“Is he the one who only wears backward Dodger hats in all his Tinder photos?” I asked while slurping my still-too-hot Pumpkin Spice Latte.
“No, that’s Pete. Johnny has the man bun. Great sports bra by the way, Lulu?”
“Yeah.” I answered, “Hey, Sam just texted. What time did we say Rosè Happy Hour was happening tonight? Ugh, my Yoga pants are giving me swass”
“Seven.” Gina replied. “You didn’t tell her we were doing rooftop yoga this morning, did you? She might be upset we didn’t invite her.”
“I love this song,” we said in unison, cracking up at each other. Dave Matthew’s band gets us every time. The throwbacks, ya know?
This, my friends, was a great example of two basic bitches, enjoying a Saturday morning post-yoga conversation. It’s one I’ve had. It’s one you’ve probably had. I do need to clarify one thing before continuing: Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are disgusting and Starbucks burns the sludge they call coffee. There, I feel better.
“What’s a Basic?”
The other day, TN writer Lorena posed the following conundrum to our TN writer’s group:
Ok serious question: what does “basic” mean in a current slang sense? I know Amy said rose gold is basic in a post and that Bekah thinks rosé is basic (though many contested frosé being basic). WTF does basic mean?? Based on evidence pointed to here, I can only assume it involves rose and combining two things.
She had a great question. I’ve often publically discussed my love for Rosè and acknowledged its basic-ness, all the while talking negatively about “Basic” things and people. So which is it? Is Rosè basic? Am I basic? And is that okay? (For the record… this is Frosè:
Come here lover)
I asked the team to answer the following:
What does BASIC mean to you?
Patricia: It makes me so confused. And makes me feel old
Jamie: The first time that I heard it was when someone called Lauren Conrad basic.
Amy: Uggs, leggings, latte…you are a basic bitch.
Laura: When I think basic, I think of someone wearing leggings, tall brown boots, sipping on a latte, with a messy bun. Someone who loves doing “basic things” that EVERYONE loves to do. Like drinking rosè, devouring anything with pumpkin in it, and group selfies.
Danelle: Basic to me means trendy white (usually) girls who do what everyone else does.
Jamie C: When I hear ‘basic’ I think of things that the masses seem to like, but I can’t stand……Pumpkin spice lattes, going to Starbucks every single day, pants with words like ‘Juicy’ or ‘Sexy’ on the butt. But I do watch The Bachelor, so I am a little basic. 😉
Carrie Jo: I am aware as I write this that I sometimes fall victim to Special Snowflake Syndrome…but I have never tried Rose (and I drink a fair amount of wine!) and I hate PSL. However, I am quite Basic in other ways. I love yoga pants, messy buns, and tall boots.
Okay Starbucks Lattes, Yoga Pants and Rosè, got it. Anything else?
I define basic as that thing that “all white girls” do. It’s a stereotype. It’s sometimes mean and not true. It often is. And… “White girls” is also a stereotype. Instead of basic being a white-girl thing, it’s probably more of a socio-economic thing. It’s like a thing that is cool, hip or trendy to a women-of-a-certain-age-in-the-middle-to-upper-financial-class.
Yes, Pumpkin spiced lattes are basic. Starbucks is basic. Rose, sadly, was a cool exclusive wine drink a few years ago but has now become basic.
Laura implied basic is someone who makes a “thing” out of “basic” things that everyone loves to do. They THINK it’s unique and just their own individual preference. It’s the person who says: OMG I LOVE ROSÈ SO MUCH. EVERYONE.LOVES.ROSÈ. Or.. they just don’t recognize that… everyone does the thing that they do or loves the thing they love.
This exists
Laura said:
While there is nothing unique about being basic, there is also nothing wrong with it. As long as you’re comfortable with your basicness, you should just rock it and go with it!
I think in every social group you’ll find that there is a level of basicness to be found. Fanboys & fangirls for instance all have very basic qualities they are carry around.
Same goes for the hipsters, goths, and jocks. If you’re in a “label” it’s because there is something about you that jives with the others in that label.
Being labeled basic just kinda gave those that didn’t fit into another category a name.
Taylor Swift- Queen B of Basic-ness
Nikki, Taylor Swift’s biggest fan*, thinks Taylor Swift is the ultimate poster-girl for basic-ness. She says:
Basic to me means just super obvious like OF COURSE you like that, stuff everyone else does. Basic is when something has become mass-market.
For me that means stuff like: Taylor Swift (everything surrounding her, what her music is about, her friends, etc), Sex and the City, guys who wear fedoras, polaroid cameras, crop tops, selfies in inappropriate places, liking bands like Maroon 5 and Coldplay (but only knows the radio hits).
In LA Basic is: Workout clothes in real life, gluten free, voted for La La Land because you identify with Emma Stone’s character, juice cleanse, avocado toast, soul cycle, coachella, dudes in tank tops and 5 patch hats, tattoos that “mean something” (like an infinity symbol or “breathe”), etc etc etc
I had to stop Nikki. Because bitch be talking bad ’bout my bae Avocado Toast.** I LOVE AVOCADO TOAST.
But that was Nikki’s point. She said the thing behind “basic” is that it starts out as a cool and unique idea, new, hip, hard to find, and then it hits mass appeal and everywhere you look- BAM- Avocado Toast.
(Thank God.)
Basic- Once unique, now not
I think Nikki came up with the best definition. Basic is something that was once a small, unique, interesting, not-so-well-known idea or product or THING and then suddenly, it has mass appeal.
Does that mean we should stop wearing our hair in messy buns, eating gluten-free breads with avocado smashed on top (Add a poached egg for $2!), drinking $5 lattes and spending Saturday, Sunday and M-F after work in Yoga pants, even though we didn’t work out? Hell no. That’s not living!
But it’s not unique either. It’s time we accept these things are basic. Everyone does them. And everyone*** loves rosè.
What does Basic mean to you?
Still confused? Watch this
*she’s not
**super basic talking point right there
***Lorena does not love rosè. We are praying for her soul.
