Throw shade (slang)
Not to be confused with Throwing Shade.
The expressions "throw shade, "throwing shade", or simply "shade", are slang terms used as insults.[1] Merriam-Webster defines "shade" as "subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not" .[2] OxfordDictionaries.com defines "throw shade" as a phrase used to "publicly criticize or express contempt for someone".[3]
History
The first known use of "shade" is in the documentary film Paris Is Burning (1990), which is about the mid-1980s drag scene in Manhattan.[2]
The expression was popularized by the American reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race.[2] In 2015, Anna Holmes of The New York Times Magazine wrote:
Shade can take many forms — a hard, deep look that could be either aggressive or searching, a compliment that could be interpreted as the opposite of one. E. Patrick Johnson, who teaches performance studies and African-American studies at Northwestern University, and who has written about the tradition of insults in the gay and black communities, explains: "If someone walks into a room with a hideous dress, but you don’t want to say it's hideous, you might say, 'Oooh … look at you!’'" At its most refined, shade should have an element of plausible deniability, so that the shade-thrower can pretend that he or she didn't actually mean to behave with incivility, making it all the more delicious.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 "The Underground Art of the Insult". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- 1 2 3 "What Does 'Throw Shade' Mean?". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ↑ Katy Steinmetz (2014-08-13). "Oxford Dictionary Additions: Hot Mess, Side Boob, Throw Shade". Time.com. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
External links
- Moore, Darnell L. (March 29, 2013). "Tongues Untied: Shade Culture — Throwing Shade, Reflecting Light". The Huffington Post.
- Brown, Kara (December 17, 2014). "Shade Court Is in Session". Jezebel.com.
- Rodriguez, Mathew (April 27, 2016). "Merriam-Webster Threw Shade at People Who Don't Know the Word Genderqueer". Mic.com.
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