).
Chris Waddle (soccer player) and Glenn Hoddle (also a soccer player) were particularly known for their mullet hairstyles in 1987.
shareTons of people had "mullets" in the late 1980s but they weren't called "mullets". The word "mullet" in the sense of a "short in front, long in back" hairstyle wasn't coined until the mid 1990s, so a character in this movie calling another character a "mullet-wearing asshole" was an anachronism.
shareThey were where I come from, and no, I wasn't a small child in the 80's, I was an adult.
share"They were where I come from"
What are you talking about?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, use of the term mullet to describe this hairstyle was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by American hip-hop group the Beastie Boys",[1] who used "mullet" and "mullet head" as epithets in their 1994 song "Mullet Head".[2] The term "mullet head" had previously always or nearly always been used to refer to a person of dubious intelligence, e.g. as in the movie Cool Hand Luke, where defeated villains had been referred to as "mullet heads".
'Apparently' being the operative word here.
I remember the term Glebe, which refers to a person being an idiot, fuckwit or whatever being credited to a TV series called Auf Wiedersehen Pet (1986 episode), When in fact Glebe for idiot comes from a much earlier time from a town in north east England called Darlington. It has a road called Glebe road which had a school for, how shall we say it, special people. If you wanted to insult someone you said they were a glebe!
The Oxford English dictionary will tell you it is a piece of land.
Yes, a mullet was known in the mid to late 80's as a hairstyle that was short(ish) at the front and long (sometimes semi permed) at the back. So you can believe your Oxford English dictionary if you want, just remember it says 'apparently'!
"Yes, a mullet was known in the mid to late 80's as a hairstyle that was short(ish) at the front and long (sometimes semi permed) at the back."
No, it wasn't. Even if the term existed wherever it is that you're from (the UK I assume), which you've yet to establish, it certainly didn't exist in Maine in 1989, which is where and when this movie is set. I know because I'm from Maine and was 14 in 1989, about the same age as the characters in this movie. That type of haircut was very popular back then, which means that if had been called a mullet back then it would have been well known.
>So you can believe your Oxford English dictionary if you want, just remember it says 'apparently'!
Dictionaries research these things; it's their job, and the OED is among the most reputable English-language dictionaries in the world. Like I said, that type of haircut was very popular back then, which means that if had been called a mullet back then it would have been well known, which means it would be easy to find references to it from back then (such as in a book, magazine, newspaper, TV show, movie, song, etc.), especially for professionals like the staff of the OED.
Yes it was....see how that works?
I'm not arguing whether or not it existed in Maine in the 80's though am I?
Dictionaries research things, it's their job.....
How much time and money do you think went in to finding the origin of the term 'Mullet' used to describe a certain hairstyle? Do you think they stopped when they had an answer that fitted or do you think they said 'Tell you what, let's spend time and money and research the fuck out of it'?. Do you think the Beastie Boys (who were in fact active from 1981) just coined that phrase in 1994 or was it already a commonly used phrase amongst them.
It was a phrase used to describe a hairstyle in the 80's whether you like it or not. I'm not arguing whether or not it had reached Maine by that point. In fact I couldn't care less whether it had or not, it doesn't change the fact that the term was used in the 80's . You and the Oxford English dictionary are free to believe what you wish but remember this, their research as far as they could be bothered, led them to 'apparently', not definitely.
"Yes it was....see how that works?"
Your mere gainsaying is dismissed.
"I'm not arguing whether or not it existed in Maine in the 80's though am I?"
Then why are you arguing at all? The movie is set in Maine in 1989, so the only relevant argument is whether or not the term "mullet" (in the sense of a type of haircut) existed in Maine in 1989.
Your claim that "mullet" existed in the '80s in [presumably] the UK is not only irrelevant to "mullet" being an anachronism in this movie, but it's also entirely unsupported, i.e., it is nothing more than your say-so; a mere assertion. It's up to the person claiming that something existed to prove that it existed. As a bonus you'll be able to contribute to the OED if you can find such proof.
Then why are you arguing at all? The movie is set in Maine in 1989, so the only relevant argument is whether or not the term "mullet" (in the sense of a type of haircut) existed in Maine in 1989.
I am arguing against this.....
{Depending on how someone talks, "What the fuck?" can be barely distinguishable from "... the fuck?"
I didn't notice any dialog that struck me as anachronistic, aside from "mullet" to refer to a hairstyle. That term didn't exist in 1989, at least not in the sense of a hairstyle. I first heard it in about 2000 on the internet, and had to look it up to find out what it referred to (aside from a type of fish).}
Where does it mention Maine here? You say in an earlier post that you are from Maine and that people did indeed swear like this in Maine in the 80's. When it comes to Mullet you simply claim the term didn't exist in the 80's. It did.
"Where does it mention Maine here?"
Is that a joke? Pay attention to the context. This entire thread is about what dialog was or wasn't correct for the setting of this movie, and the setting is Maine, 1989. Plus, I'd already established the Maine, 1989 context in my previous post, even though it also goes without saying because anyone who has seen the movie should already know its setting.
"It did."
Your mere assertion is dismissed. Get back to me when you can prove it, though, unless you can prove it existed in Maine in 1989, it won't have any relevance to anything I've typed.
Never mind the context of the thread, you clearly state that the term Mullet wasn't used in the 80's. All the side stepping in the world doesn't change that.
"Never mind the context of the thread"
No, you don't get to "never mind the context of the thread"; context always inherently applies in any form of communication.
"you clearly state that the term Mullet wasn't used in the 80's."
It wasn't, and you haven't proven otherwise. As a bonus, even if you do prove it was used in the '80s somewhere other than Maine, it won't be relevant to anything I typed anyway, because my posts have all been in the context of the Maine, 1989 setting. The only reason I brought it up is because the kid using the term "mullet" in the movie is an anachronism (which is what this thread is about). If you prove it was used in the '80s somewhere other than Maine (I won't hold my breath), it changes nothing, i.e., it's still an anachronism.
"All the side stepping in the world doesn't change that."
Your tacit request to redefine the term "side stepping" is denied.
As a bonus, even if you do prove it was used in the '80s somewhere other than Maine, it won't be relevant to anything I typed anyway,
It would though wouldn't it? But Hey, you carry on because all that really matters is you and your opinion here isn't it?
Bye.
"It would though wouldn't it?"
No, it wouldn't, and I've already explained why. In any case, given that you have no arguments, your tacit concession on the matter is noted.
"Bye."
Your resignation is accepted.
hahahaha!
What a whiner. As I said, you and your opinion is all that matters eh?
btw, bye isn't a resignation it is a fare thee well, but I suppose you have your own opinion on that as well.
We used to say a lot of things that would be controversial in a movie today. Homophobic language and all that, though we didn't think of it in those terms back then. That was just how everyone our age talked.
share