subtweet

[Hugo]

"Subtweet" meaning to tweet about someone behind their back, without
mentioning their @username, dates from at least 30 November 2009.

Know Your Meme's earliest example is 2nd December 2009:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subtweet

Here's a wander through some early subtweets.

The earliest "subtweet" I found is a sort of subtitle/subtext:

Michael David Harper @harpermd
This bar is amazing, subtweet, Newcastle goes well with Van Morrison.
6:57 AM - 5 Dec 2008
https://twitter.com/HarperMD/status/1039610086

This looks more promising but unconfirmed:

Jim Balbach @beaner299
subtweet to goat thanks but i dont understand lol hellllpppppp
5:46 PM - 28 Apr 2009
http://twitter.com/beaner299/status/1639381568

Here's a slightly different thing:

Iain Tait @iaintait
When you  retweet (RT) something but alter it in a subversive way it
needs to be called a subtweet (ST). Ready..?
11:04 PM - 30 Apr 2009
https://twitter.com/iaintait/status/1662302713

An unclear one:

Jim Balbach @beaner299
good evening twitters........sub tweet to joe philly???? really????
how long dude
1:56 AM - 30 Apr 2009
https://twitter.com/beaner299/status/1653615765

A sort of subtitle/subtext:

COLEquette Henderson @onesxyscorpion
FINALLY got an "upgrade" to Uber Twitter... ;) {subtweet: studying for
yet another exam..I'm so committed to excellence}
4:30 PM - 9 Jun 2009
https://twitter.com/onesxyscorpion/status/2089361955

Three more of those from @onesxyscorpion:
https://twitter.com/onesxyscorpion/status/2118525373
https://twitter.com/onesxyscorpion/status/2183266545
https://twitter.com/onesxyscorpion/status/2228927873

Similarly:

Jayme Stewart @jaymestewart
asdfjkl; with thumbs on spacebar. subtweet: if I were in space I'd be
at a bar with some aliens.
7:47 PM - 14 Jun 2009
http://twitter.com/jaymestewart/status/2166582126

The next few are all not long before confirmed examples:

FLY $H!T ONLY✈ ‏@FlyBoyReem
@liilii89 This is Twitter but u jus need to tell your boy and his
sideline hoes to stay in their place. He sub tweets alwayz alwayz
10:09 PM - 9 Oct 2009
https://twitter.com/FlyBoyReem/status/4742096685

Perhaps this is the right sense, but @SIMPLY_APPLES' account has since
been deleted:

aTm BOSS ICELOC @aTm_ice
@SIMPLY_APPLES the way you was going in on son earlier with da
subtweet thing lol!
12:19 AM - 19 Oct 2009
https://twitter.com/aTm_ice/status/4974593583

So could this. The URL points to a since deleted tweet on the
possibly-hacked account of DOUBLEA87. @Wholetime seems to be a bot
retweeting (without a link instead of RT @DOUBLEA87) tweets containing
"wholetime":

WholetimeTweets @Wholetime
Man I don't eeeem be doin that sub tweet shit like dat wholetime!!!
Huh? I won??? Awe shit I wanna thank my mamma G...
http://bit.ly/1hPFaL
5:43 PM - 20 Nov 2009
https://twitter.com/Wholetime/status/5892273976

This looks promising, especially as it's the same day as the later
confirmed example:

Mert Migert @ToneSaiditBest
yeah its more that a subtweet.. ist a blatant fact !
5:47 AM - 30 Nov 2009
https://twitter.com/ToneSaiditBest/status/6190829264

But the last one in this reply-exchange is clear from the context:

Victoria Kalonji @_oSoVikki
I got some good TLC last night. Such a tease.
8:43 AM - 30 Nov 2009
https://twitter.com/_oSoVikki/status/6194660874

ÒœIÎ G @KingKillaK
@MsPrettyVikki my last tweet was 4 u lol
8:52 AM - 30 Nov 2009
https://twitter.com/KingKillaK/status/6194804174

Victoria Kalonji @_oSoVikki
@KillaK301 i know..lls..so was my subtweet.
8:55 AM - 30 Nov 2009
https://twitter.com/_oSoVikki/status/6194846221

(UD says "lls" is "laughing like shit".)

After this, there's quite a few people asking what subtweets are and
some other obvious examples showing its growing popularity.

All those, collected here:
http://www.exquisitetweets.com/collection/hugovk/3016

Hugo

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org