“She Ratchet!”
http://http://youtu.bhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oBlnb5orJo (Improv video to explain the term “ratchet”)
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3htTWBogU (Official video to portray the term “ratchet”)
With the recent cultural stimulators such as music and Youtube videos, especially that of the viral videos created by Emmanuel and Philip Hudson, the term “ratchet” has become more of a common phrase. This term nowadays, is prominently used in high school and up all the way to people in their 20s. Before “ratchet” became popular, this term, based on the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means that it is “a mechanism that consists of a bar or wheel having inclined teeth into a which a pawl drops so that motion can be imparted to the wheel and that is used in a hand tool (as a wrench or screwdriver) to allow effective motion in one direction only.” However, whenever you hear “She Ratchet!” most likely does not refer to the mechanical tool; Instead, this is referring to the new slang term which was pioneered by those sensational viral videos. Just as in the videos regarding this term, the Urban Dictionary does a wonderful job in summarizing the definition of this new socially constructed idea of being ratchet. It defines ratchet as word that, “…describes a person or activity that is out of hand, out of control, or generally whack in some way.” As you can see, it is quite evident that the word ratchet has taken a 360 turn and has nothing to do with its actual meaning.
With the growth of this new term, it has become extremely obvious the inherently wrong way in which it is used. For this exact reason, I am intrigued at how an everyday term such as ratchet has transformed in a way that it no longer resembles its actual definition. Moreover, with the increase of its usage, many people seem to just say even when it does not apply. Hence, my audience for this paper is going to be this “English class” and I am going to explain how this term has become so popular. At the same time, I will also explain how it should be used according to its new “established meaning” because I feel like our generation uses it sometimes without really knowing what it means; I think it is important to know when and how to say it in a way that makes sense.