He suspects the term, which is used to mean perfect or on point, originally comes out of drag-queen culture - perhaps suggesting something is so shockingly good that it warrants the expression one would make if a wig were snatched off their head. Snatched, Sherwood says, may be an example that came from LGBTQ speakers. Slang, as Zimmer explains, allows “cultural groups to create their own kind of territory through language.” When a word seeps beyond the original group who uses it to signal shared attitudes, that can be just as hurtful for the old speakers as it is exciting for the new ones. The history of a word like cool, for one, is not just about a gap between generations but representation and appropriation. ![]() And slang terms are often used to forge bonds in subcultures, as well as in-crowds and youth. Much American slang has gone mainstream after being invented by African Americans. It may turn out that the newer lowkey can be traced back to a particular demographic, revealing something about the flow and tug of culture and language. And they will likely do a better job if the public lends a hand. ![]() But there’s more nuance and variance to it, the kind that professionals like Green and Sherwood distill from looking at piles and piles of examples that show how a word has been used over time by various communities. So what do they mean? Some people say they use lowkey to mean kinda or to verbally mark something that should be kept private, while they might use highkey to suggest that they’re trying to be relaxed about something and failing.
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