Ameritrash vs. Eurotrash

Post Reply New Topic

As I remember now, in the early 80's, synthesizer music from Europe, especially those with a monotonous sort of simple beat, was called Eurotrash by some people.

This term was not applied to New Wave synthesizer music. In the case of this music, there was a lament that we were "veering away from the roots of rock and roll," and that these people weren't playing "real" instruments.

That lament about synth music happened in the UK too, with rock critics and music fans concerned that it wasn't real music and wasn't real instruments. I don't think people in the UK named it Eurotrash though, instead they just made the above complaint or just called it "crap" lol. (Other people's view; I personally liked some of it, not all.)

I feel, actually, like I don't really even know what criteria defines a Eurotrash person or an America-trash person. On the one hand there was mention of the lowest place on the social ladder, which I can see the "reasoning" (still disagree with calling them that) as I've heard of "white trash" and "trailer trash" being used for people who are economically severely disadvantaged. Yet there's also mention of silk shirts and flashy cars -- surely someone low on the social ladder can't afford those things?

Is it trashy behavior or flashy behavior? Is it "new money" or no money at all? Is it class distinction? It can't be class because a member of a European royal family was once called Eurotrash too. I just don't get any of this. I've always heard the term but I just don't get what it is, and I've never liked it.

I doubt that there is any such a term as "Ameritrash".

The OP owes it to us to tell us whether, or not, he just made it up off the top of his head, or whether he actually heard/read the expression somewhere (and if so to tell us what it means).

It would be nice if the OP came back.

We probably do it without second thought because it fits right in with another word we use, "trashy". A thing, a person, an action, a statement or even a thought can be considered "trashy". We don't think of it like garbage or actual trash. Trashy people have no standards and they think that's just fine. By standards I mean a trashy girl will start dating a junkie with hepatitis who lives in his non running car and who makes money giving blow job a behind the YMCA because she thinks he's cute or he gives her attention. She may be from a good family but she's trashy. This kind of trashiness puts her at the bottom of the social scale no matter where her family is or wherever was born. The guy in the above example is also, obviously, trashy. Anna Nicole Smith is an example of someone who never really lost their trashiness but I still liked her. I don't discriminate and am friends with trashy people.

That is different than "white trash" which has nothing to do with race except you're just pointing out that the trashy person is white. There are black trashy people too but you just don't point it out. The black people I know refer to black trashy people as th n word and they put the r on the end but most of us can't. Anyway, white trash, at al, are people who have less standards and education about what's acceptable and not than others. Many times they are poor and uneducated but white trash either doesn't believe they are ignorant about things or thinks its stupid to care or learn about certain things. Not all poor folks are white trash and vice versa. White trash also usually have much lower hygiene and housekeeping standards and it's not because of a disorder or something else. They are just like that.

Not all white trash have no standards. That's trashy and that's different but some can be both. It's hard to explain and I've left out a lot and I know I didn't do it right, but I grew up with these terms so it's hard to explain the things that I've just absorbed over the years.

And don't you dare ask me the difference between a good old boy, a redneck, a cracker and a white trash guy lol. My brain would explode, but I, like most every other life long southerner can spot each in an instant.

But when we use trash for a person we aren't equating it with what goes in the can or saying they need to be thrown away. We are mainly saying they need to straighten the hell up and act right cause they are being beyond tacky and if they keep it up they will only have other trashy people to hang around with cause most avoid them who aren't trash.

I no longer act or seem like white trash but I refuse to ignore my friends who still are and I get along better with other white trash people than I do classier and nicer people. I was never low down white trash and I was rarely trashy but I was pretty much white trash. Still am, I just hide it when I want to. Oh, but I don't do that whole over the top way of hiding it that most do. Cause then you can still tell. Again, Anna Nicole Smith. Nothing wrong with her, I liked her, but she's white trash like e and she couldn't hide it.

Courtney Love. Kim Kardashian. Rob Lowe. That Home Alone guy. Corey Haim. Brittany Spears. All white trash and some come from money. Actions can do it as well as being born in BFE and being ignorant.

So it's not garbage, that's never crossed my mind and I've never heard anybody say anything like it should.

Thanks for that detailed explanation OliveOilMom (sincere, I'm not being sarcastic) -- that is a good and informative post. I see a bit more into what this is about.

Still wince at the word but I see the mechanisms a bit more, and the correlation with "trashy behavior" clarifies a bit more too.

Glad I got some of it across. I suppose the trash part comes in as "acting like you were raised in a trash can" or "acting like you like in the trash dump" or "looking like you just crawled put of the trash". That's probably where the word got brought into use and became part of the vernacular.

We also use tacky a lot to mean unfashionable/mean/rude/ugly/unacceptable, etc and it has absolutely nothing to do with tacks -thumb nor carpet - nor does it have to do with sleight stickiness so we use lots of words for things we don't mean literal.

Although we do call the guys who pick up the trash "garbage men" down here. And no, nobody ove ever known has seen a lady doing it so it's about the last job that we can actually still end in "man" lol. Some folks call them trash collectors but down here it's garbage men. I know a guy who used to do that and he said h e always wanted to draw a comic book of a superhero Garbageman who fell into the masher part of the truck and an evil scientist at the dump put him back together with garbage at the dump. However, while he can draw good he couldn't think of anybody for Garbageman to fight except people who overload their cans or don't bring them up the night before or who don't use bags or who put dead animals in them. Those were what he hated about his job. And tailgaters. They ride on the back of the truck standing on the boarding holding on. But he wasn't trashy, that was the only job he could get when he got out of prison. He was trashy when he went in though, but he learned a lot while he was in there. He was still poor and had to do some trashy type things to make ends meet besides the garbage job, but he knew it wasn't OK so it was trashy behavior and not actually being trashy.

Self awareness is important. You can be from white trash stock and still have it in you but you know when you're acting trashy so you aren't actually trashy. Like I can sometimes go off about something and get down and dirty white trash about something and I'm near about doing it on this local b***h who is running her mouth about me around town and threatening me. She is trashy and I tried talking to her and explaining how she was mistaken but she's also under the misconception that I'm classy and a "nice lady" in a different context than being nice. Normally those nice people are terrified when white trash gets rowdy but she's about to find out some home truths and get her and handed to her cause before long she will pull up in my yard thinking she's gonna yell at me or possibly slap me and turn me into a puddle of tears and quivering and feel like she's won but surprise to her, I come from a worse place than her and ran with way rougher and I'll rain total hell on her AMD I've already told the cops the back story so if she comes in my yard all bets are off.

That's another thing. Moat white trash doesn't mind fighting. Or screaming. In public. Anywhere. With anybody. I've kept my s**t stealth here pretty much but that b***h gonna see my white trash come out. I wrote about this problem in the haven today if you want to read it.

Ever seen Cops? 99.9% of the people they mess with are some kinda trash or other. And yes, those are my people and I admit it but I've tried to overcome it because you get a lot farther in life if people think you are like Jackie Kennedy Onassis or Grace Kelly and not Roseanne or Tonya Harding.

I like your friend's idea for a "GarbageMan" superhero, lol.

I hope that woman gets off your back. I saw your other thread and it's alarming that one innocent mistake with the Facebook deletions and all that happens.

Synthpop was never considered New Wave in the UK but a wholly seperate genre. New wave there was arty or poppier punk rock and is not used much for any music after 1980. In America it is considered the 80's genre.

There were pejorative terms for synthpop in America, "English Haircut bands", "Art Fag music". If you dressed "New Wave" in sections of America it got you beat up. The Dead Milkmen a satirial Philadelphia punk act did a funny sendup on American British New wave wanabees, "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)"

Silly question. Human debauchery extends to all shapes and sizes.

You're making progress, AspiePartofMe! "Barely verbal" is much more verbal than "nonverbal."

"Can recycle whole landfills in a single bound!"

Was thinking of going to Wiki to see if there was such a term as "Ameritrash", but I was waiting for the OP to answer for himself first. But he hasn't seen fit to defend himself so far.

Your thing cites basically two meanings for "Ameritrash". One is similar to what I suggested above that the term would mean if it really existed: the American equivalent of Eurotrash, which would be the idle decadent spawn of American tycoons- folks like Paris Hilton- who they even mention on your site.

The other meaning has nothing to do with either Eurotrash (upscale people), nor Eurotrash (a music style), nor with American White trash (downscale people), but with American tastes in board games. Even before Xbox Americans invented, and played games like Monopoly, and Risk (which dramatize fantasies of global domination through either finance, or military conquest). Dungeons and Dragons is probably in that category. Didn't realize that those type of board games were a distinctly American thing.