Reclaiming Sass

Sass: 1. impudent or disrespectful back talk, 2.
to answer back in an impudent manner

Sas·sy (sās'ē) adj.: 1. Rude and disrespectful; impudent, 2. Lively and spirited; jaunty, 3. Stylish; chic.

I remember subscribing to and devouring a teen magazine called Sassy in my high school years. My friend L used to write for it which I've always thought was so cool. Sassy, unfortunately was absorbed by Teen in 1997.

Post the magazine, the term sassy always rubbed me the wrong way. Especially, when the first syllable was emphasized the word practically spit at you. SASSsay! This girl who was trying to flirt with me once was like, "oh, you are so SASSsay!" Yeah, that was the end of that (that amongst other things which may be divulged in later posts).

My trip to San Francisco to visit my cousin and second cousin made me realize that I come from a long line of sass (see photo of second cousin in mid-sass). That sass is in the blood. We are all snakes (my cousin is twelve years older than me and my second cousin 24 years younger than me). In Chinese astrology it is believed that they are self-confident, driven, focused and willing to listen to someone else's opinion, but don't necessarily take it 'on board'. Refusing to listen to constructive advice; intelligent and headstrong. M sometimes asks me, "Why you nasty?" Then, last night, my friend C was comparing me to a friend of theirs who was nice, sweet, considerate, etc. She said I was that but with sass. So, how about if I take sass in its noun form but with the adjective meaning of stylish and chic?