this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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[–] Deceptichum@sh.itjust.works 19 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The expressions "throw shade", "throwing shade", or simply "shade", are slang terms for a certain type of insult, often nonverbal. Journalist Anna Holmes called shade "the art of the sidelong insult". Merriam-Webster defines it as "subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throw_shade

Its been used for hundreds of years mate, get with the times.

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 months ago

Thanks for that!

I'm not from the US, and the usage from the 1800s was "to throw a shade on", and all the other usages on Wikipedia's article are from the 1980's and later. I don't think it's fair to say it's been used for hundreds of years.

The 2015 popularization sounds about right for when I first started hearing "throwing shade", but this is legitimately my first time seeing "shades" used like this in its own.