[Ads-l] "slay" (adj.)

[Z Sohna]

While it may be the preferred form, *slay* is not specifically a
"Black/LGBT" term; and that goes for its counterparts *murder*, *kill*,
*body*, and so on. I've witnessed the use of these terms among the broader
Native Black American population, as a verb and as a noun (especially,
*murder* which is obviously a noun in General American English, albeit with
a very different meaning). I would say that the aforementioned song brought
the term to a non-Native Black American audience.

Regarding the related *murder*, Cab Calloway defines *murder* as "something
excellent or terrific" in his 1942 Jive Jubilee of Songs.

The African languages provide clues as to the origin of this use of
murder/slay/kill/body in Native Black American language. Consider the Basaa
*nɔl* 'to kill' (Lemb & Gastines 1973). According to native speakers of the
Basaa language (of Cameroon), the Basaa *nɔl* 'to kill' also means 'to do
something well, great', 'to do something amazing', 'to be dressed very
flaa/fly'. Compare the following:

Native Black American *he/she killed it* 'he/she did something impressive,
terrific, great, amazing', 'he/she was dressed or looked flaa/fly'

Basaa *a nɔl* 'he/she did something impressive, terrific, great, amazing',
'he/she is dressed flaa/fly' < Basaa *a* 'he/she' + Basaa *nɔl* 'to kill'
Literally: "He/She kills."
Note: My Basaa informant is an older gentleman and francophone; he stated
that *nɔl* is usually used in the present tense when it has this figurative
meaning.

I should note that I am not stating that Basaa is the origin of this
phenomenon in Native Black American Language, but that the languages of
West Africa and Southwest Africa are the likely source; I am certain that
there are African cognates for the Basaa *nɔl* 'to kill', 'to do something
impressive, terrific, great, amazing', 'to be dressed flaa/fly'.

Best,
Z. Sohna

On Tue, Oct 31, 2023 at 5:20 PM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:

> This has been particularly big on TikTok for a while, often in very
> clearly adjectival uses, like "he is so slay". I think the biggest vector
> for the broad use of the term was Beyoncé's 2016 song "Formation," which
> uses it very frequently, usually as a verb:
>
>   I did not come to play with you hoes, haha
>   I came to slay, bitch....
>
>   Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard)
>   Get what's mine (Take what's mine), I'm a star (I'm a star)
>   'Cause I slay (Slay), I slay (Hey), I slay (Okay), I slay (Okay)
>   All day (Okay), I slay (Okay), I slay (Okay), I slay (Okay)
>   We gon' slay (Slay), gon' slay (Okay), we slay (Okay), I slay (Okay)
>
> (and many other examples)
>
> I've seen this use attributed to the 1990 film _Paris is Burning_ (which
> did, in fact, introduce a number of Black/LGBT terms to a wider audience),
> but it's not actually used in the film. (At least, I don't remember its
> being used, and I can't now find it in a transcript; I or the transcript
> could be wrong.)
>
> As an adjective, I think predicative use is more common than attributive
> examples like "slay era", but that's just my sense. I also hear it as an
> interjection, meaning 'cool!' or 'awesome!'.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Tue, Oct 31, 2023 at 11:36:42AM -0400, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> > See also "slay era," often contrasted with "flop era," e.g.:
> >
> >
> https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/14/business/whats-the-point-of-your-20s-ask-the-patron-saint-of-striving-youth.html
> > "Sometimes you’ve got to be in your flop era," Ms. Flowers replied.
> > "Because a slay era doesn’t mean anything if there is no flop era."
> > She added, encouragingly: "Your slay era is right around the corner, baby
> > girl."
> >
> >
> https://vhtsp.com/7957/opinion/how-to-be-a-girlboss-a-step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-enter-your-slay-era/
> >
> https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/kmarts-slay-era-continues-with-stunning-18-corset-super-flattering-012806397.html
> > etc.
> >
> > I wrote about "eras" (but didn't have room for "slay era") in my WSJ
> column
> > recently:
> > https://on.wsj.com/3S6zDKD
> >
> > One might argue that "slay" in "slay era" is attributive, while it's more
> > clearly adjectival in "a chill and slay weekend."
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 31, 2023 at 11:08 AM Nancy Friedman <wordworking at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > From the novelist Elif Batuman's Substack, reporting from the Columbia
> > > campus:
> > >
> > > >> ...I will just mention that last week one of them sent in a workshop
> > > submission with a note wishing the class “a chill and slay weekend.” I
> > > hadn’t encountered this use of “slay,” and was filled with admiration
> for
> > > our evolving language. A few days later, another person sent a draft
> where
> > > one character says, of a boy she has a crush on: “I want to slay
> > > Albert”—and this further complicated my understanding of the meaning/s
> of
> > > “slay” which I confidently expect to expand in weeks to come! <<
> > >
> > > https://open.substack.com/pub/eliflife/p/another-day-another-slay
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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