October 6, 2025
African American Vernacular English, often known as Black American English, is considered one of America’s best sources of linguistic creativity.
20 iconic slang phrases from Black Twitter that formed popular culture
Should you’re not a Black American, there was seemingly a time while you didn’t know what “tea” meant—and no shade, you’re seemingly not alone. It’s solely lately that slang phrases and phrases from Black tradition started to unfold into popular culture throughout demographics. Instantly, younger folks from all races and backgrounds are utilizing distinctly Black slang with out realizing its true origin.
African American Vernacular English, often known as Black American English, is considered one of America’s best sources of linguistic creativity, and social media has performed a pivotal function in how phrases like “pressed” have gone from obscurity to mainstream. A lot of this occurred on Twitter (since renamed X), the place a neighborhood popularly referred to as “Black Twitter” made its mark on the world at massive.
The time period Black Twitter includes a big community of Black customers on the platform and their loosely coordinated interactions, lots of which accumulate into trending matters as a result of its dimension, interconnectedness, and distinctive exercise. At its peak, Black Twitter produced numerous popular culture references and protested real-world injustices on-line.
As Meredith D. Clark, an affiliate professor at Northeastern College working to archive the Black internet, defined to the College of Virginia, “Black Twitter doesn’t have a gateway, a secret knock. It’s not a separate platform. It’s all in the way in which that individuals use the platform to attract consideration to problems with concern to Black communities.”
Most of the phrases on this listing had lives earlier than X however have now seen elevated utilization even exterior Black communities, for higher or worse. And it’s not solely X that’s had an amazing affect—these phrases have discovered their approach onto different social media platforms, to not point out hit TV exhibits and films, whose writers have a eager grasp on up to date tradition.
Whether or not you employ this slang commonly or are merely interested in its that means, it’s value studying extra about the place it got here from along with what it really stands for. To have fun the contributions of Black tradition to the way in which all of us communicate, Stacker compiled this listing of 20 slang phrases, utilizing the AAVE Glossary, City Dictionary, Know Your Meme, and different web assets. From “yass” to “brazy,” learn how these phrases have taken over our vocabulary prior to now decade.
Lawd
“Lawd” is another spelling of the phrase “lord” and an expression typically related to Black churchgoers. It’s used to precise a variety of feelings, from unhappiness to pleasure. For instance, “Oh lawd, my day was tense.”
Brazy
“Brazy” is one other phrase for “loopy,” changing the “c” with a “b.” It can be used to explain somebody with nice ability or who has achieved one thing seemingly not possible. The expression is assumed to have originated with the Bloods, a gang that originated in Los Angeles, who wished to keep away from utilizing “loopy” as a result of it began with the letter “c,” which they related to their rival, the Crips. Tyga makes use of the identical letter alternative method in his 2023 track “Bops Goin Brazy.”
Yass
“Yass” means “sure” and expresses pleasure or settlement; on X, it’s celebratory slang. Regardless of its fame on the web, the expression “yass” has existed because the Eighteen Nineties, when author George W. Cable captured a slice of Creole New Orleans in his guide John March, Southerner.
Tea
“Tea” is slang for gossip, a juicy scoop, or different private data. Its first printed use got here as early as 1991 in William G. Hawkeswood’s One of many Kids: An Ethnography of Id and Homosexual Black Males, whereby one of many topics used the phrase “tea” to imply “gossip.” The time period is usually used with the expression “spilling tea” or “allotting the gossip.”
Pressed
The phrase “pressed” connotes a sure weight placed on somebody. It may imply being upset or confused to the purpose that one thing lives in your thoughts “rent-free,” as Black Twitter may say. Or, within the case of Cardi B’s 2019 track “Press,” it may actually check with her being hounded by the media.
Beat
“Beat” is when the make-up on somebody makes them look really spectacular; it might additionally imply the method by which one “beats” their face, or applies their make-up. So take delight at any time when somebody tells you, “Your face seems so beat.” The time period can be used to explain outfits.
Snatched
“Snatched” is assumed to have come from early ’90s Black drag tradition, the place stage performers wore weaves and if their performances had been ok, it may “snatch” one’s weave or socks off. Immediately, “snatched” is an expression that conveys that somebody is “on level” with their look: “Your total outfit seems snatched at present, woman!” The time period is usually used to go with somebody’s physique or physique.
Flip up
“Flip up” means to have enjoyable, let free, and luxuriate in a celebration. Suppose when rapper 2 Chainz says in his 2011 track “Flip Up,” “I walked in, then I flip up,” showing along with his pockets stuffed with $100 payments and a Mercedes-Benz in entrance, or when Lil Jon asks his listeners on his hit 2013 single of the identical title with DJ Snake, “Flip down for what?” The phrase actually turns into a problem to tone down for nothing and nobody.
Slippin
“Slippin” means not paying consideration and being caught off guard. Whenever you’re slippin, you’re dropping management. This occurs if you find yourself careless and naive and somebody extra road savvy takes benefit of that, like when DMX requires assistance on his 1998 track “Slippin’,” on which he pleads: “Ayo, I’m slippin’, I’m fallin’, I can’t rise up.”
Learn
To “learn” somebody is to name consideration to their flaws or shortcomings. The time period originated from Black homosexual tradition and implies that somebody’s faults may be so apparent that it will be like studying textual content from a guide. The idea is what powers the Studying Problem on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the place contestants are requested to eviscerate their competitors with sharp “reads.”
Shade
“Shade” is a subtler type of exhibiting contempt, which may generally be expressed verbally or in different methods. The time period was first utilized in a documentary of the Nineteen Eighties drag scene in Manhattan, the place drag queen Dorian Corey explains how “reads” evolve into “shade.” E. Patrick Johnson, now the dean of communication at Northwestern College, informed the New York Instances in 2015 that “shade” is an idea with roots within the period of slavery when individuals who had been enslaved couldn’t give insults immediately.
Vibe
“Vibe” means a sure form of power, whether or not good or unhealthy, much like the German phrase “zeitgeist.” The Guardian credit rap tradition and Black vernacular language as early pioneers of the phrase, with A Tribe Referred to as Quest releasing “Vibes and Stuff” in 1991 and Quincy Jones notably launching Vibe journal two years later. The phrase can imply a mess of issues, from being appropriate with somebody (to vibe with them) to a spot having simply the best power.
We been knew
“We been knew” means “we already knew.” It’s a phrase used to convey that one thing was pretty obvious even earlier than it turned a identified reality. It can be shortened to “wbk.”
Fierce
“Fierce” could simply describe lions or different grand, wild animals, however these days, the time period is given to somebody assured and attention-grabbing. The time period entered the mainstream partially because of Beyoncé’s 2008 album I Am… Sasha Fierce, the place she created her assured, on-stage alter ego.
Bae
“Bae” is brief for child or babe. It refers to an individual’s vital different and can be utilized as a time period of endearment. It may be an acronym that means “earlier than anybody else.” The time period has been round since 2012 with the “bae caught me slippin’” meme, which had been selfie photographs posted on-line as in the event that they had been taken by one other individual whereas the topic was asleep.
Bruh
“Bruh” originated from the phrase “brother” and was utilized by Black males to deal with one another way back to the late 1800s. Round 1890, it was recorded as a title that got here earlier than somebody’s title, like Bruh John. It turned widespread once more within the Sixties. Other than getting used to check with somebody, it can be an interjection to react to one thing with shock and dismay: “Did you permit the milk sitting out in a single day? Bruh…”
On fleek
“On fleek” was coined in mere seconds by a Chicago teenager, Kayla Newman. In June 2014, she posted a brief six-second Vine video describing her eyebrows as being “on fleek,” or completely executed in type and precision. It’s additionally used to precise anything deemed flawless.
Lituation
“Lituation” is usually used to explain gatherings, occasions, and even simply moments which can be significantly pleasing and memorable. It’s a approach of capturing the sensation of being in an exhilarating and vibrant surroundings and combines the phrases “lit” and “state of affairs.” In 2014, rapper Fabolous, who had launched the track “Lituation,” defined the idea throughout an interview on Energy 105.1’s The Breakfast Membership.
Fundamental
“Fundamental” is a time period Black Twitter makes use of to explain somebody who’s uninteresting and can be troublesome to socialize with, even casually. Much less negatively, it might additionally describe one thing that may be very mainstream.
Flex
Like pumping your biceps, “flex” evokes pictures of exhibiting off your belongings or benefits. The time period has been round in Black American communities because the Nineties, showing as early as 1992 on “It Was a Good Day” by Ice Dice, who raps: “No flexin’, didn’t even look in a n—-‘s route.” Have you ever been figuring out and sporting crop tops to point out off your abs? That’s a flex.
Story enhancing by Carren Jao. Copy enhancing by Paris Shut.
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