Slang/Terminology I Hate: Crate Digging
CRATE DIGGING is a term that describes sifting through boxes and boxes (or milk crates and milk crates) of old records, looking for hidden gems, obscure titles, and/or rare collectibles. It can be really fun, and like so many other fun things, it can make your fingers smell funny.

But let’s be serious here for a sec, slangophiles. Digging is manual labor. It’s hard work—dare I say “honest work”—and can cause actual perspiration. But there are “crate diggers” out there who seem to forget that all they are doing is shopping. They can try to give it some edge with cool-sounding slang, but we all know that they’re no different than your middle-aged aunt buying the econo-pak of toilet paper at WalMart. Crate diggers are just regular-ol’ consumers, using a masculine-ish action-y phrase to describe a pretty bland activity. And so I plead to these hipsters: Please don’t try to make your consumption of mass-produced goods seem special, or cool, or God forbid, culturally relevant.
Look out for falling prices, proles!

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