Is Based the Rad of the 2010s?

[Diarcesia]

8. Radical

This adjective, meaning “extreme; outrageous; good,” originated in the late 1960s. Radical is another term borrowed from surfer slang, according to the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, after which it “migrated into the argot of the San Fernando Valley”—a.k.a. Valley Girls—“and then into mainstream U.S. youth slang.” In 1988, it even appeared in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. Green’s pinpoints the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze” of the 1990s for bringing radical to the masses. Rad, a shortened version of the word, was also a popular way to describe something you really loved (as well as the title of a 1986 BMX movie starring Lori Loughlin and Talia Shire).

My answer is yes. Just like "swell" was in the 1920s, "based", in the wake of the rise of the dank meme phenomenon, fits the usage of the term to connote "extreme; outrageous; good".

What say you?

[Endem]

That's based

[Great Algerstonia]

That's based

Radical, dude!

[Stellar Colonies]

I would generally agree, although it is of course more concentrated amongst us younger folks. Anecdotally, I tend not to use slang at all and even I tend to use 'based' on a roughly daily basis.

There is also 'lit', which seems to mean the same thing, although I'm not sure how widespread it is in comparison to 'based'.

[Theberstan]

Don’t dong, mods are coming.

[Cetacea]

I must be old I dont know what based means (though I have seen it used)

I do know lit

is that radical?

[Heloin]

I must be old I dont know what based means (though I have seen it used)

I do know lit

is that radical?

It's totally tubular.

[Punished UMN]

8. Radical

This adjective, meaning “extreme; outrageous; good,” originated in the late 1960s. Radical is another term borrowed from surfer slang, according to the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, after which it “migrated into the argot of the San Fernando Valley”—a.k.a. Valley Girls—“and then into mainstream U.S. youth slang.” In 1988, it even appeared in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. Green’s pinpoints the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze” of the 1990s for bringing radical to the masses. Rad, a shortened version of the word, was also a popular way to describe something you really loved (as well as the title of a 1986 BMX movie starring Lori Loughlin and Talia Shire).

My answer is yes. Just like "swell" was in the 1920s, "based", in the wake of the rise of the dank meme phenomenon, fits the usage of the term to connote "extreme; outrageous; good".

What say you?

No it doesn't, based is often erroneously used to mean good by late-comers to its usage, but its original usage, deriving from 1990's Los Angeles AAVE usage, and it's early mainstream after spreading to mainstream AAVE through rap music and eventually to white listeners on sites like 4Chan and later Reddit is to refer to the quality of someone being stoic about the consequences of their actions. Based has positive connotations because people who are based are confident, but someone being based can also be stoic about the negative consequences of their actions (e.g. someone might refer to a political figure as based for being exceptionally corrupt).

A more accurate synonym might be "unperturbed."

[Astolfotopia]

based thread

[Cetacea]

I must be old I dont know what based means (though I have seen it used)

I do know lit

is that radical?

It's totally tubular.

funky, I dig it

[Page]

I'm a middle millenial and I never much used based, although I did say it last week when watching John Oliver when I heard a Republican politician say he would shoot cops who break into his home on a no-knock warrant, and I said "based" out loud.

[The Saucer Pilots]

Only if "based" will be used as a phrase by an anthropomorphic junk food mascot or some kind of Lunchables ad.

[Resilient Acceleration]

More recently, I've also been seeing "gamer" becoming another substitute for based, usually in contexts that are far more extreme. Then again, I've only been seen it being used a lot in HOI4's TNO community, with other appearances here and there.

[Cannot think of a name]

Did this happen to the word 'based'?


Did it get printed on shirts in fake paint splash?

If the squares (normies) didn't try to sell it back to you, it hasn't reached "rad" levels yet.

[Xmara]

Whoa that’s totally based, yo! 2010s slang was lit, man. I’m hip to all this groovy slang. These lit words are the bee’s knees. Groovy beans, daddy-o. Gonna blow this popsicle stand now so hasta la-bye-bye!

Kill me

[-Ocelot-]

"Based" is also an unconventional or non-popular opinion. Therefore, it's not an modern equivalent of "rad".

[Diarcesia]

Whoa that’s totally based, yo! 2010s slang was lit, man. I’m hip to all this groovy slang. These lit words are the bee’s knees. Groovy beans, daddy-o. Gonna blow this popsicle stand now so hasta la-bye-bye!

Kill me

You forgot the fire, ok sign, 100, and the laughing crying emojis.

[Forsher]

"Based" is also an unconventional or non-popular opinion. Therefore, it's not an modern equivalent of "rad".

I reckon, if you couldn't alternatively write "biased", it probably isn't based.

Did this happen to the word 'based'?
(Image)

Did it get printed on shirts in fake paint splash?

If the squares (normies) didn't try to sell it back to you, it hasn't reached "rad" levels yet.

YOLO

[The Two Jerseys]

It's totally tubular.

funky, I dig it

Groovy, man, out of sight!