Today, newspapers around the country published the letter from the mom of a Princeton-bound athlete to Dear Abby. In her plea for help, “Troubled Mom in Connecticut” said she overheard her son talking about twerking and now fears his whole future will be derailed.
The letter reads in full…
DEAR ABBY: I’m the happily married mother of two teenage boys. The other day I overheard my older son (age 17) talking with a friend about “twerking.” I have never heard of it and now I’m worried. Is twerking a drug term? Is it similar to “tripping,” “getting high” or “catfishing”?
My 17-year-old is supposed to go to Princeton next year on a sports scholarship, and I’m afraid “twerking” will derail him from his charted path. Thank you for any advice you may have. — TROUBLED MOM IN CONNECTICUT
Advice columnist Abigail Van Buren quelled Troubled Mom’s fears by assuring her that unlike slang terms “tripping” and “getting high,” “twerking” just refers to the “latest dance craze.”
“The ‘twerking’ your son was referring to is a dance move recently made famous by Miley Cyrus — in which the dancer (usually female) gyrates in a provocative, semi-squatting position that involves thrusting hip movements,” Abby said.
She also corrected the clueless mom on what “catfishing” actually means, writing, “It’s pretending to be someone you aren’t, creating a false identity on social media, usually to pursue a deceptive online romance.”
Unfortunately, as much as I really, really wanted this hilarious letter to be genuine, The Concourse notes it’s almost certainly a fake because Princeton doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. Maybe it was a promotion for MTV’s new season of Catfish, which premieres tonight!
