One night a male friend of mine who has his hair shaved close to the skin met me at a party. It was quite obvious he had been drinking beer and he looked somewhat intoxicated. After he asked me if he could call me to go out sometime, I called him a “lush” and told him to leave me alone. Pretty soon, the gossip was all over the dorm.

         In other words, a guy with a “buzz cut” got “buzzed” and wanted to “give me a buzz.”  So I called him a “buzz word” and told him to “buzz off” and it became all the “buzz.”

         The word “buzz” obviously has many meanings and ways of being used. To help me prove this theory, I did a very non-scientific survey among my family and friends. I found when talking to my family about the term, their meanings differed greatly compared to today’s teenagers. My parents, grandfather, aunt and uncle recalled using the term in reference to a telephone call, gossip and telling someone to leave. My friends and I only have two main uses for the term; to describe someone who is intoxicated or someone who is excited about something. With all the differences between how my friends and my family use “buzz” there are some meanings we both use. Buzz-cut and buzz saw use the word buzz to describe a type of haircut and tool. Also, another common use is one teenagers use today, to be excited.

        When my relatives were my age, they would suggest to their friends, “give me a buzz later.” This was their way of saying, “call me.”  According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), use of this definition for the term came into meaning in 1913. It may have evolved from the definition for “buzz” that means the sound a telephone makes when it is ringing (OED).

        The definition referring to the telephone sound came into use officially in 1952 after a famous author used the term in one of his books, published in July of that year. However, people have been casually using that particular definition since 1913.

         Around 1930it would be common to hear, “did you hear the latest buzz?” Obviously they didn’t mean the newest sound bees make. Asking for the “buzz” meant someone wanted to know the latest gossip or rumors (OED). Teenagers began to use this meaning since the sound made by whispering secrets is a muffled sound, which is another definition for the word according to the OED. This phrase was often substituted with “give me the scoop.”

        In 1914, people began to use the word to tell unwanted guests to leave. “Buzz off” became a familiar phrase that was used very frequently, for a long time. However, it was replaced with “get away from me” or “get out of my face.”  The use of this definition may be connected with the swatting motion made at bees, when they make their buzzing sound, to make them leave.

         Today’s teenagers totally twisted all the previous meanings for the word and created their own. “Buzz” is now used to describe someone intoxicated. We’ll often say, “She was so buzzed last night” or “Last night, at the party, I was buzzin’ pretty good.” It’s hard to find what exactly caused us to use this word in the conditions. However, it may have been from how people feel while they are drinking. When someone is intoxicated it may sound like the environment around them is completely unorganized and crazy. Everyone may sound muffled and the room may seem to be swirling around them.

        “Buzzed” is not the only current term that may be used to describe someone who is drinking. Drunk, trashed, plastered, blasted, gone, and out of it are some of the other ways we describe an intoxicated friend. It is not uncommon for us to say, “ I was so trashed last night,” and get the reply, “Me too, I was definitely blasted,” or, “I was so gone.” It’s like our own language, when I mentioned these meanings to my family members, they looked at me like I was crazy. In fact, when I used the example, “I was so gone,” my mom thought I meant, gone, as in “not physically present!”

        Actually, the word “buzz,” by today’s standards, describes someone who has not yet drank enough to be totally oblivious to what is going on. Being buzzed is the stage a person is in between being sober and being totally drunk.

         Both generations have different uses for the term; however, “buzz cut” is one that is common to both. It describes (usually) a man’s haircut. The hair is shaved very closely to the skin using a razor, which may be why it is referred to as a “buzz cut.” Since a razor makes a buzzing sound when it is in operation, people may have found it more convenient to say “give me a buzz cut” instead of “could you cut my hair so it’s almost gone?” to describe what cut they wanted. This style was and is used on people in the military to help appear respected and clean cut. Also, today’s young men prefer it for a “no fuss” look.

         Another common use for the term is, “buzz-saw.”  It is a circular saw used to cut iron. This is surprisingly not a newer invention; the buzz saw has been in use since 1823! Almost immediately after I asked my grandfather for his definition of buzz, his reply was, “buzz-saw, everyone knows that!” Which I found to be true since even some of my laziest friends, who probably have never even seen a buzz-saw, knew it existed.

         Most people know the definition for “buzz” which relates to the hum a bee, fly, or other winged insect makes (OED). People have been using this description for over 120 years. I think people recognize this definition so well because of the fear often associated with bees.

         Finally, a common use for “buzz,” is referring to a person who may be extremely excited or energized. “A feeling of excitement or euphoria,” is the definition, related to this use, given by the OED. This particular use came about in 1942.When using this term, it may also sound like someone is saying a person is intoxicated. “She is definitely buzzed,” is how it may commonly be heard. However, interpreting the phrase depends on the situation. If it is obvious someone is just hyper and not drunk, it is safe to assume they haven’t been drinking. One more way of using the word may be to say, “He is getting a kick out of this.” Kick is another slang word used for buzz that was originated in the United States. This meaning may also be heard as, “She is bouncing off of walls!” I have often heard this from my mom! Usually people say this when someone is very overexcited.

        “Buzz” uses many different parts of speech relating to the context in which it is written. By itself, “buzz” is a verb. “Buzz cut,” and “buzz-saw” are adjectives since it is describing things. “What’s the buzz” and “were buzzed” are examples of how it is used as nouns.

         “Buzz” has already been accepted into standard American English. I was able to find all of the meanings in the Oxford English Dictionary. However, I feel, the main meaning used by teenagers, to be intoxicated, should be more accepted and more widely used. If everyone agreed on one common meaning for the word, communication would be easier and more affective. However, as a teenager, I also use the meaning of being excited, so I also feel this definition should become more standard. If these two meanings were used more often people would learn to distinguish between which one means drunk and which means simply hyper. Then there would be less confusion when teenagers and older people are trying to hold a conversation, which I think is very important. I know when I try to talk to members of my family there are often conflicts because of the different uses of slang words. I like to hear their meanings of some words we now use. Also, it’s amusing for me to watch their faces and hear their opinions on some of words I use today. They’ll say “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!” Then I explain it to them and they look at my 16 year-old cousin and ask him if I’m crazy or if it’s true…he’s always there to help me prove myself though. The conversation usually ends with my grandfather announcing, “what is this world coming to?”