some repoter named Nicholas Yong posted this. I read it and i was like, WHOA.http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2009/9/22/what-does-boomz-really-meanI DON'T know about you, but I've been hearing the word 'boomz' a lot lately.Whether among friends or strangers, on the MRT or the bus, on Facebook or YouTube, it's been resounding everywhere, like a bad trance remix of some rap song. It's become apparent to me that Ris Low, the unwitting pop culture phenomenon of 2009, has created a word that will surely become a permanent part of our cultural lexicon.
Unlike 'leopard preence' and 'zipbra', this was no malapropism - rather, it was a deliberate, spontaneous, wildly successful attempt to invent a whole new word.
The more prosaic explanation is that she probably meant to say 'va va voom', and badly messed up the pronounciation. I disagree. I think Ris Low is an artist. I think what she has created will stand the test of time.Along with 'kiasu', 'wayang' and the ubiquitous 'wah lau', 'boomz' will surely come to occupy pride of place in the Coxford Singlish Dictionary. In years to come, we will fondly tell our grandchildren stories of where we were when we first heard the word. And how it made us fall over in our chairs with laughter. And yet, no one quite knows what it means. People bandy sentences like "I'm feeling so boomz" and "I’m wearing something boomz" about, often to peals of laughter, but don’t really know what they are saying.
Like Eric Cantona with all his talk of seagulls and trawlers, Ris spun her mysterious web of mispronounced words, then loved us and left us, forever holding her peace (though some of us would probably rather she never spoke again).Wherefore art thou, Ris? Why will you not come forth in your rad beegini and your profound knowledge of steel, to enlighten us?Perhaps it is simply meant to be this way.
Perhaps, like some holy scriptures handed down to us by the divine, we must needs some prophet to interpret the Word for us. Or maybe Ris was right. Maybe it really is all about ME. Maybe I can use 'boomz' any way I like, with scant regard for what it actually means. But surely that won't do.
We need a standardised definition, one that can be preserved for posterity long after Ris fades from the scene. Something we can all agree on, and use forevermore. So - what do you think 'boomz' means? Do tell us, so we can all use it together.
M.A.C make up!!!!EEEEP!!!
