It has been well documented that pop culture affects the language of a society and what society considers “cool.”

Remember “tubular”? It was a fun word to use. It came from the surfer culture which, at the time, seemed so cool. And it was the most difficult level on the Mario game-ever. Every time Mario or Luigi would jump, the tubes would shift and the character would fall into the holes. On second thought, “tubular” might not have been such a fun word.

“Righteous” replaced “tubular,” but was quickly replaced again by “cowabunga:” the war cry born of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television show. It was mimicked primarily during recess at school. One of the turtles would scream it every time he jumped from a high place, and so would the students on the playground. Needless to say, “cowabunga” sent teachers running in the direction they heard it come from.

Bart Simpson’s “I didn’t do it” was also common phrase. Every time a student was confronted by an authority figure about a wrong doing such as pulling a girl’s hair, starting fights, mooning the entire playground with a teacher as a witness and other such things, the principal would ask, “Why did you do it?”

“I didn’t do it. They’re all against me.”

It never worked, but it was always worth a shot.

Popular language has become primitive recently. There is nothing more annoying than hearing some idiot speak in text message. “OMGs” and “lols” slip out of people’s mouths on a daily basis – and it’s annoying.

Solutions to this problem include: confiscating cell phones, disconnecting Internet service and removing the tongues of these single-celled organisms (it would be appropriate to add a smiling emoticon here).

Many popular pop culture phrases can be heard on old television shows. However, there are too many to list – so that’s your homework assignment for this week. Language is cyclical and words coincide with current pop culture. But only time will tell wether or not we see a resurgence of popular old-school phrases such as “tubular.”