I'm doing a project for the 80s, and i'm not sure what the theme for the 80s is.  If anyone could reply, it would be greatly appreciated.  Some slang would help too...........

What do you mean by theme? There were a lot of themes for the 80s, it just depends on what you are looking for specifically. One theme , if you call it one, could be excessivness. Just the way everything was done, extra makeup, clothes, you name it. Flamboyance was big too. You want examples just look at Cyndi Lauper in the 80s. If you want some really great slang, watch Valley Girl, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High maybe. Definetly watch some John Hughes movies too. That is some help I think. Just get some more specifics out there and I'm sure the 80s masters on the board will be able to help you out no problem.

alright, ummm, what was, like, the main theme?  like that everybody thought was the main theme?  i just need an answer for this because of this project i'm doing for my history class.  if anyone else can help, i'd like it very much.

You need to be more specific beacuse there isn't just one theme. In terms of what? Politics? Popular culture? There really isn't one thing I can point out. Everyone has different opinions of the 80s. I see it in terms of music and popular culture, others may see things such as world situation/threat of nuclear war/Regan & Thatcher as more prominant. But, I only see music as my focus, or 'theme' beacuse I don't really remember it all as I was only born in '94.

I had to do a project for the 80s and everyone here helped me quite a bit when I was writing an article about fashion and music. You just need to be more specific. I'd happily help you out if you gave me a little more to go on!

Check this link out for slang:

http://www.inthe80s.com/glossary.shtml

Haha, I guess if you had to choose ONE theme...it could be

RELAX   ;D

ok, ok, now, if you can, post your absolute favorite theme, no matter what it deals with, but still tell me please  ;D this should help lots and lots more.  i just have to learn a bit.

now, if you can sum it up in a phrase, that would help. thanx :)

I think you won't go wrong if you say the 80's theme could be called the New Wave.  You can now draw from a heap of themes from the period and lop it all together as New Wave.  Much of the 80s New Wave was still a sub culture that evolved from what was coined as "Punk" a few years earlier.  Society pretty much shunned the punk movement; New Wave was the commercialized and more acceptable offshoot of the Punk culture.  You have New Wave style, music,etc.

BIG HAIR !

THE TRANSFORMERS !!

Hmm, I think I'm gonna say saying along the lines of 'The Bigger The Better' and that the 80s were definitly not a case of 'Less is More'!!

I think the major theme of the Eighties was "electronic". This is elaborating on the previous answer of "New Wave", but when I say this, I mean this was when electronics and computers began making a noticable mark on society. Gas pumps began switch from mechanical readouts to LED, synth music began going mainstream (this kind of began in the late seventies but really came of age in the eightees), phone ringers started to use electronic tones instead of actual bells. Video Arcades hit the scene in the early eighties (They even made a song about a particular game called Pac-Man). Of course, all this holds true in this day and age, but in the eighties it was unprecedented, all decades before it were more "mechanical" and "old way". If I had to do a history paper on the eighties, the theme of my paper would be "The 80's: The dawn of the digital era" You could even illustrate how it segwayed into the Internet age of the 90's. I know I sound focused on only the technical side of things, but that seemed to be what was dominant in that decade (as far as what an "average joe/jane" of the eightees would notice). You could also do some research on the decline and fall of communism, but I have a feeling that may be beyond the scope of what your teacher wants!

Good luck on your paper,
Speedbird

^All very true.  In the 80's, there was a real novelty to that technology, because it was so different from what was around before.  There was real "newness" and modern feeling to everything.  MTV was new.  VCRs were still kinda new.  Home computers were new.  Home video games were still rather new.  CNN and many other cable channels were new.  No other generation grew up with this kind of stuff before.  It was like how people were first introduced to TV sets in the 50's.

The 80's did have a feeling of a changing of the guard if you will.  There was the old way of doing things, which was the 70's and before, then there was the 80's and everything since.  The 90's didn't seem to really introduce a lot of new things, as it improved on stuff already introduced in the 80's.  Even our most basic fashions from today were influenced by the 80's.  People forget then when you throw on a t-shirt, jeans and pair of sneakers, you are actually dressing 80's.    

I agree with Jason and would throw in the great new toy of the 80s - the Walkman.

I thought that the 80s was called the Me Decade. It's supposed to be when people were the most selfish.

I was in my 20s during the entire decade.

A ten year block of time doesn't exactly have a theme, but hope your project turned out good.

;) Hay Littlebit, you are well on your way to success for a  great project!  The responses I'm reading here are interesting and informative.  I had forgotten that the digital/synthesized (electronic) age truly evolved in full in the 80s.  I just take it for granted, but thinking back, so much of our lives exist today based on the electronic evolution of the 80s. This would be a good theme for you to run with, and I'm sure you could get plenty of feedback for any questions.  I hope so, because this is really interesting, and I'm learning, so thanks for getting it started!

no problem bj26.  i'm learning tons too.  i just got an idea.  what was a theme for the political part of the 80s?  that would help too.  thanx everyone!