Beauty, Judging

Pinterest Terminology


If you’re not familiar with Pinterest, congratulations, you have a life! If you’re a little too familiar with Pinterest, congratulations, you’re a female. Before I became a Pinner, I didn’t realize how many proper terms I was missing out on. Terms for patterns and colors and even food. Pinterest has taught me a lot, and since I’m a generous and amazing person, I’m going to share my new vocabulary with you. (You might wanna grab a barf bag.)

  • Chevron. Formerly known as “zig zag”, chevron is simply a type of design. This pattern has all of a sudden become super popular in clothes, furniture and on basically anything that you can put your mark on. I pondered for a long time about how the word came to be. Like, why couldn’t we just call the pattern zig zag? And then I passed a Chevron and realized that it must be a proper term if a gas station is named after it.chevron
  • Ombré. This is definitely a made up word. Ombré is simply a description of one color fading into another color. Commonly used to describe hair color, Pinners have found many ways to overuse their made up term. If there is one word that makes me hate everyone, it’s probably ombré because you can’t avoid sounding like a douche when you say it.2ombre-hair-color-trend-2-1ombre-nails
  • Emerald, charcoal, and ox blood. Don’t get me wrong, I like to paint with all the colors of the wind just as much as the next girl, but let’s be real. They’re just colors. Can’t we just refer to them as “dark green, dark gray, and dark red”? Like, how hard is that? I guarantee that people will immediately know what you’re talking about and you won’t sound like a pompous ass. How do people even know what ox blood looks like? I feel like I should report the next Pinner who uses the term “ox blood” to PETA or something. Also, I just made a new rule that you can’t say the word emerald unless you actually own an emerald.159455643026144066_1kzvWSES_c129267451775256230_JCIadsP5_c
  • Druzy. Druse or druzy is a coating of fine crystals on a rock surface. I literally just copied that sentence from Wikipedia. Ahh college déjà vu! Why am I using so many French accents in this post? Anyway, druzy jewelry has become very popular and I hate myself for knowing what this term means.59813501271011514_IWusux8i_c135671007494783096_Ti0dgeJc_c
  • Chambray. Chambray technically refers to a type of lightweight fabric originating from Chambray, France. If you look closely though, it resembles the look of worn-out denim. I kept seeing denim shirts on Pinterest labeled as “chambray” and I was like “Wtf is chambray?” Why can’t it just be labeled as “shirt”?211669251207807914_qyXl4Hed_c
  • Maxi dresses/skirts. I was aware of this term before my pinning days, but I am constantly reminded of it. Maxi dresses are basically long, billowy dresses that go down to the floor. They make women have the appearance of looking really long and lean. The skirts give the same illusion. I still don’t understand why we can’t just call them “long skirts”.202802789441061486_VQIPHj1m_c
  • Tablescape. This is definitely my least favorite word that I’ve come across on Pinterest. I unfortunately had the pleasure of hearing it before my pinning days on The Food Network. Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade used to refer to her place settings and centerpieces as “tablescapes” and nothing has made me cringe more. You know what my tablescape looks like? A plate and a fork. The epitome of class.215609900879897281_tWqrdYZv_c

Well, I feel sick now. Those are all the terms I have for you today. Join me next time if you want to debate on which is better: “Upcycling” or shooting yourself in the foot.

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60 thoughts on “Pinterest Terminology

    • Basically. Whoever thought of the idea was smart because girls like to drool over pictures and wish that their lives were better than the hell holes they really are.

      I like your new pen name. So timely!

  1. OMG!!! LOL!! Druzy? Seriously, I’ve never heard of that before and I’m a pinner!!! Have I been living under a rock? I still don’t get what it is. Maybe that’s for the best?
    All your other words crack me up; Ombre, tablescape, Ox Blood, Chambray and Chevron!!! haha! Please God, come soon, I don’t want to live in this world anymore!!!

    • Hahaha Druzy! I have a few druzy examples on my jewelry board…you should check them out! Hah. Pinterest is just so dumb for that reason. I hate everyone who uses those words so much. So funnyyy!

  2. unfetteredbs says:

    Sandra Lee creeps me out– big time. And thank you for another fine lesson Professor. My boards are quite boring compared to this lovely vocabulary extravaganza.

    • Yeah she’s really weird. She had a kind of calming effect for me though. I think she was a bad mom or something. She wrote a book and I bought it but never read it. Whatevs. Thank you for coming to class and learning these important, life changing terms! Haha I’m sure your boards are excellent BECAUSE they don’t have any of these words.

  3. J.D. Gallagher says:

    The only reason I know what a chevron is because in Ireland we have chevron boards to indicate to drivers that there is a sharp change of direction ahead.

    Kind of comes in handy during the driving test.

  4. The Offbeat Oddity says:

    I’m a pinner, and I hate seeing ombre and chevron on my feed. Sometimes they’re cool, but most times, it’s not even close to the picture it describes. It’s basically a trap. I saw a picture of a girl with neon hair, and the description was “OMG ombre hair!” No. Stop this nonsense you fourteen old girl. But anyways, I agree. These terms are madness.

    • Hahah omg that’s hilarious. I feel like something similar was on my feed, but I can’t remember what it was. Yeah my eyes are tired of seeing so many chevron patterns and so much neon…ehm…I mean ombre.

  5. robpixaday says:

    No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

    Well! I knew several of those words (and their meanings) before Pinterest popped up on the cyberlandscape. I guess that means I’m ahead of my time?

    Also, several of my images been “Pinned.” They’ve even been re-Pinned. That means they’ve gone steady but broken up and have gone steady again. Does anyone go steady anymore? Probably not. Everyone’s either hooking up (another fashionable term) or Pinning (which, in that context, sounds like a bodily offense from Law & Order: SVU).

    I know I’m being a pain here but those Pins are sharp…many people are anti-Pinterest and have a notion that there’s evil afoot.

    By the way, there are versions of Pinterest for men.
    Yeah, I’ve run out of stuff to say.

    Thank you for posting this!! It’s made me giggle and cringe at the same time.
    🙂

    • You are wayyy ahead of your time. I love when people re-pin my stuff. It makes me feel certain that I have amazing style that everyone wants to copy. But honestly, I hate the term hooking up. That’s so weird that there are versions of Pinterests for men. Do any of them use it? I actually have a couple of guy friends on Pinterest!

      Thank you so much for reading it! And making me think! 🙂

  6. erinorange says:

    omg, such new hell that I didn’t even know about (the words, not pininterest), I thought describing reading as ‘pouring over’ was bad enough – but this is somethg else

  7. The funniest exchange I have ever heard about Pinterest was when it was just getting popular and my husband was hanging out with one of his friends and was like “what exactly is Pinterest?” and his friend said “It’s Tumblr for girls I think.” Thank you for clarifying what ombré is (and thank you, Autocorrect, for putting the accent in that word for me.)

    • Hahah I thought Tumblr was for girls! I think girls just have the internet covered now. Guys can go away. I’m actually slightly obsessed with Tumblr. I love how your autocorrect loves you and mine doesn’t even recognize ombre as a word with or without it’s accent. Hatred…

  8. Pete Howorth says:

    This seems like a lot of girly pictures, the best I could do is make a filthy comment about that girl but I’m far too ill to come up with something witty so I’ll just say, “Phwoarrrr”

    • Haha the pictures of nails on Pinterest are always amazing. Mine never look like that! Girl, you need to get back on Pinterest–think of all the pins you’ve been missing out on! (I love being a bad influence…)

  9. Hessed Torres says:

    I couldn’t agree more regarding that ox blood thing. I mean, seriously? How is someone supposed to know what color an ox’s blood is…? And secondly, doesn’t a dog’s blood, cat’s blood and human blood resemble the same deep red color? Who the heck came up with this term ox blood?! It’s disgusting. Life is simple but people keep making it complicated! Haha.

    I have my own account but I rarely check it. I enjoy reading more than ogling on photos. Thanks for letting me know how it goes over there. 🙂

    • Haha so true about ox blood. Like, WHY oxen? It’s so random. It makes me feel like they sacrificed an ox in order to make my nail polish.

      Hah yeah you really dodged a bullet! See all the annoying stuff that you don’t have to be a part of? I do like looking a pictures though. And reading. There’s only so much time in the day… 😀

  10. Oh wow, Chambray is a new one for me, hadn’t heard of that one! I was really wondering if that “ombre” term had any history behind it or it was made up! I’d never heard it outside of Pinterest!

  11. Pingback: Pinterest Terminology | Lily In Canada | Manlio Mannozzi

  12. Joe is the worst ombre to have on a road trip. After driving four hours he got druzy. I maxi’ed out my credit card so we stopped at a chevron to catch a few zzz in the parking lot. We drank some chambray I stole from my parent’s liquor cabinet and smoked a pinner. We fell asleep and he dreamt there was oxblood all over the road and was too freaked out to drive after that.

    • Hahah you are so creative! He got druzy! lol…ox blood makes me laugh so much. Just the mention of it! I feel like you could make this snippet into a novel. It’s really got some good bones!

  13. Haha. And this confirms it. I am not anywhere close to hip enough to understand Pinterest-speak. I thought Ombre was the same thing as being lazy and having bad roots. Now it’s a cool thing? This is why I just wear sweatpants and a hat. Hoping this look constitutes “Classic”.

    • Haha well, technically, ombre IS being lazy and having bad roots. And then making it sound cool by giving it a french name. You only wear sweatpants and hats? No shirts? Isn’t that illegal? 😉

      • I hate typos with a passion. The me/my thing is happening a lot with me and I think it’s a spell check thing or something. Maybe just mental. Anyway, I’m dead serious about you spotting them and letting me know so I can correct them. I won’t be offended, but instead, very grateful. I’ve made my entire living writing, so, I have to do it right! HF

  14. Janessa D says:

    Actually, chevron and zig zag aren’t the same thing. If it’s a single “v” design (like the Chevron logo), it’s a chevron. If it’s a bunch of chevrons next to each other, it’s called “zig zag”. ~~ZIG ZAG~~ for God’s sake, people. When people call zig zags “chevron” they look like pompous morons.

    BTW, I’m hoping you were joking when you said “ombré” was a made-up word….. It means “shaded” in French and it’s the correct term used to describe one shade of a color fading into another shade of the same color (most commonly used on fabric and especially ribbon). Pintretards definitely didn’t make that word up. LMAO

    • Janessa, I’m glad your feathers are so easily ruffled by Pinterest terminology. For the most part I was joking about everything. I am aware that ombre isn’t a made up word, but I’m just laughing about how it came into fruition here so quickly.

      You did teach me something though–a bunch of chevrons next to each other are indeed zig zags, so chevrons and zig zags are one in the same. I don’t think people look like pompous morons when they call zig zags “chevron”. I think people look like pompous morons when they correct people on everything they say.

      • Janessa D says:

        “You did teach me something though–a bunch of chevrons next to each other are indeed zig zags, so chevrons and zig zags are one in the same.”

        No, a chevron is a single “v-shape” design, like the Chevron logo – just a V. If you link them up side-by-side like VVVVVV it’s called “zig zag”.

        This website explains the difference very well:

        http://www.honestagency.com/2011/09/chevron-vs-zig-zag/

        “I don’t think people look like pompous morons when they call zig zags “chevron”. I think people look like pompous morons when they correct people on everything they say.”

        Actually, I think that would be a “pompous know-it-all”, not a pompous moron*. Luckily I don’t correct people who call zig-zags “chevron”. I just tell everyone else they were wrong after they leave the room, because I have ~MANNERS~.

        (* Did you catch what I did there?)

      • I do understand what you’re saying about chevron vs zig zag, but I was just pointing out that because zig zags are made up of chevrons, they are one in the same. But yes, I understand that chevron is a single one and zig zags are many chevrons.

        I feel like telling everyone else something that someone else did was wrong, still isn’t very mannerly. Like, I wouldn’t feel the need to correct someone if they’re wrong. Even when they leave the room. BUT to each his own!

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