Too Cringe for New York, Too Based for LA

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Noah Goodman, and I’m calling in from Burlington, Vermont.

Hi, Noah.

So my question is about the word based, B-A-S-E-D.

I have understood it to mean something contrary to the word cringe,

Such as in the meme, I am too cringe for New York, too based for L.A.,

But I fit in just right in Providence, Rhode Island.

So that’s what I’m coming to you with now.

And this is a meme that you see a lot?

Well, my sister sent me that meme.

Oh.

Is she in Providence?

She’s there, yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

So based and cringe are opposites, and so based means not cringe, which means?

So to me, based, I feel like means grounded, well-rounded.

Okay.

And bounded in good-sounding things.

Grounded, bounded, well-rounded, and sounding.

Okay, good.

That’s a well-founded definition.

Yeah, there you go.

I’ve got to say, Noah, the way that you’re defining this is pretty solid.

And I’m not surprised, though, that you’re a little hesitant at putting a definition out there.

At least I think I’m hearing, hesitance, because there’s been so much argument about

Based and what it means.

You’ve probably seen it too.

Yeah, I have.

And slang is so all over the place.

It’s highly context sensitive.

And even when it breaks through to the mainstream, it kind of doesn’t keep one meaning.

There’s all these little subgroups that have their own preferred usage, especially online

Where a community can have its own usage

And then they see the word being used somewhere else

And they’re like, wait a second,

That’s not how we use it in our group.

So the first place I tend to check

Isn’t your urban dictionary for this stuff.

It’s often know your meme.

And so there’s a really good explanation

On the website know your meme.

Then they talk about the history of this particular word

And it comes in short from the California rapper Lil B,

Real name Brandon McCartney, who coined it from the word basehead,

Which means someone who uses crack cocaine.

In an interview with Complex Magazine in 2010,

He explained that he shortened based from the word basehead,

Even though basehead was used as an insult where he grew up.

And he took based and reclaimed it and started using it as a positive.

And not long after, people started referring to him as the based God.

And he defined based as being yourself and not being scared of what people think about you and not being afraid to do what you want to do, which I think is a really good, broad definition of based.

Although these days, a lot of times when I see based, it looks like it just means righteous in terms of you did or said something that I agree with.

Yeah.

But based, of course, like I said, has other lives.

It kind of took off, and with the help of 4chan,

Based kind of took on some alt-right connotations

And was mixed with the red pill metaphor from the Matrix movies

And co-opted by the incel, Gamergate, men’s rights communities.

And so it’s, like I said, incredibly context sensitive.

Okay.

So it sounds like it means, like, generally it means, like,

Being your best authentic self, then you’re being based.

But the appraisal is dependent on the appraiser.

Perfectly put.

The appraisal is dependent on the appraiser.

Yes, context matters.

Absolutely.

So if you’re too cringe for New York

And you’re too based for L.A.,

But you fit in perfectly in Providence, Rhode Island,

What does that mean?

The right size pond for this fish.

There you go.

The right size pond for this fish.

I love that.

All right.

Rock and roll.

Thanks for calling, Noah.

We put the base in your face.

Yeah, thank you.

Thanks.

I’ll keep it there.

All right, bye.

All righty, bye-bye.

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