Linguistics 101: Along with costumes, ceremonial gatherings and dietary rules, communities employ language as a richly symbolic tool of inclusion and exclusion. The convergence of microenvironments that created the Che Underground united a mob of very clever youngsters, most of them extremely verbally adept. Each sub-scene seemed to have its own patois, and the resulting Tower of Babel continues to invite analysis lo these many years later.
A few examples we’ve already explored: “LUTAN!”; “Taste the fury, Babyface”; “the grinding wheel” and “rule the wasteland.”
Let’s discuss FONO, Vault XIII, Circle 5, laal, Stanky Pickle and the rest of the San Diego underground’s oral tradition. What were we talking about, anyway?