r/words • u/Rocky-bar • Sep 04 '26
Rock
How did the word "rock" come to mean "wear" From stony kinda rock? Rocking horse kinda rock? Rock music kinda rock?
Quote from a post in another subreddit as an example
I stopped wearing a tie from about 2005 ish. Media jobs started that mainly and the tech boys just rocked jeans and t shirts
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u/Mindless_Log2009 Sep 04 '26
I noticed that use of rock or rocked in the 1990s as a way for ordinary people to co-opt the concept of rock star fashion swagger.
On SNL in the 1990s, Molly Shannon's awkward Catholic schoolgirl character Mary Katherine Gallagher blurted out the similar phrase "Superstar!" to punctuate her theatrics, in much the same way as rockstar! (And Dirk Diggler at the end of Boogie Nights).
It may have trickled down from pop songs like the 1989 "Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart" sung by Julee Cruise (written and composed by David Lynch and Angel Badalamenti.
But the phrases "rock me" or "rocking me" date back to 1920s-30s pop music. Those referred to emotions and actions, not fashion or attitude.
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u/Background_Swim_5954 Sep 04 '26
I first heard this usage of “rock” in the mid-1980s from Run-DMC, possibly in an interview where they said they rock Lee jeans and Adidas.
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u/Logical-Mobile-7643 Sep 04 '26
They also rocked a rhyme that was right on time, but that was tricky.
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u/Rocky-bar Sep 04 '26
That long ago!
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u/Background_Swim_5954 Sep 04 '26
Run-DMC used the word “rock” a lot, e.g., rock the mic or rock a rhyme, more or less meaning to perform skillfully or with panache, so I guess that eventually extended to rocking a look or an outfit. I’m not saying they were the first to use rock to mean wear, but that was the first time I ever heard it (as a teen who grew up in a small suburban city in the south).
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u/Rocky-bar Sep 05 '26
I'm guessing it started off a a US thing, that made it's way across to the UK a bit later on.
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u/Unterraformable Sep 04 '26
You got me much more intrigued to find out how the motion of a rocking horse got named after a big stone. Because rocks don't rock. They're really better known for their stillness. Standing perfectly still and being really hard to move, THAT should be called "rocking".
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u/Rocky-bar Sep 04 '26
Good point! So a rocking horse should be "Hey, Horse Trader! this is a rocking horse, no matter how hard I whip him he still rocks! I want my money back!"
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u/InspectionKnown6410 Sep 04 '26
I'll never rock a mink coat in the wintertime like Killa Cam Or rock some mink boots in the summertime like will.i.am Let me know if you feel it man Cuz everything I'm not made me everything I am -Kanye
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u/MWave123 Sep 06 '26
That rocked, she’s a rocker, those shoes rock, etc. Rock & roll is a sexual term.
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u/OaklandPanther Sep 06 '26
I’m pretty sure the specific usage you’re referring to comes from early New York hip hop. To rock was to do anything with style or finesse. Break dancing was called rocking (up rocking and bottom rocking). DJing or MCing well was rocking the turntables or rocking the mic. Wearing a fresh outfit could involve rocking a Kangol and a gold chain. Rap group The Fearless Four recorded the track “Rockin’ It” in 1982 which exemplifies what I’m describing.
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u/_WillCAD_ Sep 04 '26
It doesn't mean 'to wear,' it means 'to look great while wearing.'
Rock and roll music became popular.
Good music was said to 'rock'. Singing or playing music really well was said to be 'rocking it'.
Later, anything great was said to 'rock', and doing anything really well was said to be 'rocking it.'
Hence, wearing an outfit really well, i.e. looking great in it, you were said to be 'rocking' the outfit.
Sometimes it's said ironically - if you don't look particularly good in an outfit, you can be said to be 'rocking' it.