RuPaul's Drag Race terminology
A number of slang terms have been used on the American reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race (2009–present), in which RuPaul searches for "America's next drag superstar".
![](../I/m/RuPaul's_Drag_Race_Logo.svg.png)
Logo for RuPaul's Drag Race
During his 2018 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, RuPaul described some of the show's terminology to host Stephen Colbert.[1]
List of terms and definitions
Slang terms used on the series have included:
- American dream[2]
![](../I/m/Rupaul_Dragcon_2018-276_(41377484424).jpg)
"Bam" is a joyous expression used by Alexis Mateo (pictured in 2018).
- bam: a joyous expression used by Alexis Mateo (season 3; All Stars seasons 1 and 5),[2] originally for season 3's "Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Style" maxi challenge and later repeated by RuPaul[3]
- beat[4][5] / beat one's face[2][6]
- best Judies / Judies[7]
- BGB / bye, girl, bye[2]
- big girl: a drag queen who wears plus-size clothing[2]
- booger[2]
- break the dawn[2]
- busted[5]
- Bye Felicia[8]
- chanté, you stay[2] / shantay, you stay[6] / shante, you stay[4]
- charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent[2][6]
- Chicago[2]
- chicken cutlets: gel inserts used to create cleavage[2]
![](../I/m/Capital_Pride_Festival_DC_2018_(28429725407).jpg)
Tatianna (center) uses the catchphrase "choices".
- choices: a catchphrase used by Tatianna (season 2; All Stars season 2)[3]
- condragulations[2][6]
- cooking: allowing time for face powder to set[4]
- country realness: "authentic Southern style" and a season 2 runway category[2]
![](../I/m/Cynthia_Lee_Fontaine_at_RuPaul's_Dragcon_2017_by_dvsross.jpg)
"Cucu" is Cynthia Lee Fontaine's name for the buttocks.
- cucu: Cynthia Lee Fontaine's (seasons 8 and 9) name for the buttocks[3]
- death drop[5]
- drag mother[2][5] / dragmother[6]
- eat it: a "confident expression" used by Latrice Royale (season 4; All Stars seasons 1 and 4) "when she is feeling fabulous... It essentially means that those around you must accept the fact that you're that great."[3]
![](../I/m/YaraSofia.jpg)
Yara Sofia (pictured in 2016) uses the catchphrase "echa pa lante", which translates to "go for it" in Spanish.
- echa pa lante: a catchphrase translating to "go for it" in Spanish, used by Yara Sofia (season 3; All Stars season 1)[2][3]
- eleganza extravaganza[6] / extravaganza eleganza[2]
- family[4]
- fierce[2][4]
- fierce jazzercise realness[2]
- fish[4][6] / fishy[2][5]
- gag[5][6] / gagging[9]
- garage doors[2]
- girl / gurl[6]
- go Mary-Kate[2]
![](../I/m/Shangela_at_Rupaul's_Dragcon_2017_(cropped).jpg)
Shangela (pictured in 2017) uses the catchphrase "halleloo".
- halleloo: an expression of joy or praise used by Shangela (seasons 2 and 3; All Stars season 3)[2] as another way of saying "hallelujah";[3] the phrase is "impossible to forget" and "without question, the first legitimate catch phrase that came out of this franchise", according to Screen Rant's Bernardo Sim[3]
- heather[2]
- henny: catchphrase popularized by Stacy Layne Matthews (season 3), who returned for the All Stars season 4 episode "Super Girl Groups, Henny!"; outside Drag Race, the term is sometimes used as another way to pronounce "honey"[3]
- hieeee: catchphrase popularized by Alaska Thunderfuck (season 5; All Stars season 2), sometimes said high-pitched; later used by other contestants, as well as RuPaul and Michelle Visage on most episodes of the podcast What's the Tea?[3]
- house[4]
- hunty[6][10]
- interior illusions lounge: a backstage room where contestants wait during judge deliberations[2]
- kai kai[2][11]
- ki ki[6] / kiki[5][9]
- ladyboy: a synonym for a drag queen, and a song by RuPaul performed by season 2 contestants[2]
- leotarded: wearing a bodysuit[2]
- library[4][6]
- lip sync for your life[2][6]
- Meryl Streep realness[2]
- Miss Vanjie: a catchphrase made "instantly famous" by Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (seasons 10 and 11) when she repeated the phrase three times while walking backwards during her season 10 sashay away; according to Screen Rant, the catchphrase is "one of the most memorable" in the show's history and how some fans refer to Vanessa Vanjie Mateo[3]
- okurrr[12]
- party: Adore Delano's (season 6; All Stars season 2) catchphrase used "as a reaction to something that was said, and can mean a myriad of things depending on the context"[3]
![](../I/m/RuPaul_and_his_Pit_Crew_at_Dragcon_by_dvsross.jpg)
Pit Crew members with RuPaul (second from left), including Shawn Morales (second from right), in 2019
![](../I/m/Bob_The_Drag_Queen_at_Rupaul's_Dragcon_2017_by_dvsross_(cropped).jpg)
"Purse first" is a catchphrase used by Bob the Drag Queen, who later released a song by this name.
- purse first: catchphrase used by Bob the Drag Queen (season 8), who later a released a song by this title[3]
- read[2][4][6] / reading[5][9]
- realness[4][6]
- resting on pretty[2]
- sashay away[2][4][6][11]
- serve[6]
- sexcretary: a "sexy-looking" secretary[2]
- shade[4][6]
- she done already done had herses[4]
- she owns everything: to be "the one true queen" or "the most fabulous", according to Marie Claire[4]
- sickening[2][4][5][6]
- sissy that walk[4][6]
- Snatch Game[6]
- snatched[13]
- Soul Train realness[2]
- spilling the tea[9]
- sprepper[2]
- T[2] / tea[4][5] / tee[6]
- throw shade[14] / throwing shade[2][5][11]
- tuck[2][6]
- two piece and a biscuit: a Popeyes meal option and Mystique's (season 2) "secret to success"[2]
- werk / work[2][6]
- who-ho: a "ho" dressed like a Who from Dr. Seuss' fictional town of Whoville[2]
- yas / yas, queen![9]
gollark: Technically, it's F#.
gollark: Among the list of conferences which happened, it was one of them.
gollark: It was really conferency.
gollark: Too bad.
gollark: Good news! The Nobody Conference was successful, so the rules have been mildly edited and nobody is probably coming back.
See also
References
- Whitehead, Mathew (January 26, 2018). "RuPaul gives Stephen Colbert a masterclass in 'Drag Race' slang". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- Etkin, Jaimie (2011-04-24). "RuPaul's Drag Race Slang: Tuck, Sickening, and More Drag Terms". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Sim, Berarndo (November 3, 2019). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Most Memorable Catch Phrases". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- Borge, Jonathan (2015-03-16). "Decoding 'RuPaul's Drag Race': 16 Terms You Need to Know". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Day, Harvey (2019-10-02). "RuPaul's Drag Race UK quiz: How much drag queen slang do you know?". BBC Three. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "'RuPauls Drag Race' Slang Definitions". ELLE. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 4' recap: A star is born". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "This is what Bye Felicia actually means". PinkNews. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "How 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Fueled Pop Culture's Dominant Slang Engine". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Abrams, Sean. "What 'Hunty' Means, And Why Your Gay Friends Are Calling You It". Elite Daily. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "YAAS, RuPaul's Drag Race Mainstreams Gay Slang". www.advocate.com. 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- "Cardi B Will Trademark "Okurrr"—Even If the Phrase Has a Long History Before Her". W Magazine | Women's Fashion & Celebrity News. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Borge, Jonathan (2019-04-12). "40 Popular Slang Words, Explained". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Pollard, Amari D. (January 28, 2020). "Here's Where Your Favorite Slang Words Actually Came From". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
External links
- "The 2010s: Slang That Stuck". NPR. December 29, 2019 – via Oregon Public Broadcasting.
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