Slay (slang)

Revived 1600s colloquialism

Slay is a slang colloquialism that possibly originated during the 1600s, but gained its current LGBT connotation in the 1970s from ball culture. Originally having a meaning similar to "that joke was killer", slay has since gained a definition meaning being impressed or term of agreement.

## History

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While the term slay is often used in the context of murder or killing, first use of the term as slang is first listed in 1593, meaning something similar to "dying of laughter."[1] It saw a resurgence in the Roaring Twenties under a very similar meaning.[2][3][4]

The term grew in popularity in the 1970s in spaces inhabited mainly by Black, Latino, and queer spaces as a result of ballroom culture, gaining a place in African-American Vernacular English. Slay gained considerable attention after the release of Paris Is Burning which documented ballroom culture in New York City in 1990, as the term was often used in the film.[5] It is here where slay started to gain a connotation of a term of agreement and for something to be impressive.[6]

With its prominence in the LGBT community, the term has seen a growth outside of these communities since 2009 as a result of RuPaul's Drag Race, where slay, as other terms used mainly in the LGBT community, were thrown around between contestants.[7] The show would also use the word in a special in 2018, the RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular, as well as the word's usage by RuPaul becoming an internet meme.[8]

The term reached mainstream status in 2016 due to its use by Beyoncé in her song "Formation", which was performed at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. "Formation" contains a repeating line "'Cause I slay (slay), I slay (hey)" found between verses, as well as at the end of lyrics such as "now let's get in formation", which is followed by the response "'cause I slay".[9]

Slay has since gained significant popularity and mainstream usage on social media, in both an ironic and unironic context.[10] As a result, it has sparked discussion on whether this expanded usage of the term past African-American Vernacular English speakers constitutes appropriation.[11]

## See also

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Look up slay in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* LGBTQ portal

* Yas (slang)
* Vogue (dance)

## References

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1. ^ Chapman, Robert L.; Chapman, Robert L. (1998). American slang. Barbara Ann Kipfer (2nd ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 464\. ISBN 978-0-06-273293-4.
2. ^ University of Oregon. "Slang of the 1920's" (PDF).
3. ^ Dalzell, Tom (1996). Flappers 2 rappers: American youth slang. Springfield, Mass: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 978-0-87779-612-1.
4. ^ McCutcheon, Marc (1995). The writer's guide to everyday life from prohibition through World War II (1st ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 978-0-89879-697-1.
5. ^ "We've ruined "slay"". The Varsity. 2023-02-12. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
6. ^ "Definition of SLAY". www.merriam-webster.com. 2023-08-17. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
7. ^ "The origins of "slay"". The Daily Californian. 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
8. ^ "Hit The Slay Button". Know Your Meme. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
9. ^ Khemani, Nikhil. ""Slay!"". The UNISVerse. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
10. ^ Singh, Esha (2022-09-12). "What does slay mean on TikTok? Internet slang explained". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
11. ^ Chery, Samantha (August 17, 2022). "Black English is being misidentified as Gen Z lingo, speakers say". The Washington Post.

* v
* t
* e

Ball culture

Culture|

| Film and television|

* Paris Is Burning (1991)
* How Do I Look (2006)
* Kiki (2016)
* Strike a Pose (2016)
* My House (2018)
* Pose (2018–2021)
* "Pilot"
* Legendary (2020–2022)
* CBX: Canadian Ballroom Extravaganza (2022)

|

Dance|

* Vogue

Language|

* Banjee
* Kiki
* Throw shade
* Yas
* Slay

Houses
and
members|

| The House of Amazon|

* Amazon Leiomy (founder)

|

The House of Aviance|

* Mother Juan Aviance (founder)
* Aviance Records (label)
* Erickatoure Aviance
* Jean-Philippe Aviance
* Kevin Aviance
* Kim Aviance
* Nita Aviance
* Tamsier Joof Aviance

The House of Corey|

* Dorian Corey (founder)

The House of Dupree|

* Paris Dupree (founder & inventor of vogue)

The House of Ebony|

* Richard Ebony (co-founder)
* Larry Ebony (co-founder)

The House of LaBeija|

* Crystal LaBeija (co-founder)
* Lottie LaBeija (co-founder)
* Kia LaBeija
* Pepper LaBeija

The House of Milan|

* Kevin Milan (founder)

The House of St. Laurent|

* Chris St. Laurent (co-founder)
* Robbie St. Laurent (co-founder)
* Terry St. Laurent (co-founder)
* Octavia St. Laurent

The House of Xtravaganza|

* Hector Valle (founder)
* Angie Xtravaganza
* Danni Xtravaganza
* Hector Xtravaganza
* Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza
* Lorena Xtravaganza
* Luis Camacho
* Venus Xtravaganza

Related topics|

* African culture
* African dance
* African-American culture
* African-American dance
* Cross dressing ball
* Imperial Court System
* "Vogue"
* Blond Ambition World Tour
* African-American LGBT community

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