'A silk necktie reflected in a shard of broken mirror, a picture
of Elvis taped to a rusty locker ... What working stiff doesn't
itch to become a peacock on Saturday night?' [2]
I.
It's interesting how the three words sway, swagger, and swank share a common Proto-Germanic root and all suggest physical movement (a way of walking, for example, with an air of confidence and a certain defiance).
It's the evolution of the latter term, however, that particularly interests me, and how it functions as a verb, adjective, and noun, and took on meanings to do with being stylish, fashionable, or flamboyant.
That is to say, how it semantically shifted from physical swaying to a more figurative swaggering and eventually came to mean being a bit flash or possessing a rather showy form of elegance. [3]
II.
There was a time - before they became the Sex Pistols, but after they were known as The Strand - when the group formed by schoolfriends Steve Jones and Paul Cook were briefly known as The Swankers. (I suspect this was a crude joke on their part that quickly grew tiresome - particularly when the laugh was on them.)
Today, in South Africa, working-class Zulu men who display their sharp sense of style and attitude in amateur competitions involving expensive designer clothes and catwalk choreography are known as swenkas - not so much a corruption of the English term as an accented pronunciation.
While it is popular with younger generations today, the practice of swenking actually originated with older, migrant workers in Johannesburg in the 1960s and '70s. They dressed up on a Saturday night not simply to mess up, but to reclaim their dignity, display a sense of comradeship, and preserve something of Zulu culture.
As one commentator notes:
"The swenkas favoured a formal dress code inspired by jazz-age refinement. Their tailored suits came with brimmed hats and leather shoes, as well as a variety of accessories, including eyewear, gloves, braces and straw hats ..." [4]
Swenking, then, is a genuine revolt into style. And like earlier (European) forms of dandyism, it also involves a certain asceticism; swenkas pride themselves not only on their sartorial appearance, but on their sobriety, cleanliness, and self-discipline [5].
Notes
[2] Lines quoted from a review of Rønde's film in The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis (9 Sept 2005).
[3] The shared history of these three words reflects a fascinating phonetic and semantic kinship and their evolution demonstrates a shift from physical kinetics (movement and posture) to social aesthetics (style and status).
Sway enters English around the 1200s (likely from Old Norse), referring entirely to the physical motion of moving from side to side.
Swagger emerged in the late 1500s (popularised by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream). It serves as a frequentative form of swag (which meant to sway heavily), morphing the physical, swinging movement of the body into a walk that projects a defiant form of confidence bordering on arrogance.
Swank traces its etymological lineage to the Proto-Germanic root meaning to swing one's hips or toss one's head with a heightened degree of expressiveness. It is also closely aligned with the Middle High German swanken (meaning to sway or totter).
[4] I'm quoting from an interesting short piece by Enrica Picarelli titled 'Problematic Black Iconicity: the Swenkas' (13 April, 2026) and posted on her research blog Afrosartorialism.
[5] We need to exercise a degree of caution here. Dr Picarelli is right to remind us that "this universalist reading is accurate but also problematic", as it implies that all experiences of - and sartorial responses to - poverty and exploitation are the same.
It's important to keep in mind that the swenkas are real individuals in a real time and place; that their revolt into style is not the same as that of a dozen Lawrentians cruising along Piccadilly wearing tight red trousers, or that of the young punks who assembled at 430 King's Road.
