Slay

exclamation of praise - 'you nailed it / iconic / amazing'

Origin

From the English 'to slay' (literally 'to kill, to slaughter'). The modern praising sense ('to do something excellently, to shine') comes from African-American English (AAVE) and was shaped in Black and queer ballroom/drag culture (1980s), where 'slay' celebrates style, presence and a successful performance. It spread worldwide through pop, reality TV and especially TikTok, Instagram and Twitter; in 2022 'slay' was voted Jugendwort des Jahres in Germany.

Source

Building blocks

Words in this expression

Examples

  • Dein ? Slay!

    Your outfit today? Slay!