When I was in high school, there were two phrases that we used a lot that I have never heard since. I’ve often wondered if they were exclusive to my hometown of Blackstone, Massachusetts.
Bunking was the word used to describe skipping school. If you skipped school, you bunked. In fact, what is referred to in many towns as Senior Skip Day was known in my town as Senior Bunk Day.
Anyone ever heard the word used this way before?
The other was the phrase “Right now!” which was used to express your absolutely and unholy willingness to fight regardless of the time or location.
Imagine the following scenario:
I am walking down the hall to my next class when I bump into someone who I consider an enemy. As our shoulders inadvertently strike, Lord of the Flies falls from my hands onto the floor. I immediately take this as a sign of aggression, an act of war, and I throw down the remaining books, shove my enemy in the chest, and shout “Right now!”
In layman’s terms, these two words mean, “I am so incredibly angry and hopped up on testosterone that I am willing to fight you right here in the hallway outside Mr. Furey’s chemistry lab between D and E period. Unless you want to appear as a complete coward, you will throw your books aside with the requisite flourish and begin exchanging fisticuffs with me.”
I heard and used the phrase “Right now!” dozens, if not hundreds, of times while growing up, but ever since I left Blackstone, the phrase has disappeared completely (other than Van Halen’s use of it, of course.)
Was this a phrase exclusive to Blackstone, MA in the mid-late 1980s?
