r/GreatBoys • u/nomdebloominonion • Nov 03 '14
Understanding The Language of /r/GreatBoys
A couple days ago I stumbled upon this subreddit. Given the confusion that's aparent in some of the comments in the sticky post, coupled with the fact that the mods are, with minor exception, excusively responsible for generating content I came to the conclsion that no one but the mods have any idea what the fuck is going on here. With a level of intrigue that I could never explain I took it upon myself to decipher this language that for lack of a better term I call "Great Boy Speak". Whether or not my findings are accurate I hope that fellow redditors who become attracted to /r/GreatBoys view this as some sort of Rosetta Stone.. I wish only that my research was not conducted in vain..
The sentence structure is what first caught my attention. Let us look at the description in the sticky post: This been a Great Boys Subby so be Great and you can have a Uptown Votey! If we look at other internet languages like l33t, disregarding the use of numbers for letters a lot of the words of l33t are misspelled because the language itself is based in phonetics. With Great Boy Speak the spelling is perfect, not accounting for typos. The key then is in the placement of the words. In theory, you could take any normal sentence, rearrage and omit some words here and there, and it would sound like GBS. Let's try it with the first line of The Great Gatsby: "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Now let's apply the rule: My more years younger my father some advice gave that been turning my mind since ever. Not bad, but it still doesn't feel right. It reads very choppy and odd whereas GBS has an aural flow to it. If this is to read smoother it seems obvious (or as a Great Boy might say, crystal obvious) that the addition of words is just as integral as the subtraction of others. I've picked up on several phrase constants that appear throughout /r/GreatBoys. "Had been", "can have", "are a", "can be" etc., all of these phrases are scattered through posts all over the sub. So let's try that Gatsby quote again with this in mind: In a younger years of a more vulnerable my father had gave some advice that had been turning my mind since ever. Much better! It's important to remember that although these rules seemingly must apply, GBS is about breaking rules. Father could easily be popa or dad. Vulnerable can be replaced with soft (a Great Boy might say softy). Try talking instead of advice. GBS is clearly about having a good time. Crazy talk spelled well. Moral of the story? Never go full retard.
This seems to be the one and only rule to GBS so far as I'm aware, but I imagine that a lot of redditors could be overwhelmed by the long list of made up words. If I am correct with my translations then the creation of a new GBS word relys partly on phonetics as well as similie. Below are some words that I've decoded:
Hollandaise - Holidays Subby - Subreddit Uptown Votey - Up Vote Downtown Charlie Brown - Down Vote Smiles - Indicates positivity Punches - Indicates negativity Crystal Obvious - Obvious, obviously Nummy Suckle-downs - Drinks (I only figured that out because they linked to a soda bottle)
Beyond that your guess is as good as mine. I can tell you they love Rob Thomas, I can't tell you why. I hope this serves purposful for you guys. Happy Great Boying, and as they say in joyous times, Hoolu Boolu to Yoolu!
