[Ads-l] Antedating Shade, was: New Mexican Spanish fading

Bill Mullins amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM
Mon Apr 10 19:35:20 UTC 2023


The referenced New Yorker article dates "shade" to ca. 1990; the OED has 1990.



1989 [Regina SK Canada] Leader-Post 29 Jul 14/4

At some nightclubs, Voguers compete for prizes trying to outdo each other, or as they say, "throw some shade" on their opponents.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/497028582/?terms=%22throw%20shade%22&match=1


1989 [London UK] Evening Standard 18 Apr 31/1

Throw shade ... Pose aggressively at a rival voguer.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/722452932/?terms=%22throw%20shade%22&match=1


These early cites seem to suggest that the term arises from gay subculture rather than African American English.


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2023 10:03 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: New Mexican Spanish fading

Saw that this morning, and this yesterday:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/27/assembling-the-oxford-dictionary-of-african-american-english

(As always, I'm several New Yorkers behind...)

LH



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


More information about the Ads-l mailing list