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a word (or expression) used in informal situations in response to when someone says or does something nonsensical to showcase your disapproval (or acknowledgment) of what they said.
The word being primarily from AAVE (African American Vernacular English) meaning a simple alternate spelling of “boy” which can date back to the prominent usage when Big Boi, an American rapper, was on the scene in the early 1990’s. The word is deliberately spelt incorrectly which was parallel to media and vocabulary at the time such as “Boyz in the Hood”, or “finna”. The word is still used today in this spelling but with a simple twist.
The very popularized and more recent usage of this word and phrase originated from Vine in 2016. The word continued its popularity a bit more when it attached itself with a hand gesture to signal to someone who had done or said something ridiculous. Vine was a social media app where you would post 7 second clips to creatively tell or create a story, entertainment, or joke within that time constraint. The Vine app is to point towards the use of a couple of words used by people who grew up on the app earlier on such as “bruh” which is now a staple of communication for some people. These words being attached to male words (boy and boi or brother and bruh) do not make it exclusive because the form in which we use them makes it so anyone can use it to express themselves.
Example 1:
Tyler: “Davindar hurry and get on Valorant, we need a fifth for our team to play competitive.”
Davindar: “What do you mean, I’m already on.”(Lying)
Tyler: “Boi! It literally says you’re still playing Call of Duty.”
Example 2:
Tyler: “Jou you should come to the party with us and we can hang out after at my place.”
Jou: “Mmm… I don't know, I think I’ma just stay home and play Genshin.”
Tyler: “Boi if you don’t. You better not stay home or I’ll bring you out of there myself.”
“Boi If You Don’t .” Vine, https://vine.co/v/5miD51aVPxd/.
“Boi Meaning & Origin.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, 19 Jan. 2021, https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/boi/.
Dreamworks. “*Breath in* Boi.” Know Your Meme, Know Your Meme, 5 Oct. 2022, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/breath-in-boi.
Urquhart, Evan. “Why Are Straight Guys Suddenly Calling Themselves ‘Boi’?” Slate Magazine, Slate, 21 Oct. 2020, https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/10/boi-meaning-queer-term-straight-meme.html.
Val, director. YouTube, 3 Feb. 2018, https://youtu.be/2_WyTsyBZDs. Accessed 23 Nov. 2022.
YouTube, YouTube, 4 May 2016, https://youtube.com/shorts/DlmtbHw1mtA?feature=share. Accessed 23 Nov. 2022.
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