# "Throw shade" means the exact opposite of what I think it should. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585 "2018-11-15T20:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/1 "2018-11-15T20:29:50Z")
Am I alone on this? To my mind, “throw shade” sounds like you’re trying to provide cover for a certain individual. I always have to do a double take when I hear that term. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/2 "2018-11-15T21:00:41Z")
Do you live in a really hot area? Because to me it seems more like you are blocking the sunshine from the individual. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/3 "2018-11-15T21:02:38Z")
shade = shady Throw shade = casting shady doubts onto someone ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/4 "2018-11-15T21:59:25Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Do you live in a really hot area? I do, and I’m with the OP - shade is a _good_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/5 "2018-11-15T22:40:09Z")
I thought it meant to overshadow something, to tower over it and leave it in obscurity, like a skyscraper next to a little hovel. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/6 "2018-11-15T23:15:00Z")
Surely it depends upon the context? Compare _I’m throwing shade on the begonias._ with _Alice was throwing shade on Belinda’s business dealings._ and _Eric was throwing shade for Francine’s absence._ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/7 "2018-11-16T13:35:34Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > _Alice was throwing shade on Belinda’s business dealings._ Alice? I think you mean Karen. That bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/8 "2018-11-16T14:09:57Z")
Two different sources give similar accounts of the phrase. Whether both sources come from the same people or just reach the same conclusion, I don’t know. “Shade” is a kind of insult or disparagement that relies on everybody being able to see that the insult is true. Apparently the use of “throw” is like the use of “hurl an insult”. My guess that it related to throwing a shadow was a complete misread. > **[Throw shade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throw_shade)** > > The expressions "throw shade", "throwing shade", or simply "shade", are slang terms for a certain type of insult, often nonverbal. Journalist Anna Holmes called shade "the art of the sidelong insult". Merriam-Webster defines it as "subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not". > The term can be found in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814). Young Edmund Bertram is displeased with a dinner guest's disparagement of the uncle who took h... > **[This is where the expression 'throw shade' comes from](https://www.businessinsider.com/where-the-expression-throw-shade-comes-from-2015-3)** > > Vital information in 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/9 "2018-11-16T15:43:56Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > To my mind, “throw shade” sounds like you’re trying to provide cover for a certain individual. When I first heard the term, I thought exactly this. And reading for context I’d be like, wait a minute, what? Now I get it, but it seems to have become a term that is widely misused. Throwing shade is supposed to be kind of vaguely insulting (or, you know, shady), but people use it to describe flat out insults. So, I avoid using it all together. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/10 "2018-11-16T16:26:51Z")
I have always lagged behind in my awareness of pop slang and just started hearing this one in the last few years. The thing to remember about slang is it doesn’t have to make sense. Thirty years ago I started hearing (and still hear) “sick” for “cool” or “awesome.” I still learn new slang from my kids all the time that has no logical etymology. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/11 "2018-11-16T16:31:31Z")
And shouldn’t “clap back” mean reciprocating applause? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/12 "2018-11-16T17:08:13Z")
And if my gf is going to peg me she’d better be using tent stakes! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/13 "2018-11-16T17:15:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Am I alone on this? > > To my mind, “throw shade” sounds like you’re trying to provide cover for a certain individual. > > I always have to do a double take when I hear that term. That’s exactly what I thought the first few times I heard it, and even the first time I used it. > [@kayaker](#): > > And if my gf is going to peg me she’d better be using tent stakes! Then we will peg in the shade! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/14 "2018-11-16T17:19:05Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And if my gf is going to peg me she’d better be using tent stakes! > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Then we will peg in the shade! Do not google this. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/15 "2018-11-16T19:12:10Z")
‘Selfie’ should be a shorthand (so to speak) for autoeroticism, and a ‘selfie stick’ should be a dildo or vibrator. ‘Doing a solid’ should be taking a shit. JMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/16 "2018-11-16T21:20:06Z")
I would have assumed it was a modern slang version of ‘taking umbrage’ with someone. Etymologically related to ‘umbrella’ too, making it appropriate for Rihanna in that above link. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/17 "2018-11-16T22:06:45Z")
Come on, old people! Shade is a natural evolution from shine. When some entity is doing well it’s shining; shading or “throwing shade” prevents my shine from being observed. Sheesh! By the by, I also speak [jive.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0j2dVuhr6s) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/18 "2018-11-17T15:35:50Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > The thing to remember about slang is it doesn’t have to make sense. Thirty years ago I started hearing (and still hear) “sick” for “cool” or “awesome.” I still learn new slang from my kids all the time that has no logical etymology. Right, if you were going to make a list of slang that makes sense without context or explanation and another list of slang that requires explanation, I’d imagine the list of no explanation is needed would be much shorter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/19 "2018-11-17T16:07:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > ‘Doing a solid’ should be taking a shit. It sounds a lot better than “do me a liquid”! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585/20 "2018-11-17T17:29:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It sounds a lot better than “do me a liquid”! Or “do me a gas”. mmm [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throw-shade-means-the-exact-opposite-of-what-i-think-it-should/824585.md?page=2)