Through a series of events I recently lost my Samsung Galaxy and was given an iPhone as a replacement.
I’ve always been a bit curious about the other side, what with its emojis, group messages and Siri. What’s funny is that two people close to me warned me when I got it to not let it make me “basic.”
With basic already on my mind, I came across an article in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications lobby about how to assess your “basicness.”
It had four criterion that, if you possessed, would immediately classify you as basic. I had to run to class so I couldn’t assess my basicness fully, but the two points I did read were if you say, “I can’t even” and if you have ombre hair.
Now some other general classifications of the new basic are the oh-so-popular pumpkin-spice-loving, UGG-wearing, iPhone-having girl. (Side note: while it is an insult typically reserved for girls, guys aren’t exempt. Patagonias, visors and above the knee shorts are great examples of basic.)
A few months ago, I found myself trying to explain this concept to a friend from the Netherlands. Since he knew English as a second language, I had to establish that it usually means simple or no frills, but the new definition meant that the subject of the insult wasn’t being original or was just doing things like everyone around them.
An article on BuzzFeed explained it even more succinctly. The author hypothesized that those who consume in a standard way are deemed basic, but it can be applied to anyone. Older people who are AARP members and use Folgers coffee could be considered as basic as middle-aged men who splurge on sports cars.
Now the irony of the whole thing is that the original definition meant simple. When my best friend warned me not to be basic by buying a lot of unnecessary phone cases, I looked at my own plain black OtterBox and thought about how this was literally the most basic case I could have, in the old definition.
We’re now calling an extravagantly made, highly caloric and expensive drink from Starbucks “basic” or a pair of expensive sheepskin boots or an overpriced fleece jacket. All of these things that are superfluities are being used to classify the person that consumes them as simple and unoriginal.
While I thought this was a passing trend at first, now I think it’s here to stay, and it could cause some social change.
The new definition is meant as an insult, which means that over-consuming is beginning to be stigmatized and insulted. While I don’t think that many people get offended by it, the mere fact that people are recognizing the sameness as a negative thing could mean they begin to make changes in their purchasing habits.
This could mean changing consumption to something less extravagant like black coffee, used clothing or shorts that cover guys’ knees.