Originally published at: Why did we all draw that "S" | Boing Boing
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Never saw it in my life.
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I assumed it was a logo for something I wasn’t cool enough to be into. I drew it, and pretended to be in the know while hoping that nobody would question me about it.
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Never seen or heard of it, my kid graduated in 2003 and I never saw it on any of her scribbling or drawings on her notebooks or folders.
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That may be why. If your kid graduated in 2003 she would have been too young. If you graduated closer to 1973 you would have been too old. If we were to split the difference and go with 1988, that shit would have been everywhere.
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I was too busy doodling transparent cubes and logos for my favorite metal bands to notice this.
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This is clickbaiting me. Cant you give me a hint like “we found the origin” or “no one actually knows the origin” before I have to watch the video?
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The video started with “It is everywhere, does not matter how old or young you are… it has been here longer than anyone can remember.”
I graduated in 1982 and 2003 falls within " does not matter how old or young you are".
I’m just saying, it’s funny that the video states with certainty that everyone has seen it but that’s a flawed statement from the get go.
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Too video, didn’t watch.
But yeah, it’s a flawed premise. I’m sure my late grandparents, who did not grow up in the US and quite literally had no formal education, never encountered it. I can’t guarantee that my nephews who are currently in school haven’t seen it, because they’ve probably seen it on stuff, but it doesn’t seem like the type of thing they’d doodle.
It’s probably more accurate to say “it is everywhere in certain parts of the US except for the parts where it never caught on, doesn’t matter how young or old you are as long as you’re Gen X”.
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I did this kinda shit:
Whatever gets the big fat glob of ink unstuck from the ball of the cheap Biro.
Those were the days.
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The kids are still drawing it: one programmed a Logo robot to draw it yesterday.
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The kids are still programming Logo robots? That’s even more surprising.
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I did middle school and high school in the 70s, and it was definitely there on the notebooks. I assumed it was from a band logo, a band that was more heavy metal than I cared for. But that wasn’t just a guess - it’s also what I was told by those who drew it. Generally Sabbath or Scorpion or Twisted Sister, and I accepted it and moved on.
I’m going to settle on the graffiti angle.
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Considering it’s a programming language developed to help kids think about thinking, I would say it is a good thing.
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I’d never heard of it until after I finished all of my schooling. I wonder if it might be a regional thing, despite also being international.
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I did my education in rural Ireland in the 80s and 90s and this “S” was all over the place. All my books were hand-me-downs so it may have been in those books for years.
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I can say, graduating in that era it was very familiar.
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As a little kid, I first saw it in some B’klyn graffiti. Later, I noticed it being doodled by a classmate. It was making the rounds. I doodled it once or twice. I could see the attraction for pre-adolescents exercising creative muscles and getting hooked on an interesting and orderly shape that could be so easily drawn. What power! Maybe some Jungian thing working here? I don’t know.
Same here.
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Really, no.
Is this a Millennial thing? The association of Radiohead with “middle school” makes me suspect this is a Millennial thing.
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