# When did the expression "low-key" start being used? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2023, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780 "2023-01-06T10:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/1 "2023-01-06T10:57:08Z")
Talking about the modern usage, as described here: [https://allthings.how/what-does-low-key-slang-mean-and-how-to-use-it/](https://allthings.how/what-does-low-key-slang-mean-and-how-to-use-it/) The article says that it started getting used during the late 2000s, but this song seems to use it in the year 2000, and from the usage it doesn’t sound like it’s particularly obscure. [Thomas Rusiak – Hiphopper - YouTube](https://youtu.be/Jvf7I7ypTIc) (start at 1:40) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/2 "2023-01-06T11:05:01Z")
> by 1895, perhaps 1847, from low key in some sense relating to deep musical tone or quiet sound; see [low](https://www.etymonline.com/word/low?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_14561) (adj.) + [key](https://www.etymonline.com/word/key?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_1829) (n.1). Low key in reference to a quiet voice is attested from 1837. from > **[Etymonline - Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/3 "2023-01-06T11:05:18Z")
The term is much older. Certainly low-key lighting, for both still and cinematic use is well understood, and goes back at least a century, if not longer. The key light is the frontal lighting that shows the subject, a low key lighting emphasis the background and not the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/4 "2023-01-06T11:11:53Z")
I’m specifically talking about the modern slang usage. I’m aware that the term itself is much older. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/5 "2023-01-06T12:04:54Z")
Still way before 2000. I’ve been using it for as long as I can remember. I’m 62yo. It’s sort of like the term ‘On the down low’ or ‘keep in under the radar’ ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/6 "2023-01-06T12:09:30Z")
Given its very long use in photography and cinema I would suspect that it goes back vastly longer in its current slang meaning as well. I can certainly remember using it many decades before 2000. Minimally, professionals in the photographic and cinema world would have been comfortable using it to mean subtle right from the start. It is probably suffering from a common habit of young things thinking they invented something new. ---
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/7 "2023-01-06T12:15:09Z")
I think there is a difference between “Let’s keep it low-key” and “I low-key like that kind of music”. The first one I remember as being around forever, but not the second one. However, the music video I posted seems to be an example of the second one. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/8 "2023-01-06T14:12:46Z")
Yes the term is old as salt. But the modern way of using it is different than the term posters here are remembering from their youths. I’ve only started noticing it in the early 2010s or so. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/9 "2023-01-06T14:15:56Z")
That is mentioned in the article. Posters should read that first before replying, as it goes over the modern usage, as an adverb meaning “to some extent.” That’s not how I used it in the 80s and 90a. We’d use it in the sense of “laid back” or “not flashy” as in, “that was a pretty low-key party.” Today they might say “I low-key like Olivia Rodrigo” or something like that. That’s the usage the OP is interested in. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/10 "2023-01-06T14:22:37Z")
I have never heard “I low-key like…” anytime, anywhere. I live in Chicago, if that makes any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/11 "2023-01-06T14:33:05Z")
It’s been pretty common among teenagers around here (Cleveland area), for the past several years. Though I think it might be on the way out, now. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/12 "2023-01-06T16:15:15Z")
In _American Gods_ (published in 2001) The god Loki is disguised as a human named Low Key, which of course a nod to his secretive nature. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/13 "2023-01-06T16:25:02Z")
This geezer has never heard nor read of “low-key” used in the way the OP 's article discusses. All that proves is that I’m out of touch, but it also suggests this usage didn’t / hasn’t yet made it too far into mainstream print media. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/14 "2023-01-06T16:28:51Z")
It’s slang mostly used by teenagers to other teenagers, so if you’re not interacting with teenagers much, you probably won’t encounter it. Which is probably mostly true of every generation’s slang. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/15 "2023-01-06T16:56:41Z")
I live in Chicago, too. You need to either be interacting with younger folk, or watching/reading YouTube/Reddit/TikTok. I see it all the time in YouTube comments for videos that also attract a younger audience. I hear it from my 8-year-old as well. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/16 "2023-01-06T17:06:41Z")
ISTM part of the confusion lies in that the page linked in the OP seems to address exclusively _ **this** _ particular “newer” usage, without going into how expressions like “the event was kept low-key” or “he took a more low-key tone” were in use since way back in the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/17 "2023-01-06T17:07:24Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > ISTM part of the confusion lies in that the page linked in the OP seems to address exclusively _ **this** _ particular “newer” usage But that’s what the OP is asking about – the “modern” usage. I should add, it can also mean something like “secretly” when used as an adverb in the modern way. ETA: The song referenced in the OP contains this lyric: “You see me wearin’ baggy jeans And my fat ten stays on my feet I never smile when someone’s around I’m low key stayin hardcore I’m never listening to anything else But the hiphop which y’all can’t feel” Which does sound like one of the modern usages of the word, apparently back in 2000. I definitely have not heard it back then, but I also wasn’t in the US back then. For me, it’s more somewhere in the early 2010s that I first became exposed to usages like this. The earliest “good” (as in same definition and up-voted) citation on Urbandictionary I could find goes back to 2010. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/18 "2023-01-06T17:10:29Z")
I suspect there’d be less confusion in the thread if the OP had said any of this in the post itself, rather than forcing his cite to do all the work of telling us what he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/19 "2023-01-06T17:14:36Z")
N-gram would indicate somewhere around 2012 > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%5BI%2Blow%2B-%2Bkey%5D&year_start=1980&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780/20 "2023-01-06T17:14:45Z")
My kids, especially my oldest, use it in the modern way. I’d wager that that usage is 20 years old or younger. She’s 26, but didn’t start using it until she was a teen. ETA: @MrDibble with the proper FQ response! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-expression-low-key-start-being-used/977780.md?page=2)