"Slacker" has been so potent a label that it's inspired two movies: "Slacker" in 1991, and "Slackers" in 2002. And while the word "slacker" brings to mind images of a flannel shirt-clad Ethan Hawke, brooding his way through "Reality Bites," there's actually a long history behind the surly pose of the disaffected 20-something.

Traditionally, "slacker" was a term attached to those who avoided military duty, like Vietnam draft dodgers, or WWII conscientious objector and poet Robert Lowell. The term then resurfaced in the early '90s as a way of branding those who willfully eluded work or school. Slackers became the "loadies" of "Clueless," the stoners of "Harold and Kumar," and the Jacks of the "Will and Grace" set. While there are several forms of slackerdom, the common ground is a commitment to willfully disregarding societal conventions and living life free of the constraints of consumerism and corporate America.

Sarah Dunn, author of the "Official Slacker Handbook," notes that, "a lot has been said about the slacker's trademark indolence, but the point must be made that deliberately opting out of socially-recognized forms of activity isn't the same thing as stumbling into inaction." In other words, Dunn argues, slacking off isn't just laziness--it's pointed laziness with a philosophical basis.

These days, some of our most famous thinkers would be considered slackers. After all, Thoreau lived comfortably at Walden while only working six weeks a year and Descartes devised Cartesian geometry while hanging around the streets of Holland. And though "slacker" is often considered an insult or an accusation, some choose to reclaim the term as a sign of creativity and resourcefulness.