I’ve been running around lately saying a lot of “bougie this” and “bougie that.” It has effectively become my Word of the Moment for the last few weeks.

By way of Urban Dictionary:

Bougie

Adjective meaning extravagent, often to the point of snobbery. Usually used in relation to the conspicuous consumption of the urban upper-middle class. Dervived [sic] from “bourgeoisie”

Bougie, bougie, bougie! It’s so much fun to say! Apparently the like-sounding “buzi” means “kiss” in Polish. Now I can end my e-mails with XOXO, bougie bisses to you.

I know you totally care, so here’s my favorite example of an ultra bougie instance. Starring Padma Lakshmi, on how she got her scar:

I was fourteen years old and on my way back with my parents from a Hindu temple in Malibu…

As much as I enjoy Top Chef (Damn, you, Bravo, for making me watch TV again…) and seeing a scarred woman of color in such a (debatably) admired role – You know you’ve really made it on American Bougie Street when you go to Hindu temple in Malibu.

I hope to make “bougie” the new “meh” of the standard colloquial American English lexicon. I think it’s only appropriate that we repurpose this word during the international recession. Though it has lost much of its pro-Communist associations, it’ll be easy to unite people on the basis of fostering that “us versus them” mentality, where “them” is people who are really annoyingly rich.

And while I’m on the topic of Top Chef – Dammit, give Jamie her chance! You bougie judges are either anti-San Francisco, anti-lesbian, or anti-delicious. Horrible crimes, all of them.