Slay Went From Killing to Compliment
A slayer kills. The verb slay is ancient and violent, yet modern slang uses it for doing something impressively well.
A slayer is one who kills, a word that belongs to myth and legend more than to modern speech. Then the verb turned into praise: in Black and Latino ballroom culture, to *slay* meant to perform or look so good that you destroyed the competition, and the sense spread widely through social media after 2010. A word for killing became a way of saying well done.
- One who kills. *A dragon slayer.*
- Slay — to kill, chiefly literary. *He slew the beast.*
- Slay (slang) — to do brilliantly. *She absolutely slayed.*
- Slain — the past participle. *The slain were buried at dawn.*
- Giant-slayer — an underdog who beats a favourite. *Giant-slayers in the cup.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present | slay | Slay the dragon. |
| Past | slew | He slew it. |
| Participle | slain | The slain king. |
| Agent | slayer | A giant-slayer. |
| Slang past | slayed | She slayed last night. |
- The knight slew the dragon.Literary past: slew.
- That performance slayed.Slang; the past here is slayed, not slew.
- The tournament's giant-slayers went out in the semi-final.Sport.
Slew or slayed?
- Slew — the traditional past tense, for killing
- Slain — the past participle for killing
- Slayed — used for the slang sense, and increasingly for comedy: *he slayed the audience*
- Slew, the noun — a large number, an unrelated Irish borrowing
- Sleigh — a different word entirely
Old English *slean*, to strike or kill, plus the agent ending -er. The approving slang sense grew in ballroom culture in the late twentieth century and spread widely from around 2015.
Is the past tense slew or slayed?
Slew for the literal killing sense. Slayed is standard for the slang sense and for the older figurative one about entertaining an audience.
Where does the slang sense come from?
From Black and Latino ballroom and drag culture, where slaying meant outperforming everyone else.