[Ads-l] extra / that's extra

[Colin Morris]

This construction has been around for a while. It's mentioned a number of
times in a 2013 Reddit thread titled "What ARE the kids saying these days?"
as an example of then-emerging slang.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1t6b85/what_are_the_kids_saying_these_days/

One commenter says it refers to "Someone who acts differently than normal
to get attention". Another says "it means someone who is showing off things
they own, such as a nice car or something". It seems it may have originated
in AAVE, since it's usually mentioned alongside other AAVE slang.

"X is doing too much" / "doing the most" are similar turns of phrase in
current use which may have emerged around the same time (they're also
mentioned in the same 2013 Reddit thread, e.g. in this comment:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1t6b85/what_are_the_kids_saying_these_days/ce57395/
).

On Sat, Oct 1, 2022 at 11:38 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> So, I had an interesting conversation yesterday with my young informant
> (23 year-old white middle-class male gamer) re: a pejorative use of
> "extra"/ "that's extra" to mean "over the top; extreme."
>
> Here's the context: He was describing a car that he had seen that was a
> light shade of pink, had eyelashes above the headlights, and a sparkly
> steering wheel cover. After describing the car, he described his
> reaction: "I was, like, that's super extra." (Note the use of the
> intensifier.) He said that it can be used as just "that's extra" as a
> comment on a friend's clothing, food, gaming, etc. I don't know if
> "just" can be used with it (? "that's just extra").
>
> He became super annoyed with me as I pressed him on context
> disambiguation (what if it's said in the context of ordering a grande
> macchiato with whip and chocolate syrup?) and intonation (does
> intonation convey the pejorative sense?).
>
> I guess I was just being . . . extra (annoying)
>
> (Is it a clipping / ellision where the complement/modifier is understood
> from the context? That's a possibility for it's development . . . ?)
>
> ---Amy West
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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