funky

Word History: When asked which words in the English language are the most difficult to define precisely, a lexicographer would surely mention funky. Linguist Geneva Smitherman has tried to capture the meaning of this word in Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America, where she explains that funky means "[related to] the blue notes or blue mood created in jazz, blues, and soul music generally, down-to-earth soulfully expressed sounds; by extension [related to] the real nitty-gritty or fundamental essence of life, soul to the max." Funky, derived from the noun funk, "strong smell, stink," originally meant simply "smelling strong or musty," and could be used to describe body odor. The use of funky to describe jazz and other genres of music was nicely explained by historian and critic Eric Hobsbawm (writing under the pseudonym F. Newton) in 1959 in The Jazz Scene: "Critics are on the search for something a little more like the old, original, passion-laden blues: the trade-name which has been suggested for it is 'funky' (literally: 'smelly,' i.e. symbolizing the return from the upper atmosphere to the physical, down-to-earth reality)."