Extra

a vocab word that’s bringing more (more, more)

…how do you like it / how do you like it…

An ambigram I found on Wikimedia Commons. What’s an ambigram? Well, look at it carefully.

I thought I’d write about this word because it’s the title of our Blue Dime Cabaret show this evening. We’re spelling it with 3 Xes which is a cute play on the word and on the ribald nature of our show. But what does it mean?

What it means in a Ru Paul’s Drag Race sense, or maybe it’s just a Gen Z slang sense? Or is it older? Anyway, you know what I mean when I describe a person as being a little bit Extra. It’s… a little queeny, a little extravagant, a little much. Divas are Extra. So are drama queens. Extra means an attitude, a way of being out there, big, bold, and beyond. An extravagant personality. Dramatic. Extroverted.

I used to be a dramatic kid and teen, literally—I was a die hard choir nerd and drama student and star, all through junior high and high school and arguably on into my BFA training in college. I mean, I suppose I can’t think of a more dramatic person than a college student in drama school. I did always dress just a little bit Extra, too—from being a gothy teen to experimenting with Extra gender expressions in the ‘90s when I was in college full time and in rehearsals pretty much constantly. I’ve written about my fashion weirdness before a bit in the essay called Textures, but. 

And my mom always likes to reminisce how I used to flounce out of the room when we’d fight. I did NOT flounce! Uggh! 

Supernumerary

Extra means more than the norm (or more than required) but not superfluous. There’s not that negative connotation in there, it doesn’t seem like, of the supernumerary or unnecessary. It’s not a moral failing, to have Extra. It doesn’t even seem like a personal flaw when it’s in reference to an Extra attitude—Extra is a lot, not too much, just more than customary.

This word also reminds me of another word that inspired a little play I wrote back in 2013, called ‘Don’t Call the Super.’ It was one of those one-acts I’ve told you about before, for the Bolder Acts 24 hour play festivals that happened about once a month for a while there. We’d have around 3-4 hours to write a ten-minute play, and then the morning of the performance, the actors, directors, and designers met at 10am to rehearse, pull costumes, arrange sets, and memorize lines until the collection of one-acts would be fully produced that evening at 7pm. One Fall in 2013, I had come across the word supernumerary (meaning, extra boozy drinks) in another play I was acting in at the time, and I decided to write a play about an incompetent superhero with that name. It’s one of my sillier ones, but I hear the actors had a lot of fun with it.

~

SUPERNUMERARY: Arg! Don’t say “super” so loud! They’ll overhear!

MUGGING VICTIM: *Who* will overhear?

SUPER: The others.

VIC: What others?

SUPER: Look. The other *super*heroes think I’m a joke. They even gave me my name: Super-Numerary.

VIC: Uh-huh. 

SUPER: Do you know what “Super-Numerary” means?

VIC: No.

SUPER: It means: exceeding the desired number or amount.

VIC: O-kay.

SUPER: It’s an adjective that describes something there’s too much of.

VIC: Yes?

SUPER: Don’t you get it? They don’t want me, they don’t need me. I’m...extra. Unnecessary.  A—

VIC/SUPER: Supernumerary.

SUPER: Exactly. I’m here to prove myself.

VIC: Well, okay.

---

It’s not EXCESS, it’s EXTRA

It doesn’t mean ‘too much.’ Just more than normal. More than necessary. Extra also doesn’t mean ‘spare.’ Or does it? When you have something extra, does it mean you have enough to spare? There’s an underlying connotation, too,  that if you have extra, you save it for a time of need, or you share it with those who don’t have extra, or who don’t have enough. Like the history of the pub, which I knew, but recently discovered a cool historical explanation of the birth of the pub:

Power Thesaurus does include ‘spare’ as one of its synonyms. But Extra is supplemental, not superfluous. It’s surplus, not excess.

Hanging out the Shingle

There’d be no such thing as a pub were it not for Extra! Back in the medieval era in Europe, the woman of the house would make extra beer (or she’d end up with a big enough batch that the family couldn’t consume it all themselves). Since beer back in medieval times would not keep very long, she’d then open up her house to the public and they’d be able to finish up her extra beer. For a small fee, of course. And that would allow the household to bring in just a little Extra resources, as well. 

Modern History talks about the difference between a tavern, an inn, and an alehouse (which later became called a pub, short for public house), and it’s a fun video with some cool historical detail about the functions of these important places of yore. Pubs were all about having Extra, and bringing Extra people in to share the bounty. Having something Extra to share is the birth of a very important trade and a central place in society (and a thing that’s very important to me, as you know if you’ve read anything by me on any given Monday). 

Extra! Read all About it!

How can you be a little EXTRA in your world? Not too much, not excessive (not supernumerary), just Extra? What would you pick out to wear as a costume or in the audience of our Exxxtra show tonight? Why would you choose that? Let me know in the comments.

Me? I’ll be wearing a bright cobalt blue Tshirt pulled tight over a push up bra (Extra boobage), on the front of which is emblazoned Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White in Clue, chanting, “Flames…flames, on the side of my face…” in orange and yellow and green (an Extra performance if ever there was one, in Extra colors). I’ll be wearing the bottoms for my costume in my later act, which are men’s satin boxers, black with red hearts as a pattern (Extra genders). I’ll have high platform boots on (Extra height), and red stockings with bows tied in back of my knees.

If you’re in the area, come on by and see us!