beast

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 1:06 PM, Tyler Schnoebelen <tylers at stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> Can someone remind me of the origin and path of the other kind of "beast" that I associate with bro's?
>
> "That's beast" (~'awesome')

Green's Dictionary of Slang has adjectival "beast" ('excellent') in US
campus usage (with some earlier, likely unrelated, West Indian usage).
The lone citation is from "The Dictionary of New Terms" compiled by
students of Curtis Gruenler at Hope College (1997-2002) -- now online
in a newer revision here:

http://www.learningace.com/doc/2632579/dc40589e34d99b4e696cdfa121b63cae/dictionary-of-new-terms

There are relevant entries in the Online Slang Dictionary submitted in 1997-98:

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/beast

Connie Eble's UNC campus slang list from Fall 2013 also includes the
adjectival use (example: "That truck with the lift kit and custom
stereo was beast").

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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