Extended Definition/Analysis

The term “ate/ate that” is a popular phrase used to congratulate someone for doing exceedingly well at a particular task. Although the exact origins of the phrase are unknown, it has roots in African American Vernacular English or AAVE, and was a slang term commonly used in projects of Queens, NY in the early 2000’s. The earliest definition for this term came from Urban Dictionary and was written by a user called Cazza759. Cazza759 defined the term “ate that" as “did a great job, pulled it off well, had a lot of success with something.” 

Although this phrase originally came from New York, it made its way around the world with the rising popularity of social media in the 2000’s and 2010’s, and has had a resurgence with its current use on the social media platform TikTok. With the rising popularity of this phrase there has also been a rise in controversy over who can use it. It is no secret that throughout history elements of different cultures have been adopted by the dominant culture in that society and stripped of their original meaning. Arguably one of the biggest examples of this in our society today is the continuous appropriation of AAVE in popular culture. AAVE stands for African American Vernacular English and is defined by Dictionary.com as “a designation used by linguists to describe a North American dialect of English used by some Black people. Like older names for this dialect, the full term is usually used only once or twice to introduce it in writing or speech; thereafter the abbreviation (AAVE) is used, with the result that the abbreviation is far more common than the expanded form, especially in the fields of linguistics, sociolinguistics, and sociology.” This new dialect was born from people who had their freedom, humanity, and traditions taken away from them. It feels like a slap in the face to an entire community when the dominant culture begins to partake in traditions that were created to replace a culture that they destroyed in the first place. 

People use (and often misuse) AAVE terms without a proper understanding of the language and how black Americans have used it to portray their unique experience. That is why it is important to recognize where certain terms come from before we use them, especially when it comes to AAVE or other languages that did not originate from the dominant culture. . It is essential to respect the meaning of these terms and use them in their appropriate context. 

Works Cited

Ate that. Ate That - What does ate that mean? (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://slang.net/meaning/ate_that 

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). AAVE definition & meaning. Dictionary.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/aave 

Hamilton, P. (2022, March 18). Ate that / thought you ate. Know Your Meme. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ate-that-thought-you-ate 

Kwasii [@iiamkwasii] “[G]irl you ate that, scrumdilly yum yum, purr purr” Tiktok, 2022 

https://www.tiktok.com/@iiamkwasii/video/7168141919023910186 

Yomary, T. (2022, August 31). What does "ate" mean on TikTok? the popular slang term decoded. Distractify. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.distractify.com/p/what-does-ate-mean-on-tiktok