Stank Face, n: A unique facial expression characterized by the wrinkling of the nose, squinting of the eyes, and swinging of the head, typically displayed by someone who is listening to a very impressive, usually soulful musical performance.
The stank face can also be accompanied by phrases such as, "nasty," "sick," and "dirty." But don't be fooled. These terms actually indicate that the listener finds the song pleasing, not terrible. Confused? Don't worry. It's easy to get lost if you're a first time stank-facer.
Though the stank face has been around for decades, usually showing up on the faces of funk bass players and Eddie Murphy in Dream Girls, it began popping up in the public eye around the time we started making people audition publicly in order to entertain us. [It should be noted that I have zero basis for these factoids other than the fact that they seem kind of right to me.]
I personally am not prone to the stank face. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I'm more of a smile/bob my head/"Dang!" kind of person. My husband, however, is an expert stank-facer. But he can't whistle and I can, so I'd say point Laura.
EXAMPLE:
I discovered this in what is quite possibly my new favorite thing on the internet (at least for today): Who wore it better: Stank Face Edition. At least that's what I renamed it.
To save you the trouble of clicking over (unless you want to see both awesome examples), here is what I consider the epitome of a stank face:
Note the sheer commitment to the stank face J.Lo has. She lets it take her over: the head-swaying in full force, the frown, the fact that at first you can't quite tell if she's about to burst into tears or punch someone…it's all there.
Great form, J.Lo. Great form. Solid 10's across the board.
I hope you found this post educational as well as entertaining---edu-taining, if you will. For any further questions about the Stank Face, please refer to wikipedia or urban dictionary, as I have exhausted my information in this 400-word blog post.
1) Have you ever seen a quality stank face? If so, who? 2) If not, what American Idol contestant (any season) was most likely to get a stank face from you? I'll go first: probably Carrie Underwood.