BBC_Learning English

hero in a half shell (Lifestyle and Leisure) (Youth Culture) see Turtle

herstory noun (Politics) (People and Society)
In feminist jargon, history emphasizing the role of women or
told from a woman's point of view (so as to provide a
counterbalance to the traditional view, regarded as being
male-dominated); also, a piece of historical writing by or about
women.
Etymology: A punning coinage, formed by reinterpreting the word
history (actually from Latin and Greek historia 'narrative') as
though it were made up of the masculine possessive pronoun his
and story, and substituting the feminine possessive pronoun her
for his.
History and Usage: The word was coined in the early seventies
by militant feminists in the US, who had joined together to form
an organization known as WITCH. In Sisterhood is Powerful
(1970), feminist writer Robin Morgan wrote of the expansion of
this acronym:
The fluidity and wit of the witches is evident in the
ever-changing acronym: the basic, original title was
Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from
Hell...--and the latest heard at this writing is Women
Inspired to Commit Herstory.
Herstory remained effectively limited to feminist writing for
some time, but during the eighties acquired a higher profile in
general journalism. It is a word which has tended to annoy
linguistic purists, who see it as an example of deliberate
disregard for the rules of etymology; in a sense, though, this
was the reason for its coinage--like wimmin, it was intended to
shock people into thinking more carefully about male-dominated
views of culture. A writer of herstory is sometimes called a
herstorian.

heritage noun (Environment)

In environmental jargon: the sum of the natural and constructed

surroundings which a nation can pass on to future generations

(especially areas of outstanding natural beauty, architectural

monuments, and sites of historical interest). Often used

attributively, especially in:

heritage centre, a multi-media museum celebrating local history

and traditions;

heritage coast, a stretch of coastline whose natural features

are protected by law from destruction;

heritage trail, an organized walk or tour which takes in sites

of historical or natural interest, often on a specific theme.

Etymology: A straightforward sense development from the

original sense of heritage, 'that which is or may be inherited'.

History and Usage: The word has been used officially, in

national heritage, to refer to architectural monuments (and

especially 'stately homes' with their collections of art,

antiques, etc.) since about the beginning of the seventies;

heritage coasts were also first defined at about that time. It

was not until the middle of the eighties, though--in the UK

perhaps partly as a result of the creation in 1984 of English

Heritage, a new Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for

England--that heritage began to be packaged and marketed as a

commodity, a development which led to the name heritage industry

for this aspect of tourism. At about the same time, renewed

interest in the natural environment and green issues generally

led to a greater emphasis on this aspect of heritage. Some

writers add an adjective to make their intentions

clear--cultural or architectural heritage for buildings, natural

or green heritage for nature--but often both are implied, and a

preceding adjective is not possible when heritage is used

attributively.

hearing-impaired (Health and Fitness) (People and Society) see deafened

heavy metal

noun and adjective (Music) (Youth Culture)

A style of loud, vigorous rock music characterized by the use of

heavily amplified instruments (typically guitar, bass, and

drums), a strong (usually fast) beat, intense or spectacular

performance, and often a clashing, harsh musical style; a later

development of 'hard' rock. Often used as an adjectival phrase

to describe music of this kind. Sometimes abbreviated to HM or

metal.

Etymology: Both metal and heavy metal were used in William

Burroughs's novel Nova Express in 1964:

At this point we got a real break in the form of a

defector from The Nova Mob: Uranian Willy The Heavy

Metal Kid.

The phrase was probably more influential when used again in

Steppenwolf's record Born to be Wild in 1968, referring to the

culture of the biker:

I like smoke and lightning, Heavy metal thunder.

In addition to the conscious quotation from these sources, the

name may well be influenced by the harsh, metallic sound of the

music and its heavy beat, or even by the leather gear with metal

studs typically worn by heavy metal bands and their followers.

History and Usage: The term heavy metal was first used to refer

to rock music by the music press of the mid seventies, seeking a

dismissive label for what was otherwise known as hard rock.

Gradually, though, heavy metal acquired a respectable status as

a neutral term and came to be applied retrospectively to some of

the groups formerly classified as hard rock (notably Led

Zeppelin, who have come to be thought of as the founders of

heavy metal). In the eighties the term was increasingly used

adjectivally, and heavy metal proved to be one of the major

strains of White pop music running alongside Black-inspired

styles such as hip hop.

The names of Heavy Metal groups like Deep Purple and

Motorhead are inscribed on the back of his leather

jacket.

headhunt transitive verb Also written head-hunt (Business World)

To approach (a manager or other skilled employee who already has

a job) with a view to persuading him or her to join another

company in which a vacancy has arisen, especially when this

approach is made by an agent or agency (a headhunter)

specifically employed for this purpose by the company seeking

staff. Also as an intransitive verb: to act as a headhunter; to

engage in the process of executive recruitment known as

headhunting.

Etymology: The verb is back-formed from the action noun

headhunting; this in turn is a case of a derisive nickname for

the practice (also labelled body-snatching or poaching) which

eventually became a semi-official term in business circles,

losing even its metaphorical association with primitive peoples

and the taking of heads as trophies.

History and Usage: Headhunting originated in the US (the

practice in the fifties, the name in the second half of the

sixties), but was not at all widespread in the UK until the

eighties, the term headhunter remaining a derisive slang term

until then. Headhunt as a verb has a similar history--first

used in the sixties, but entering a rather different register of

usage after the early eighties. During the eighties it became

common for senior executives who were unhappy in their jobs to

offer their services to headhunters, so that the agency's job

included finding jobs for individuals as well as individuals for

jobs.

He interviewed several people for the position but he

did not find anyone suitable. Head-hunting seemed to be

the next move.

At 45, Peter Birch brought the average age of building

society chiefs down by a good few years. Worse, he had

not been born and bred in the 'movement', but was

headhunted from outside.

noun Also written head banger or head-banger (Politics) (Youth Culture)

In young people's slang: a deranged or stupid person; a lunatic

or idiot. Hence in political contexts: a person with very

extreme political views; someone whose ideas and policies seem

'over the top' (see OTT).

Etymology: Adopted from psychological jargon, in which a

headbanger is a child who engages in rhythmic rocking and

banging its head against the cot or walls as a comfort mechanism

(often as a sign of boredom, neglect, or stress), or an adult

who is severely disturbed and shows stress by engaging in

similar activity. As a young people's term of abuse it relies

more on stereotyped notions of the behaviour of 'lunatics' than

on knowledge of psychology.

History and Usage: Long in spoken use (especially, it seems, in

Glasgow) as a general term of abuse, headbanger has acquired a

wider currency in the late seventies and eighties as a result of

its use in the newspapers to refer to extremist politicians of

the Left and the Right. Headbanging in this sense means any

militant political extremism.

If he was to resign from Monday morning's interview...It

was a while since he had been carpeted...Old Milne was a

bit of a headbanger but apart from that.

Other drivers spoke about a 'headbanger' and the driving

as 'absolute madness'.

noun Also written head banger or head-banger (Music) (Youth Culture)

In rock music slang: a follower of heavy metal rock music; a

person who enjoys a style of dancing to rock music involving

head-shaking and rapid bending movements (known as headbanging).

Etymology: Formed on headbanging, which in turn is a

descriptive name for the dance; the rapid bending and

head-shaking look rather like a mime of banging one's head

against a hard surface (and in fact there is some suggestion

that the early followers of heavy metal actually did bang their

heads against the amplifiers). There is also some confusion with

the headbanging of the mentally disturbed: see headbangerý

below.

History and Usage: The term arose in the rock music context in

the second half of the seventies, when heavy metal first

attracted a large following. Although originally a dismissive

nickname, headbanger has been adopted by some of the fans

themselves, who use headbanging to refer to listening to live

rock music generally. Headbanging is also occasionally used as

an adjective.

happening adjective (Lifestyle and Leisure)

In young people's slang: trendy, up-to-the-minute, 'hip', that

is 'where the action is'.

Etymology: Formed by shortening the phrase what's happening or

where it's (all) happening and treating happening as an

adjective. During the teenage revolution of the sixties, the

noun happening was widely used to mean any fashionable event,

especially a pop gathering, and happenings is a slang name for

narcotics; the phrase what's happening? is a popular street

greeting among US teenagers, perhaps originating in the language

of jazz.

History and Usage: One of the happening words of the late

eighties, happening as an adjective started in California in the

late seventies; in her pastiche of Californian life The Serial

(1977), American writer Cyra McFadden makes one of her

characters say:

Who could live anywhere else? Marin's this whole

high-energy trip with all these happening people...Can

you imagine spending your life out there in the

wasteland someplace?

The word then became enshrined in Valspeak in the early

eighties, and eventually emerged in the pop and rock music world

generally around the middle of the decade. In the UK it is still

used mainly in writing for young people, but has also started to

crop up in fashionable magazines and newspaper colour

supplements.

'Me and George Michael,' she adds, lapsing into

pop-speak, 'may turn out to be a pretty happening

scene.'

Nothing looks sadder than a man wearing voluminous,

'happening' dungarees but with a bemoussed hairstyle

that is pure Bros.

Manchester is this year's happening place.

hands-on adjective (Business World) (Science and Technology)

Involving direct participation; practical rather than

theoretical. Also used of a person: having or willing to gain

practical experience.

Etymology: Formed on the verbal phrase to get one's hands on

(something) 'to touch or get involved in' and influenced by the

exclamation hands off! 'do not touch or interfere!'

History and Usage: Hands-on was first used as an adjective in

relation to computer training in the late sixties, when

opportunities to learn computing by sitting down at the keyboard

and actually using the computer were described as hands-on

experience. Throughout the seventies this was the dominant sense

of the adjective, although towards the end of the decade a

number of new applications were beginning to develop: people who

had practical experience, or jobs which required it, could now

be described as hands-on, and the metaphor was taken up in a

more literal way by museums devoted to experiential learning,

where visitors were encouraged to handle and use the exhibits.

It was also at the end of the seventies that hands-on came to be

used figuratively in hands-on management, a style of management

in which executives are expected to get involved in the business

at all levels, including the production process itself. (The

opposite policy, in which managers interfere as little as

possible and give their subordinates maximum room for manoeuvre,

is called hands-off management.) During the eighties hands-on

has been applied in a wide variety of different contexts to

direct, practical participation.

The sucessful candidate will have a solid record of

achievement in 'hands-on' management established over

several years experience.

half shell (Lifestyle and Leisure) (Youth Culture) see Turtle

handbagging

noun (Politics)

In media slang, a forthright verbal attack or volley of

criticism, usually delivered by a female politician (especially

Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister 1979-90).

Etymology: Formed on the noun handbag; the metaphor intended is

that of a verbal battering likened to being bashed about the

head by Mrs Thatcher's handbag. This picks up the imagery of

comic strips, in which cantankerous women are sometimes shown

beating another person (usually a young man) about the head with

a handbag. There is also possibly an intentional pun on

sandbagging, a term used figuratively for political bullying or

criticism since the seventies.

History and Usage: The word arises from a remark made by a

Conservative back-bencher in 1982. This was reported in the

Economist as follows:

One of her less reverent backbenchers said of Mrs

Thatcher recently that 'she can't look at a British

institution without hitting it with her handbag'.

Treasury figures published last week show how good she

has proved at handbagging the civil service.

The word became especially popular in the British press in the

middle of the eighties--after Mrs Thatcher's often strident

protests at EC gatherings and several disagreements with Cabinet

ministers had gained her a reputation for such verbal

batterings--and is presumably a temporary term in the language,

unless it comes to be applied widely to other female

politicians. The verb handbag (from which the noun had arisen)

and the adjective handbagging (describing this style of

persuasion) also enjoyed a brief popularity in the media.

No one crosses Margaret Thatcher and gets away with it.

And no one is too grand to escape the process of

'handbagging', which has been refined to an art under

her premiership.

hackette noun (Lifestyle and Leisure)

In media slang, a female journalist. (Dismissive unless used by

a fellow journalist.)

Etymology: Formed by adding the feminine suffix -ette (as in

usherette, but which also often has patronising or pejorative

connotations) to hack. As well as being a pejorative word for a

writer (implying poor-quality writing produced to a deadline),

hack is used among journalists as a positive term of solidarity

for all those who work in in-house journalism.

History and Usage: A term coined by the British satirical paper

Private Eye, apparently to describe Emma Soames, hackette

remains a word particularly favoured by this source, although it

has also appeared in a number of the more serious newspapers and

has already found its way into fiction. It is principally a

British usage, but began to appear in US sources as well from

about the middle of the eighties.

There are distinguished female professors..., television

speakerenes, Fleet Street hackettes, and publishers.

One hackette...was ordered to ring up travel writer

Bruce Chatwin...and interrogate him.