Post about photos of sullen teens?

August 2, 2013 11:02 AM

Please help me find a recent post about teens' sullen expressions in photographs! I think the post linked to someone who had coined an expression about the "oh my god, why are you making me do this thing" face that some teens make in photos.
posted by amarynth to MetaFilter-Related at 11:02 AM (17 comments total)

Not the bitchy resting face one ?
posted by k5.user at 11:08 AM on August 2, 2013

Well, this post was about teenage sounds, but I bet the expression you mean is "bershon."
posted by peep at 11:12 AM on August 2, 2013

oops, that's the direct link. Here's the post. And there is a comment about bershon!
posted by peep at 11:13 AM on August 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

That's it! Thanks, peep!
posted by amarynth at 11:25 AM on August 2, 2013

FWIW, most of those sounds (and faces) feature prominently in Harry Enfield's classic "Kevin the Teenager" sketches, which you can see on the official BBC Worldwide YouTube channel, assuming geography is on your side. (Here's a direct link to the first one.)
posted by Sys Rq at 12:08 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Ooh, thanks so much for this! I missed that post. I love the Flickr bershon pool. The author of the blog post (which Lou Stuells linked to in the thread) is totally right: tween/teen girls are masters of bershon. There's one photo in the pool by Flickr member MelissaS that I think is almost the platonic ideal.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:38 PM on August 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

Thank you so much for this post. I was trying to think of the word bershon the other week, but I couldn't even describe it well enough to put together a Google search.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:03 PM on August 2, 2013

Oh God, this: "If any doubt whatsoever remains, simply rent a copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and study Jennifer Grey's performance. She conducts a virtual master class on the Fine Art of Bershon over the entire course of the movie."
posted by Rock Steady at 7:06 PM on August 2, 2013

so I'm a little busy with work and school, so if anybody wants to start a bershon frise meme, consider it my gift to you and the world.
posted by boo_radley at 9:23 PM on August 2, 2013 [2 favorites]

Does bershon rhyme with "person" or with "grrr Sean"?
posted by threeants at 9:30 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

My understanding is that it's closer to the latter.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:42 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Wait, so "bershon" means any facial expression other than a smile that children have in pictures? Talk about patronizing!
posted by Nomyte at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

Also, what the heck is the etymology of bershon?
posted by threeants at 1:21 PM on August 3, 2013

It looks kind of like one of those colloquialisms that people are alternately convinced is either from Yiddish or Irish Gaelic.
posted by threeants at 1:21 PM on August 3, 2013

Also, what the heck is the etymology of bershon?

I think it's another way to write down the sound that "pshaw" stands for, given that "pshaw" is no longer current, and everyone still makes that sound.
posted by Nomyte at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2013

I'm soooo bershonnnn...
posted by Splunge at 3:33 PM on August 3, 2013

Also, what the heck is the etymology of bershon?

It originated in a John Hughes movie. She still does it.
posted by headnsouth at 4:38 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]