Punk
| Table of contents |
|
2 Terms derived from the word punk 3 Original meanings |
The noun punk these days often refers to a miscreant or subversive. In prison slang, punk refers to someone who is treated as a sexual submissive.
Punk rock, named in reference to the above term, is a largely musical movement that arose in the late 1970s and reached its peak in the early 1980s.
See also: punk fashion, cyberpunk
External links: Open Directory: Punk Rock
The original meaning of punk is combustible material such as rotten, mouldy faggots of firewood or wood with Polyporus fungus growing on it. Alternative names: spunk, punkwood, funky stuff, amadou. The punkwood is dried or charred and used in a flint and steel fire. It may be used as tinder or char. When put into an already blazing fire, especially if not completely dried, this kind of material may cause explosive "popping" or "fizzing" sounds (See also: fireworks).
In Shakespearean slang punke is used as a word for a prostitute, interchangeable with the word "croshabell". For instance in "Merrie conceited Jests." by George Peele (undated but probably published in 1620) one of the jests is called "How George gulled a Punke, otherwise called a Croshabell."
In the English county of Somerset there are two traditional uses of the term "punk" (in local dialect): Firstly there is "Hunky Punk" meaning a stone carving of an ugly face on the walls of buildings, a variant of Gargoyle and secondly there is "Punkie Night" a local Somerset variation of Halloween.
External links:
Punkie Night on National Geographic's '"Pulse of the Planet"', -
This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.
Modern usage of the term
Terms derived from the word punk
Original meanings
Local meanings in Somerset