I was riding on the metro last week, about 7 PM, listening to the two young women in front of me. “He’s like a total monarchist,” one of them said.
This was way over my head. Was this a new putdown? A riff on the less savory aspects of the Bush fils presidency, or at least some of them?
I listened, uncomprehending. I missed a lot, but gradually things started to come into focus. The two, though they both spoke unaccented English and looked totally, so to speak, American, were actually Iranian, at least by descent and cultural heritage, and the guy being dissed actually was a monarchist, a supporter of the late Shah, and presumably still loyal to the House of Pahlavi, though, as far as I can tell, there is no recognized heir to the throne.
I missed a lot, but apparently one of the women had a blog (“Iranian Chick”?) and the guy had called her up to complain about something she had written. She did not, of course, list her phone number on her blog, and she did not appreciate the call: “He’s giving me all this shit and I’m like, Dude! And he keeps talking and I’m like, Dude!”
In chick talk, Dude! means “I’m young, you’re old. Shut the fuck up.” Now, the further you go into advanced geezerdom, the more you will resent listening to attractive young women putting a man down because he’s old, but still. If you’re an old dude, you basically shouldn’t call a young chick, about anything. Especially if you’re like a total monarchist.
