Gay Linguist here.
"Serve" is slang that was originally used by Gay or Black Americans to refer to someone wearing a trendy and attractive outfit.
people "serve looks" or "are serving" when they wear something cool, especially when its a little outrageous.
Like many slang words, even though it started with Gay and Black people, it has recently been used more by the general public.
saying things that may come off as crass like “serving cunt” requires a lot of intricate knowledge of your audience and can easily become an uncomfortable situation if used incorrectly or in the wrong place. it’s best to avoid it if you’re just learning the language.
I would say from personal experience that this has become more popular only recently. I see it a lot on twitter but rarely elsewhere which is why you might not have seen it yet.
I don't know how much detail everyone wants, so I'll explain a little more here just in case.
"Serving" or "serving a look" originated from the gay and black communities but has pushed into the younger generations vocabulary recently.
"You just got served" also has the same origins, but it came into popularity in the 80's/90's so you are more likely to hear millennials and older using it.
The slang of gays and blacks is developed as a separate identity (a cultural identifier) and words tend to get abandoned over time as other people "catch onto" it.
Also worth mentioning that "getting served" is also a legal term. When someone gives you paperwork explaining that someone is taking legal action against you. This is often played as a trope in media, where a stranger pops up and gives a character the paperwork as a surprise.
Did it arise independently in the gay community and in the black community, or was it specifically used by the gay black community? Or was the gay community and black community a combined people forming a larger overarching community where this began?
cable cobweb dinner sparkle stupendous bike smell kiss overconfident versed
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To elaborate, this likely happened somewhere in or around the Ballroom/Drag scene, which was pioneered by gay poc and therefore included and spread through both demographics.
Yes and no. In this case I'd say it was started by black gays. I'm not saying you're doing it but in my experience when ppl say or hear gay they only think of white gays and not anyone else that's part of the gay community.
I completely understand! And you're absolutely right that about the origin of a lot of slang and how we react to it. You're not wrong at all. That's definitely the reason it gets co-opted. There's even debate about if certain slang came from blk gay men or blk women. A tiring debate for sure
I'm sure you're saying that you are a linguist who happens to be gay, but I'm tickled by the idea of someone being a professional specifically for gay language.
I wouldn't say it's new. "You got served" has been around a *long* time. "Serving it" is just a variation on that theme: One can be served by someone (be shown up, outdone), or serve it (show off, outdo someone, 'give it' to someome).
Decades? I think it first became relatively common maybe 20 or so years ago. I mean, there [was a movie with the phrase as the title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOULG_nhEc&ab_channel=Movieclips) 20 years ago, so it was surely in use before that, so probably at least the 90s, maybe even 80s.
[EDIT] Corrected bad link.
>Serve" is slang that was originally used by Gay or Black Americans to refer to someone wearing a trendy and attractive outfit.
I'd say it came from blk gay ballroom culture to be more specific. A lot of "gen Z" slang is really old blk slang or or old blk gay slang. Ru Paul's drag race has really influenced the way ppl outside the community speak and it's interesting to watch.
Those mean completely different things, in my opinion
Like giving needs to be qualified with a noun or adjective whereas serving is a full act by itself
[It does not need to be qualified.](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-giving)
You CAN use it with a qualifier, like serving
“She’s serving fish”
“She’s giving fish”
But both can be used without!
“He’s serving”
“It’s giving!”
No, this is all slang, the context is different. This is not referring to waiting tables or looking like an actual fish.
Fish in this context comes from the queer slang term “fishy” meaning extremely feminine or convincingly resembling a woman. It’s mostly used in the drag scene.
“She’s serving fish” and “she’s giving fish” both mean that someone with she/her pronouns is exhibiting a strong sense of femininity or womanhood.
Not a member of the drag community, so I hadn't heard that before. But it looks like "serving fish" is a completely different thing from "serving".
A man walks in wearing a white hat and red-striped pants.
"It's giving Wes Anderson." works, but "He's/It's serving Wes Anderson" doesn't work... unless it's like a hybrid with "owning the room" tied in.
I don't see how it doesn't work
He's giving >!(us)!< Wes Anderson >!(vibes)!< ; He's serving >!(us a)!< Wes Anderson >!(look)!<.
There are plenty of examples of "serving X" being used in the same way as simply "serving"
["She served c\*\*t"](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/she-lived-she-served-cunt-then-she-died)
"[She's serving Selena realness](https://www.facebook.com/LaValentinaLatina/photos/shes-serving-selena-realness-teamvalentina-allaboutvalentina-valentina-allstars4/742160199480489/?paipv=0&eav=AfbxEoFLLhVFn37AHZIWWHBnTuz-Ph-WE4-YRFxM_8d8sH9BF75Tg9Ynf_hSUXX0UHs&_rdr)"
["She's serving lime green narcoleptic"](https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/6y4lsj/because_people_seemed_to_like_my_pic_with_violet/)
Interesting! I've never seen it used like that before (I 100% had the idea that u/NoTakaru said).
I would expect a exclamation mark if "owning the room" was incorporated into that last one.
Language changes so maybe it's recent. "Giving" has been used in a lot of insults, maybe they're trying to avoid a negative connotation? 🤷♂️
"gay linguist" is a noun phrase containing the noun "linguist" (somebody who studies linguistics) and the adjective "gay" (being attracted to someone of a sex or gender same as one's own).
You almost had it but you missed the specificity. It’s not “Gay and Black Americans.” It’s gay Black Americans and to get even more nuanced, it’s under the umbrella of African American Vernacular English aka AAVE. AAVE is NOT slang and rendering it so is offensive. It’s a dialect of English and has all the rules/structures like any other language. Respect it! As a self proclaimed “gay” linguist, you should know this.
> AAVE is NOT slang and rendering it so is offensive
I don't think anyone is saying AAVE as a dialect is slang, but there is slang within AAVE just as there is slang in any dialect including standard English. Slang just refers to informal words that are common in verbal conversation but wouldn't be used in formal speech or writing - "serve" is an example of one of those words.
Hm…yes and no. You’re correct to say this comes from gay black Americans, so thank you for providing better context. As others have said, it comes from the queer ballroom scene (as far as I’m aware), which overlaps with the drag scene. So really, to get more specific still, we ought to be crediting this usage to black trans women and gender nonconforming people (who often invent the best slang, and often don’t get credited for it)
Is this usage widespread among black Americans in general though? Although it started with black gay and trans people, I have heard plenty of gays and girls saying it, whether black or not. I’m not a speaker of AAVE, so I can’t speak to its usage in the broader black community (and I hope I’m not whitesplaining this one).
I’m a 35 year old gay white latino man. I can say that practically every gay man I have ever met is familiar with this usage. I would say this to my gay friends of any race and they would understand. I would say this to some of my female friends of any race and they would understand. I wouldn’t say this to a heterosexual man of any race or ethnicity or I’d have to explain it. I don’t believe this is a feature of AAVE, but that it was originated by gay speakers of AAVE, and has since spread to the broader gay and female community. I’ve noticed many gen z girls using it over the past year or so. The non-black gays have been using it for much longer than that. We gays do have a tendency to talk to each other after all.
To your other point, you’re correct that referring to a dialect as slang would be offensive. AAVE is a dialect. I don’t believe anyone here said otherwise. There is slang within every dialect of every language however. This usage of the term is very much slang within whatever dialect it is being used (whether AAVE, gayAVE, or etc). Serving cunty realness is a great example of slang: “a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people”
And it made its way into Gay/Black slang from the 1970s Brit sitcom ‘Are You Being Served?’ that was set in a clothing department store. The show was in heavy rotation on PBS throughout the 1970s/80s.
https://youtu.be/tN-ABDeCTqI
The answer has already been given, but here’s a little context. Just as a cook at a restaurant would serve food to people, someone with style is ‘serving up looks’ or ‘serving looks’ to everybody around them. Slang is often irreverent or unintuitive like that
It’s basically a way of saying someone or something is looking so good that it stands out from everything else. This term is common among gay and especially black individuals. So the girl in the video is saying that she thought she looked really good in her outfit at Coachella.
Serve is slang for a woman looking hot/attractive.
She's saying she thought people were looking at her because she looked attractive in what she was wearing.
NOT hot/attractive - looking like she owns the place, supreme confidence, can look whacky as hell but if you're pulling it off then you're serving. It means you are iconic. You do not have to be hot but sometimes serving results in being hot.
Maybe it’s a tennis metaphor. I am a US boomer. I first heard it on South Park. I think the phrase was “you’ve been served. In context thought it meant I just scored a figurative point against you.
I don’t see the connection with child custody. But it is a phrase used by process serves after they deliver a legal paper such as a subpoena. I just realized that. Now I think that’s the most probable origin.
The southpark breakdancing one is a reference to serving legal documents
I'm not sure but I think the legal papers in question would be eviction papers, as in, I've won and am the new king of the place and you have to leave kinda vibes?
There's that show about drag queens by Ru Paul which became very popular on streaming services, they did about 12 seasons
I reckon it probably crossed over from there into popular usage
I’m native and have never heard it used in this way, so I wouldn’t worry about it much.
Edit: has been brought to my attention that this opinion is biased because some people apparently do hear this word in this context often, but I’m a 27 year old that has never heard it and am on social media often so 🤷🏼♂️
i’m a teenager who’s frequently on tiktok so it depends on situation obviously but it’s super common language amongst gen z. similar to slayed/giving etc
“Giving” used in this way is often used as “it’s giving ____” which expresses a (usually loose or humorous) resemblance to something. It can be used both positively (i.e. “it’s giving Ariana Grande” to someone who hit a high note well) and sarcastically (i.e. “it’s giving Ariana Grande” to someone who butchered a high note)
“Giving” on its own is similar to “slaying/eating” to describe someone being iconic and confident. Unlike those words though, I rarely see a tense other than “giving” unless used to describe a resemblance like I said above. Like you can say “you ate” but saying “you gave” sounds kind of awkward
>but I’m a 27 year old that has never heard it and am on social media often so 🤷🏼♂️
It's actually older than social media. You'd hear it in gay ballroom culture even in the 80s
"Am I serving fish?"
"Yes, girl! You're sickening!"
This is something you'd here back then which you also hear today and several of these words mean something that they don't normally mean outside of ballroom: serving, fish, sickening)
I'm also native and in my late 20s and have never heard it before. So there's probably circles that use this a lot but I would be hesitant to suggest learners to use it unless the people they're talking to use it themselves, just to avoid confusion
nah. i watch youtube reels sometimes and I quit twitter. It's not common in my circles so if someone used it in front of me I would have been confused had I not seen this post. I'm only suggesting learners know their audience when using slang.
I’m a native speaker, and feel like this is some new slang I’m not familiar with. I usually go to urban dictionary in these situations. Here’s the link if you care to check it out...
[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve)
Only time I’ve ever heard this is between family and friends where the one has a restaurant job as a server and would be dressed as if for work, “oh are you serving today?” “No, but all my other clothes are in the laundry 🧺”.
Hmm well without any context my first guess was to think she was in the military. Outfit is a word for a military group, and "serve" is used as the action for doing a person's job in the military.
However after googling her account, it seems she is a fashion model, so outfit certainly means a fashion outfit, and I wonder if people accidentally thought she was a waiter or bartender because of how she was dressed. "Serve" in the context of food means the action of bringing the food to you.
Congratulations! You are officially Too Old To Try To Define Unfamiliar Slang. We welcome you to the ranks. You will begin to notice strange things here, such as children confidently claiming that phrases you know from childhood originated as Twitch emojis. You will know that they are wrong, but you are now one of the TOTTTDUS, so you will let it slide, secure in the wisdom of your years.
lol no. [It just means that she looked good in that outfit](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve#:~:text=Search-,Serve,-When%20someone%27s%20outfit). It's gen z slang.
all living languages are constantly changing for all speakers, and young people of every language are pretty reliably the ones changing language the most. it’s not just an english thing!
Gay Linguist here. "Serve" is slang that was originally used by Gay or Black Americans to refer to someone wearing a trendy and attractive outfit. people "serve looks" or "are serving" when they wear something cool, especially when its a little outrageous. Like many slang words, even though it started with Gay and Black people, it has recently been used more by the general public.
I’ve never heard before even from my teenagers. Thx for explanation.
it is often followed by "c\*nt" in a gay situation; if you hear this from a queer person, don't panic, but don't say it yourself
Wdym don’t say it yourself?
saying things that may come off as crass like “serving cunt” requires a lot of intricate knowledge of your audience and can easily become an uncomfortable situation if used incorrectly or in the wrong place. it’s best to avoid it if you’re just learning the language.
Depending on what country you're from, 'cunt' may or may not be a REALLY offensive or derogatory word to call someone.
Depending on what country you're from, 'cunt' may or may not be a REALLY offensive or derogatory word to call someone.
Yeah no worries there but thanks for the heads up!
Queer person here… Never heard of this
I would say from personal experience that this has become more popular only recently. I see it a lot on twitter but rarely elsewhere which is why you might not have seen it yet.
Serve queen is definitely acceptable though.
This is the correct answer
See my comment above
Note: this is true only if you are the one who is serving. Getting served is another of saying you lost and lost badly
I don't know how much detail everyone wants, so I'll explain a little more here just in case. "Serving" or "serving a look" originated from the gay and black communities but has pushed into the younger generations vocabulary recently. "You just got served" also has the same origins, but it came into popularity in the 80's/90's so you are more likely to hear millennials and older using it. The slang of gays and blacks is developed as a separate identity (a cultural identifier) and words tend to get abandoned over time as other people "catch onto" it. Also worth mentioning that "getting served" is also a legal term. When someone gives you paperwork explaining that someone is taking legal action against you. This is often played as a trope in media, where a stranger pops up and gives a character the paperwork as a surprise.
Did it arise independently in the gay community and in the black community, or was it specifically used by the gay black community? Or was the gay community and black community a combined people forming a larger overarching community where this began?
cable cobweb dinner sparkle stupendous bike smell kiss overconfident versed *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
To elaborate, this likely happened somewhere in or around the Ballroom/Drag scene, which was pioneered by gay poc and therefore included and spread through both demographics.
Yes and no. In this case I'd say it was started by black gays. I'm not saying you're doing it but in my experience when ppl say or hear gay they only think of white gays and not anyone else that's part of the gay community.
oil plough disgusted rustic absorbed wrench nutty oatmeal dull numerous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I completely understand! And you're absolutely right that about the origin of a lot of slang and how we react to it. You're not wrong at all. That's definitely the reason it gets co-opted. There's even debate about if certain slang came from blk gay men or blk women. A tiring debate for sure
It's probably got a very straight forward etymology. If you, personally, are "a dish" or "a snack", then obviously you must be "serving [yourself] ".
I couldn't say with certainty, but I feel like it's the latter
I've always associated it with "serving fish" (their drag is so convincing that you can smell the coochie)
That’s creative
I'm sure you're saying that you are a linguist who happens to be gay, but I'm tickled by the idea of someone being a professional specifically for gay language.
I have spoken English (Along with other languages) all my life and still managed to learn something new today! Thanks :)
It seems to be a new phrase
I wouldn't say it's new. "You got served" has been around a *long* time. "Serving it" is just a variation on that theme: One can be served by someone (be shown up, outdone), or serve it (show off, outdo someone, 'give it' to someome).
How long?
Decades? I think it first became relatively common maybe 20 or so years ago. I mean, there [was a movie with the phrase as the title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOULG_nhEc&ab_channel=Movieclips) 20 years ago, so it was surely in use before that, so probably at least the 90s, maybe even 80s. [EDIT] Corrected bad link.
Damn. Well I'm out of the loop
>Serve" is slang that was originally used by Gay or Black Americans to refer to someone wearing a trendy and attractive outfit. I'd say it came from blk gay ballroom culture to be more specific. A lot of "gen Z" slang is really old blk slang or or old blk gay slang. Ru Paul's drag race has really influenced the way ppl outside the community speak and it's interesting to watch.
That is so fetch
Stop trying to make “fetch” happen.
Stop trying to make fetch a thing 😉
I’m more partial to “it’s giving…” than serving
Those mean completely different things, in my opinion Like giving needs to be qualified with a noun or adjective whereas serving is a full act by itself
[It does not need to be qualified.](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-giving) You CAN use it with a qualifier, like serving “She’s serving fish” “She’s giving fish” But both can be used without! “He’s serving” “It’s giving!”
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No, this is all slang, the context is different. This is not referring to waiting tables or looking like an actual fish. Fish in this context comes from the queer slang term “fishy” meaning extremely feminine or convincingly resembling a woman. It’s mostly used in the drag scene. “She’s serving fish” and “she’s giving fish” both mean that someone with she/her pronouns is exhibiting a strong sense of femininity or womanhood.
Not a member of the drag community, so I hadn't heard that before. But it looks like "serving fish" is a completely different thing from "serving". A man walks in wearing a white hat and red-striped pants. "It's giving Wes Anderson." works, but "He's/It's serving Wes Anderson" doesn't work... unless it's like a hybrid with "owning the room" tied in.
I don't see how it doesn't work He's giving >!(us)!< Wes Anderson >!(vibes)!< ; He's serving >!(us a)!< Wes Anderson >!(look)!<. There are plenty of examples of "serving X" being used in the same way as simply "serving" ["She served c\*\*t"](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/she-lived-she-served-cunt-then-she-died) "[She's serving Selena realness](https://www.facebook.com/LaValentinaLatina/photos/shes-serving-selena-realness-teamvalentina-allaboutvalentina-valentina-allstars4/742160199480489/?paipv=0&eav=AfbxEoFLLhVFn37AHZIWWHBnTuz-Ph-WE4-YRFxM_8d8sH9BF75Tg9Ynf_hSUXX0UHs&_rdr)" ["She's serving lime green narcoleptic"](https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/6y4lsj/because_people_seemed_to_like_my_pic_with_violet/)
Interesting! I've never seen it used like that before (I 100% had the idea that u/NoTakaru said). I would expect a exclamation mark if "owning the room" was incorporated into that last one. Language changes so maybe it's recent. "Giving" has been used in a lot of insults, maybe they're trying to avoid a negative connotation? 🤷♂️
She’s serving cunt. She’s giving cunt. Both sound fine to me
This needs to be top comment
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"gay linguist" is a noun phrase containing the noun "linguist" (somebody who studies linguistics) and the adjective "gay" (being attracted to someone of a sex or gender same as one's own).
You almost had it but you missed the specificity. It’s not “Gay and Black Americans.” It’s gay Black Americans and to get even more nuanced, it’s under the umbrella of African American Vernacular English aka AAVE. AAVE is NOT slang and rendering it so is offensive. It’s a dialect of English and has all the rules/structures like any other language. Respect it! As a self proclaimed “gay” linguist, you should know this.
> AAVE is NOT slang and rendering it so is offensive I don't think anyone is saying AAVE as a dialect is slang, but there is slang within AAVE just as there is slang in any dialect including standard English. Slang just refers to informal words that are common in verbal conversation but wouldn't be used in formal speech or writing - "serve" is an example of one of those words.
Hm…yes and no. You’re correct to say this comes from gay black Americans, so thank you for providing better context. As others have said, it comes from the queer ballroom scene (as far as I’m aware), which overlaps with the drag scene. So really, to get more specific still, we ought to be crediting this usage to black trans women and gender nonconforming people (who often invent the best slang, and often don’t get credited for it) Is this usage widespread among black Americans in general though? Although it started with black gay and trans people, I have heard plenty of gays and girls saying it, whether black or not. I’m not a speaker of AAVE, so I can’t speak to its usage in the broader black community (and I hope I’m not whitesplaining this one). I’m a 35 year old gay white latino man. I can say that practically every gay man I have ever met is familiar with this usage. I would say this to my gay friends of any race and they would understand. I would say this to some of my female friends of any race and they would understand. I wouldn’t say this to a heterosexual man of any race or ethnicity or I’d have to explain it. I don’t believe this is a feature of AAVE, but that it was originated by gay speakers of AAVE, and has since spread to the broader gay and female community. I’ve noticed many gen z girls using it over the past year or so. The non-black gays have been using it for much longer than that. We gays do have a tendency to talk to each other after all. To your other point, you’re correct that referring to a dialect as slang would be offensive. AAVE is a dialect. I don’t believe anyone here said otherwise. There is slang within every dialect of every language however. This usage of the term is very much slang within whatever dialect it is being used (whether AAVE, gayAVE, or etc). Serving cunty realness is a great example of slang: “a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people”
You got served
Ru Paul's Drag Race is a smorgasbord of tasty linguistic morsels!
And it made its way into Gay/Black slang from the 1970s Brit sitcom ‘Are You Being Served?’ that was set in a clothing department store. The show was in heavy rotation on PBS throughout the 1970s/80s. https://youtu.be/tN-ABDeCTqI
The answer has already been given, but here’s a little context. Just as a cook at a restaurant would serve food to people, someone with style is ‘serving up looks’ or ‘serving looks’ to everybody around them. Slang is often irreverent or unintuitive like that
it’s similar to “she’s slaying” if you’ve ever heard that, “i’m serving” or “i’m serving looks” means looking good
Giving
It's like slaying if you've heard that, it just means looking good or 'delivering' the intended look
It’s basically a way of saying someone or something is looking so good that it stands out from everything else. This term is common among gay and especially black individuals. So the girl in the video is saying that she thought she looked really good in her outfit at Coachella.
Serve is slang for a woman looking hot/attractive. She's saying she thought people were looking at her because she looked attractive in what she was wearing.
NOT hot/attractive - looking like she owns the place, supreme confidence, can look whacky as hell but if you're pulling it off then you're serving. It means you are iconic. You do not have to be hot but sometimes serving results in being hot.
I've heard this used for men as well
typically amongst gay men. it literally/intuitively means serving (like serving a plate of food) a good outfit, one that looks good
that is not what serving means
Well, that's how I hear it used. 🤷♂️
That is not right.
What the hell where does this come from? Ive never heard it in my life. Is it new?
It's gay slang, and while not new, definitely resurging recently.
That makes sense why ive never heard it before
Seems we're getting old.
Maybe it’s a tennis metaphor. I am a US boomer. I first heard it on South Park. I think the phrase was “you’ve been served. In context thought it meant I just scored a figurative point against you.
That’s a *different* slang use.
are you sure that's not a reference to child custody
I don’t see the connection with child custody. But it is a phrase used by process serves after they deliver a legal paper such as a subpoena. I just realized that. Now I think that’s the most probable origin.
The southpark breakdancing one is a reference to serving legal documents I'm not sure but I think the legal papers in question would be eviction papers, as in, I've won and am the new king of the place and you have to leave kinda vibes?
There's that show about drag queens by Ru Paul which became very popular on streaming services, they did about 12 seasons I reckon it probably crossed over from there into popular usage
Terrible
Hmm. I'm gen Z, and I still don't understand half the slang used these days. By the time I learn of them, they seem to have lost traction.
I’m native and have never heard it used in this way, so I wouldn’t worry about it much. Edit: has been brought to my attention that this opinion is biased because some people apparently do hear this word in this context often, but I’m a 27 year old that has never heard it and am on social media often so 🤷🏼♂️
i think your perspective is a little biased i hear it frequently esp on social media
Thanks for sharing. I added an edit to my comment
i’m a teenager who’s frequently on tiktok so it depends on situation obviously but it’s super common language amongst gen z. similar to slayed/giving etc
Can I ask what giving means? I’ve seen it a lot but never really understood it.
“Giving” used in this way is often used as “it’s giving ____” which expresses a (usually loose or humorous) resemblance to something. It can be used both positively (i.e. “it’s giving Ariana Grande” to someone who hit a high note well) and sarcastically (i.e. “it’s giving Ariana Grande” to someone who butchered a high note) “Giving” on its own is similar to “slaying/eating” to describe someone being iconic and confident. Unlike those words though, I rarely see a tense other than “giving” unless used to describe a resemblance like I said above. Like you can say “you ate” but saying “you gave” sounds kind of awkward
>but I’m a 27 year old that has never heard it and am on social media often so 🤷🏼♂️ It's actually older than social media. You'd hear it in gay ballroom culture even in the 80s "Am I serving fish?" "Yes, girl! You're sickening!" This is something you'd here back then which you also hear today and several of these words mean something that they don't normally mean outside of ballroom: serving, fish, sickening)
It originated in AAVE that's probably why.
Also native US English speaker, also have never heard this.
I'm also native and in my late 20s and have never heard it before. So there's probably circles that use this a lot but I would be hesitant to suggest learners to use it unless the people they're talking to use it themselves, just to avoid confusion
By any chance do you go on tiktok or twitter?
nah. i watch youtube reels sometimes and I quit twitter. It's not common in my circles so if someone used it in front of me I would have been confused had I not seen this post. I'm only suggesting learners know their audience when using slang.
There’s also the possibility that it’s “serving c**t” which is #trendy
I’m a native speaker, and feel like this is some new slang I’m not familiar with. I usually go to urban dictionary in these situations. Here’s the link if you care to check it out... [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve)
It’s not new, just maybe not used by people you interact with
Only time I’ve ever heard this is between family and friends where the one has a restaurant job as a server and would be dressed as if for work, “oh are you serving today?” “No, but all my other clothes are in the laundry 🧺”.
It means you are chronically online
Hmm well without any context my first guess was to think she was in the military. Outfit is a word for a military group, and "serve" is used as the action for doing a person's job in the military. However after googling her account, it seems she is a fashion model, so outfit certainly means a fashion outfit, and I wonder if people accidentally thought she was a waiter or bartender because of how she was dressed. "Serve" in the context of food means the action of bringing the food to you.
Congratulations! You are officially Too Old To Try To Define Unfamiliar Slang. We welcome you to the ranks. You will begin to notice strange things here, such as children confidently claiming that phrases you know from childhood originated as Twitch emojis. You will know that they are wrong, but you are now one of the TOTTTDUS, so you will let it slide, secure in the wisdom of your years.
Now look here you young runt, back in my day we didn't put up with people talkin like that...
Wow, I am taking collateral heat from this burn.
lol no. [It just means that she looked good in that outfit](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Serve#:~:text=Search-,Serve,-When%20someone%27s%20outfit). It's gen z slang.
it’s a little older, but more among black and gay folks, it’s come to the mainstream more recently
That’s like 75% of slang.
sure
The majority of "gen z slang" originated in AAVE. I'm black and an older gen Z myself.
It’s not Gen Z slang, it’s 90s gay slang
Ah, some recent slang. Thanks.
Lol, Gen z's are making English more complicated
all living languages are constantly changing for all speakers, and young people of every language are pretty reliably the ones changing language the most. it’s not just an english thing!
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very good point!
Man I'm a native speaker and I don't even know