For years, the official slogan for Austin, TX has been “Keep Austin weird.”

I think the slogan undermines the very aspect of Austin it’s trying to promote.

The thing about people who are truly weird is that they don’t know it.

If you’re aware you’re weird (or think you are), there’s a decent chance that you’re trying to be weird. And if you’re trying to be weird, then you aren’t.

Being weird is like being stupid. Stupid people don’t know they’re stupid because they’re too dumb to realize it. Being weird is the same phenomena. Those who are weird don’t understand normal enough to realize how far they are from it.

Perhaps they’d be better served to use something like, “Austin: What?” (But then, it probably loses it’s punch a bit if not read with the indignation that comes when someone is looking at you quizzically and you aren’t sure why.)