Why Kanye West Will Be a Verb Within Ten Years

First things first: Kanye West is already a verb. Ever since the Taylor Swift VMA incident, the internet has been abuzz with parodies of Kanye's outburst. A standard definition has already been set for the verb "to Kanye," or, "Kanye'd."

Let's face facts. A celebrity known for frequent outbursts, scene-stealing stage-jumping, poorly timed political testimonials (a la "George Bush hates Black people" during a Katrina fundraiser), and more is bound to be remembered for it. Kanye West has established himself as a pinpoint of popular culture, someone we can't help but reference from time to time. The fact that a whole website, however bizarre, was created to immortalize his embarrassing VMA outburst adds both little and loads to the argument that Mr. West, whether we like it or not, matters in terms of Pop Culture.

Before I go any further, allow me to share a personal account of my own quite accidental experience of "verbing" Kanye West. My brother and I frequently share messages on Facebook regarding music, movies, and other cultural references. Just the other day, my brother sent me a link to a song he wanted me to listen to. At the time, I also happened to need to ask him a rather pressing question. Taking his message as a doorway to my own question, I replied without listening to the track, "I promise to listen to this soon, but first ...," and proceeded to state my issue. My brother wrote back, beginning his next message with the words: "Did you just Kanye me?"

Indeed I did.

So let us provide a definition for what it means to "Kanye" someone. To Kanye is to interrupt someone in order to inform them that someone or something else is more important, impressive, or generally more something than whatever that someone was doing, saying, et cetera. Let's say the Philadelphia Phillies manage to clinch the World Series for a second year in a row, and during the celebration a commentator breaks in over the crowds to announce, "This is wonderful, and we'll get back to the celebration in a second, but it remains that the New York Yankees have the best World Series record of all time ... of all time." That particular commentator has just Kanye'd the Philadelphia Phillies and all their fans.

Yet a broader potential for the definition of "Kanye-ing" exists. To Kanye may also be to generally humiliate oneself with an uncontrolled outburst in the public sphere, which would grant the definition to moments like West's Katrina fundraiser event outburst. Encompassed in this broad definition are moments like Republican Representative Joe Wilson's "You lie" outburst during a September address by President Obama before Congress, Serena Williams' U.S. Open semi-finals outburst, and yes, the ever-popular Christian Bale Terminator Salvation meltdown.

With all the other celebrities who have publically humiliated themselves with outbursts and tirades, why will Kanye prove the "verbable" one? Why will no one be jokingly telling a friend, "You just Bale'd that guy, man?" Why, when at a friend's wedding one of the groom's men objects to the marriage, will nobody berate him, "You totally just Wilson'ed their wedding?"

Because it has already been decided that Mr. West is pretty much the king of poorly timed public remarks. He has said it all, and worse, been caught saying it all. And let's face it: it sounds good, and it's fun to say. It's hard to protest the inclusion of your name as a certified, Webster's-approved verb; I'm sure you'd be entitled to some kind of royalty payments for its use in print. And these days, inclusion in the Urban Dictionary just might be the first step to making it all the way to the real thing.

Besides, Kanye wouldn't be the first famous name to become a dictionary-worthy part of speech. Google has been a verb for years; go ahead and Google it. Former President George W. Bush became an -ism. Not too long ago McDonald's sued Merriam-Webster to get "mcjob" removed from the Collegiate edition dictionary. The phrase to "pull a Clinton" has come to mean any number of things, from pulling a major comeback (i.e. ABC's suggestion that President Bush needed to "pull a Clinton" to regain the confidence of supporters and voters in 2006) to denying guilt in a case where you are clearly guilty (i.e. claims that Michael Vick "pulled a Clinton" when he said he did not kill dogs), to claiming something happened that really didn't (i.e. former presidential contender Hillary Clinton's claim to have come under sniper fire). One of the most famous name-to-part-of-speech is the use of Homer Simpson's name, when "to pull a Homer" became synonymous with succeeding despite idiocy after a 1991 episode of The Simpsons titled "Homer Defined."

Oh, wait a minute ... Did Kanye just get kanye'd? Well then, I guess I rest my case. :Shoulder shrug:

Sources

Carl Hulse, "In Lawmaker's Outburst, a Rare Breach of Protocol," The New York Times
ESPN (Greg Garber/AP/Reuters), "Clijsters wins after controversial ending," ESPN.com
Josh Rottenberg, "Christian Bale is Mad as Hell-- Will Hollywood Take it Anymore?" Entertainment Weekly
Urban Dictionary, "Kanye," UrbanDictionary.com (Warning: Definitions may contain strong language)
John Cochran, "Can Bush Pull a Clinton?" ABCNews.com
The Daily Whim, "Vick Tries to Pull a Clinton," PhotoDude.com
IMDB, "The Simpsons: Homer Defined", IMDB.com