Defend the Indefensible: The phrase "It's been real"

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What does this even mean? It just sounds like something some snot-nosed Seattle teenager said circa 1992 which has now been absorbed into the wider culture and given a simple sentence for freshman students to say when leaving their housemates for the final time.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:47 (twenty years ago)

america

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

could you, elaborate?

― pr00de, where's my car? (pr00de), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

It's short for "It's been real. It's been fun. But it hasn't been real fun."

― PappaWheelie B.C., Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

isn't it said while pointing at someone with two fingers?

― ai lien (kold_krush), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)

This phrase lends itself to hours of hilarity. But only in three second doses.

― Aimless (Aimless), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

Defense: It's a vaguely complimentary-sounding thing that isn't actually complimentary that you can say to someone who you don't particulary care for but don't really want to offend.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

CLASSIC - most effective when wearing a VH checkered Legionnaire's hat and Phonays, skating away on a Madrid board.

― andy --, Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

i completely forgot about this phrase! it re-enters the lexicon NOW.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

it's been real, punchy.

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

I'll always remember it as a punchline of sorts in Life, the Universe and Everything, used as a sign-off by an aggressive arty snot in the party flying around the atmosphere.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

I've always seen it as a very arch compliment, along the lines of "you look healthy."

― elmo (allocryptic), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

It's been real WHAT? NOTHING. It's an existential dilemma disguised as a homily. It's Matt Houston arm-wrestling Peter Gunn in a winner-take-all MANO-Y-BANJO turf war over Ted Williams' severed, frozen head.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:11 (twenty years ago)

It was used on Seinfeld once too. It's just an insincere slightly showbiz sign off that's used almost exclusively ironically(it's in the ciao baby family at this point), which is not a defense exactly, it's just kind of meant to be annoying.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:16 (twenty years ago)

it means: "today, with you, i finally FELT again, finally broke through this numbness, this completely self-mediated existence, and although all i felt was shame, it's been real."

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:22 (twenty years ago)

it means: "today, with you, i finally FELT again, finally broke through this numbness, this completely self-mediated existence, and although all i felt was shame, it's been real."

Give me an Elton John song and a trendy young actress and we've got a pivotal scene in a Cameron Crowe film.

The close cousin to this phrase is "keepin' it real" which can also be cringeworthy.

― Cunga (Cunga), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

"Keepin' it real" is vastly preferable. "It's been real" seems vaguely insulting to whoever it is spoken to.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

It is no longer real, but when I was with you, it was. Real.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:40 (twenty years ago)

I think it stems from a sixties mentality in which the "real" is good (cf the "deep" and the "heavy"), making it very complimentary to say "It's been real" -- i.e., this, what we've just been doing, this is what life is really about, as opposed to our artificial interactions with authoritarians and squares. But really its actual usage seems to have more to do with a post-sixties sect, that same moment that, yeah, Douglas Adams is kinda culturally all about, and the same one that Geraldo suddenly revealed himself part of when he was down in New Orleans and started saying "what the hell, man." Cf also Carver stories.

― nabiscothingy, Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:43 (twenty years ago)

I had two slightly burned out musician friends and they had this minimum response deal where, if you said something to them and they weren't listening or didn't know how to respond or didn't want to waste energy fashioning a reply, but they could tell you wanted a positive response, they would simply say "cool" or "groovy," and if they knew you expected a negative response they would just say "weird" or "crazy."

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

I had two slightly burned out musician friends and they had this minimum response deal where, if you said something to them and they weren't listening or didn't know how to respond or didn't want to waste energy fashioning a reply, but they could tell you wanted a positive response, they would simply say "cool" or "groovy," and if they knew you expected a negative response they would just say "weird" or "crazy."

Crazy.

― PappaWheelie B.C., Tuesday, 27 September 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

Hahaha oh god, the two-finger pointing.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

Weird.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

Coming up with cool ways to say "bye" is a challenge. I've gone through many, including "peace" (yuck), "later", "latah", "see ya", and, "take care"; followed by a "man", "sir", "yo", or "dude", depending on what phase I've been in. Makes me want to just become a stiff, and say "goodbye".

Never said "it's been real", though.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 22:16 (twenty years ago)

smell ya later?

― emilys. (emilys.), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

Take it sleazy!

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

And what exactly is wrong with Goodbye?

― Paul Kelly (kelly), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 01:35 (twenty years ago)

Oh, it's much too late for goodbye.

― pr00de, where's my car? (pr00de), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 06:00 (twenty years ago)

Isn't "it's been real" kind of insulting on the same level as "that was... interesting"? (A comment that was made to one of my bandmates last night.)

― The Brocade Fire (kate), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 11:08 (twenty years ago)

And how can farewell be fair?

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 11:08 (twenty years ago)

I don't remember it being disingenuous at first. (and the "real"/"fun" thing came later.) It became sarcastic later on, but it was shmaltzy at first.

er... what nabisco said, yeah.

― when something smacks of something (dave225.3), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

Even less defensible: When I used to say "It's been surreal."

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)

Defend the indefensible: "keep it real -- real DUMB."

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

"keep it real -- real DUMB."

Anything with the word DUMB in it is auto-Classic.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

A college friend and I use to toss that one back and forth all the time and it seemed like the funniest thing ever.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

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