There are always some words that become fashionable (at least for a while) and then fade away again long before those of us who are not dedicated followers of fashion have even heard of them.
I suspect this is one.
For a certain segment of the population ‘larping’ is currently a popular put-down that is splattered all over social media like bird droppings.
So, what does it mean?
What is it criticising?
According to the hyper-hip Urban Dictionary ‘larping’ means ‘When someone is pretending to be something they’re not.’
This, they say, can involve lying on social media or lying in real life.
The Urban Dictionary says ‘often’ (I would have thought always) used in a derogatory sense.'
The word comes from the world of game playing and is an acronym for Live Action Role Play.
However, when you accuse someone of ‘larping’ you are not accusing them of a bit of swords and sorcery role playing, but of pretending to be something in real life that they are not.
If you take a selfie standing beside a Lamborghini in a car sales room and use it to pretend you have bought a Lambo, then you are ‘larping.’
Pretending to know a famous person, pretending to be rich, pretending to know about a topic, pretending to have a certain lifestyle, and so on—all are examples of ‘larping.’
The Urban Dictionary says this has been around since early 2021—but it seems to have become particularly popular this year.
Perhaps there’s more of it going on?
You have to feel sorry for the younger generation—they just don’t seem to be happy living in the real world!
For Sydney readers: today (Tuesday) I will be making a personal appearance at Koorong's huge new bookshop in Melrose Park from 10am -- come along and say hello!
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BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
