[Ads-l] to "rock"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Sat, Apr 4, 2015 at 10:06 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> In olden times, like the 1970s, this meant 'to wear (something stylish),'
> but it has broadened its domain.

See OED3 sense 12c, 'to wear, esp. with panache; to display, flaunt,
or sport (as a personally distinctive style, accessory, possession,
etc.).' with examples back to 1987. It's an expansion of sense 12a,
'to handle effectively and impressively; to use or wield effectively,
esp. with style or self-assurance' (as in "rock the mic"), which does
indeed go back to the '70s. I discuss the dating of that sense (to
1978) here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/magazine/11FOB-onlanguage-t.html
http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/wordroutes/rocking-the-english-language/

> Guy looking entranced at new car in commercial: "I could rock this."
>
> UrbanD has a pertinent report from 2002:
>
> "to use. to make do with. usually to great effect."

I think this would still fall under OED3 sense 12c, as a car is a
possession to be flaunted. An automotive example appears in the 1997
song "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" by the artist formerly known as Puff
Daddy, wherein Mase raps, "Brothers wanna rock the Rolls, rock my
clothes, rock my ice, pull out Glocks, stop my life."

--bgz

-- 
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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