Beyoncé: She’s more than just a mother, a woman, an artist, Solange defender, and your hair idol—she’s a language. It’s true, the Internet’s favorite lady is the inspiration behind a great swath of online speak; she’s behind more than a few idioms the Internet is putting to paper. Well, pixels.
After recently noticing the term “drinking watermelon” somewhere online, sans explanation, I looked it up. And lo and behold:
Drinking watermelon: A term used in Beyoncé’s song ‘Drunk in Love.’ Watermelons have plenty of seeds; this is symbolic of Jay-Z’s semen which she has been drinking. “Jason got me the best gift for our anniversary! I just might starting drinking watermelon tonight.”
But “to drink watermelon” is not an anomaly; much of Urban Dictionary revolves around Beyoncé-originating phrases.
“Imma let you finish” has to be one of the most infamous Beyoncé-related entries (“obnoxious way to interrupt someone and steal their moment”), and “surfboard” (see also “surfboardt,” “surfboart,” and “surfbort” … really any way you could phonetically spell the word) refers to a sex position she describes in “Drunk in Love.” Also a sex/Bey-related entry from the song is “raining on that wood.” Feel free to hit the link because I blush easy.
Then there are a few obvious colloquialisms that even the least Internet among us should recognize, like “bootylicious” (“curvaceous or voluptuous, esp. in the derriere”) and one of the entries for “jelly” (“something that Beyoncé & Co. don’t think you’re ready for”).
Now we move into the area of the many words that incorporate Beyoncé’s name in some manner. For instance, “bighs”:
Noun: Thighs like Beyoncé—Beyoncé thighs. ‘Did you hear Gaby has been toning her thighs?’ … ‘Yeah, she has a fine set of bighs now.’
Also, “Beysus,” and the obvious entries that are both plays on her name and more or less odes to her. These include “beyoncefide,” “beyoncert.” Then, because they must exist, there are a few anti-Beyoncé Beyoncé phrases.
She’s also responsible for the verbs “beyonce-ing” (which either means obsessing over Beyoncé, pretending you’re Beyoncé, or being a spotlight-loving diva like Beyoncé) and “beyonce-d” (getting proposed to, being good at singing, or “the act of letting photographers only shoot from the sound stage during concerts”).
But I must close with my all-time, absolute, personal favorite:
Photo via Ch Villa/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)