Deadass

About

Deadass is a slang term that means “Seriously.” It spiked in popularity in the fall of 2016 thanks to use in memes on Black Twitter.

Origin

The origins of “Deadass” are unknown, though it is believed to have come from New York City.^[1] The first known online definition of “Deadass” appeared on Urban Dictionary on June 30th, 2003.^[2] User Tai defined “Deadass” as:

To be completely and honestly serious.
A reply used by people who have been questioned on the truth of their comment.
To be truthful and not lie.
A truncation of the phrase “dead ass serious”.

The post, shown below, has 5194 upvotes and 2389 downvotes as of October 25th, 2016.

Spread

Similar definitions appeared on other websites in the following years.^[3][4] Dictionary.com^[5] has a slightly different definition, in which the word can be used as an adverb to mean “completely, totally,” or be used as a noun to describe “A stupid, boring person; an absolute dullard.” However, online uses generally tend to mean “to be completely serious.”

“Deadass” is particularly on /r/BlackPeopleTwitter. For example, an August 5th, 2015 post by Wafflezlolqt^[6] defining the word as “A question, reaction, and confirmation in NY” gained 443 points in a year.

The slang began growing popular on /r/BlackPeopleTwitter in late 2016 following the word’s use in image macros and photoshops alongside similar slang like “Facts” and Timbs. On October 18th, 2016, Eldest219 took to /r/OutofTheLoop^[7] asking the definition. Dozens of memes featuring “Deadass” appear on meme-aggregate site Sizzle.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References