Eight slangs invented by Black Twitter that have spiced up different aspects of life

Nii Ntreh January 31, 2020
FILE - In this July 10, 2016, file photo, Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson talks to the media after his release from the Baton Rouge jail in Baton Rouge, La. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson said he intends to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses Black Lives Matter and several movement leaders of inciting violence that led to a gunman's deadly ambush of law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge last year. Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, Jackson threw out a police officer’s lawsuit blaming Mckesson for injuries he sustained during a protest over a deadly police shooting in Baton Rouge last year. (AP Photo/Max Becherer, File)

The phenomenon we have come to know as Black Twitter has been described as the greatest source of linguistic creativity on the social media platform.

Black Twitter is definable but not without difficulty. It refers to the conversations generated by mostly African-American users of Twitter and the culture of idiosyncrasies these conversations come with.

Being what it is, Black Twitter has found ways to express itself with different voices yet in unique linguistic fashion.

The language of Black Twitter is at its base, American English. However, the members have been prolific in finding odd means of using words and phrases that attain specific meanings over time.

Currency for any Black Twitter slang depends on if it catches on with other users. But the slang is more syntactically important if it is understood by people outside Black Twitter.

Some of the slangs have even found social and political purposes beyond their uses in social media interaction.

As follows are eight examples of Black Twitter slangs that have moved from Twitter to everyday topical usage.

Last Edited by:Kent Mensah Updated: January 31, 2020

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