Square (slang)

Square used as slang may mean many things when referring to a person or in common language. It is often used to speak of a person who is regarded as dull, rigidly conventional, and out of touch with current trends.

In referring to a person, the word originally meant someone who was honest, traditional and loyal. An agreement that is equitable on all sides is a "square deal". During the rise of jazz music, the term transformed from a compliment to an insult.

Negative connotations

In the parlance of jazz, a square was a person who failed to appreciate the medium, or, more broadly, someone who was out of date or out of touch, hence the saying "be there or be square". In the counterculture movements that started in the 1940s and took momentum in the 1960s a "square" referred to someone who clung to repressive, traditional, stereotypical, one-sided, or "in the box" ways of thinking. The term was used by hipsters in the 1940s, beatniks in the 1950s, hippies in the 1960s, yippies in the 1970s, and other individuals who took part in the movements which emerged to contest the more conservative national, political, religious, philosophical, musical, and social trends. It comes from the square representing a four-beat rhythm as shown by a conductor's hands. It was in this context that Sly and the Family Stone's trumpet player Cynthia Robinson yelled out in the hit "Dance to the Music": "All the squares go home!" If the counterculture was a shift from conservatism to liberalism, then square was what liberal people called conservative people and things. While the term waned in popularity during the 1980s, it remained in the public consciousness, particularly of the American baby boom generation, enough that its broad meaning (of a person who respects traditional principles) is exemplified in Huey Lewis's 1986 hit "Hip To Be Square".

Square (album)

Square is a studio album by Canadian hip hop musician Buck 65. It was released on WEA in 2002. Though it consists of four tracks, each track consists of multiple songs.

It was nominated for the 2003 Juno Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and Album Design of the Year.

Reception

Rollie Pemberton of Pitchfork Media gave Square a 7.0 out of 10 and called it "a melodic mix of folk rock sensibility, smooth early 90s style production, clever lyrical observations and a relatively enjoyable train ride into the mental station of Halifax's best-known emcee." Meanwhile, Clay Jarvis of Stylus Magazine gave the album a grade of B+, saying, "Square is built solely out of his strengths: hazy introspection, sparse snare-and-kick beats and simple, dismal instrumental refrains."

Track listing

References

External links

Square (band)

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Square was a short-lived musical trio from Lincoln, Nebraska who moved to Southern California in early 2000. It was composed of Sean Beste (vocals and keyboards), James Valentine (guitars) and Ryland Steen (drums). Their sound has been described as including elements of rock, pop, and jazz fusion.

The band moved to Orange County after entering an Ernie Ball-sponsored band competition. They won the grand prize, beating 600 other entrants. Shortly after winning the competition, they released their only full-length album, This Magnificent Nonsence, on an indie label called Lucy Smith Music. The band started playing many gigs in the area, including some with local band Kara's Flowers.

In 2001, the members of Kara's Flowers asked Valentine to join their group, an invitation that he accepted, effectively dissolving Square. Kara's Flowers changed its name to Maroon 5 and became one of the most commercially successful acts of the mid-2000s. Steen later joined the established ska band Reel Big Fish. Beste (who was initially upset and unhappy by Valentine's decision to leave Square but says he no longer harbors any ill will) started a band called The Excuse and moved to Portland, Oregon for several years. He has since returned to the Los Angeles area and has done some work with the band Maxeen.

Square (company)

Square Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア, Kabushiki-gaisha Sukuwea) was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masashi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became Square Enix. The company also used SquareSoft as a brand name to refer to their games, and the term is occasionally used to refer to the company itself. In addition, "Squaresoft, Inc" was the name of the company's American arm before the merger, after which it was renamed to "Square Enix, Inc".

History

Square was founded in Yokohama in September 1983 by Masashi Miyamoto after he graduated from Waseda, one of Japan's top universities. Back then, Square was a computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by Miyamoto's father. While at the time game development was usually conducted by only one programmer, Miyamoto believed that it would be more efficient to have graphic designers, programmers and professional story writers working together on common projects. Square's first two titles were The Death Trap and its sequel Will: The Death Trap II, both designed by part-time employee Hironobu Sakaguchi and released on the NEC PC-8801.

Slang

Slang consists of a lexicon of non-standard words and phrases in a given language. Use of these words and phrases is typically associated with the subversion of a standard variety (such as Standard English) and is likely to be interpreted by listeners as implying particular attitudes on the part of the speaker. In some contexts a speaker's selection of slang words or phrases may convey prestige, indicating group membership or distinguishing group members from those who are not a part of the group.

Defining slang

Few linguists have endeavoured to clearly define what constitutes slang. Attempting to remedy this, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:

Slang (Def Leppard song)

"Slang" is a 1996 song by British hard rock band Def Leppard from their gold album Slang. It reached #17 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is the only one from its parent album to be played after the Slang World Tour of 1996 to 1997, with Def Leppard performing the song most recently during their Viva! Hysteria concert residency of Las Vegas in 2013.

In reference to the song, lead singer Elliot said in the album's commentary that Slang is "a bit of a throwback to [Def Leppard's] original sound, in other words loads and loads of backing vocals" and said that "live, this song has always been a favourite with fans".

The single cover features the Def Leppard logo (the 1995 variation) but Slang did not feature the logo in any variation.

Video

The music video was directed by Nigel Dick. Recorded on Occidental Studios, Los Angeles in April 1996. The video was released in May 1996.

An additional "Director's Cut" video was released in October 2004, included on the Best of the Videos DVD.