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". Some terms in the list already existed within drag culture, but were more widely popularized by their use in the show, while others originated within the show itself.

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
"Bam" is a joyous expression used by Alexis Mateo (pictured in 2018).
Tatianna (center) uses the catchphrase "choices".
"Cucu" is Cynthia Lee Fontaine's name for the buttocks.
Yara Sofia (pictured in 2016) uses the catchphrase "echa pa lante", which translates to "go for it" in Spanish.
Shangela (pictured in 2017) uses the catchphrase "halleloo".
Pit Crew members with RuPaul (second from left), including Shawn Morales (second from right), in 2019
"Purse first" is a catchphrase used by Bob the Drag Queen, who later released a song by this name.

Slang terms used on the series have included:

RuPaul's Drag Race terminology
TermDefinition
American dream[2]
bama 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 girla drag queen who wears plus-size clothing[2]
booger[2]
break the dawn[2]
busted[5]being unpolished or messy
Bye, Felicia[8]
chanté, you stay[2] / shantay, you stay[6] / shante, you stay[4]
charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent[2][6]euphemism for C.U.N.T, shown by the first letter of each word
Chicago[2]
chicken cutletsgel inserts used to create cleavage[2]
choicesa catchphrase used by Tatianna (season 2; All Stars season 2)[3]
condragulations[2][6]
cookingallowing time for face powder to set[4]
country realness"authentic Southern style" and a season 2 runway category[2]
cucuCynthia Lee Fontaine's (seasons 8 and 9) name for the buttocks[3]
death drop[5]go-to dance move where a queen will dramatically fall back into a stroke pose, usually at the end of a lipsync or during a beat drop
drag mother[2][5] / dragmother[6]
eat ita "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]
echa pa lantea 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]

a term used to describe when a drag queen looks like a cis-gendered woman

gag[5][6] / gagging[9]another term used in place of “stunned”
garage doors[2]
girl / gurl[6]
go Mary-Kate[2]
hallelooan 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"a conventionally pretty drag queen and member of the 'popular' clique", from the film Heathers[2]
hennycatchphrase 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]
hieeeecatchphrase 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 loungea backstage room where contestants wait during judge deliberations[2]
kai kai[2][11]
ki ki[6] / kiki[5][9]
ladyboya synonym for a drag queen, and a song by RuPaul performed by season 2 contestants[2]
leotardedwearing a bodysuit[2]
library[4][6]
lip sync for your life[2][6]
Meryl Streep realness[2]
Miss Vanjiea 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]
partyAdore 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]
Pit Crew[2][6]
PMP[2]
purse firstcatchphrase 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]
sexcretarya "sexy-looking" secretary[2]
shade[4][6]
she done already done had herses[4]a mis-spoken line in a RuPaul show meant to sound “ghetto”, ‘herses’ should read ‘hers’. “She had already done hers.”
she owns everythingto be "the one true queen" or "the most fabulous", according to Marie Claire[4]
sickening[2][4][5][6]used to refer to a queen who is exceptionally “amazing” or “flawless”
sissy that walk[4][6]
Snatch Game[6]a main challenge, where contestants showcase their best celebrity impersonations in a game show setting. Snatch Game is a parody of the classic TV show, "Match Game", which aired from 1962 to 1991, where contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to "fill-in-the-blank" questions.
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 biscuita Popeyes meal option and Mystique's (season 2) "secret to success"[2]
werk / work[2][6]
who-hoa "ho" dressed like a Who from Dr. Seuss' fictional town of Whoville[2]
yas / yas, queen![9]

See also

References
  1. Whitehead, Mathew (January 26, 2018). "RuPaul gives Stephen Colbert a masterclass in 'Drag Race' slang". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. Etkin, Jaimie (2011-04-24). "RuPaul's Drag Race Slang: Tuck, Sickening, and More Drag Terms". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  3. Sim, Berarndo (November 3, 2019). "RuPaul's Drag Race: 10 Most Memorable Catch Phrases". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  4. Borge, Jonathan (2015-03-16). "Decoding 'RuPaul's Drag Race': 16 Terms You Need to Know". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  5. 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.
  6. "'RuPauls Drag Race' Slang Definitions". ELLE. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  7. "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 4' recap: A star is born". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  8. "This is what Bye Felicia actually means". PinkNews. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  9. "How 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Fueled Pop Culture's Dominant Slang Engine". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  10. Abrams, Sean. "What 'Hunty' Means, And Why Your Gay Friends Are Calling You It". Elite Daily. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  11. "YAAS, RuPaul's Drag Race Mainstreams Gay Slang". www.advocate.com. 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  12. "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.
  13. Borge, Jonathan (2019-04-12). "40 Popular Slang Words, Explained". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  14. Pollard, Amari D. (January 28, 2020). "Here's Where Your Favorite Slang Words Actually Came From". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
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