• @SpezCanLigmaBalls
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    31 year ago

    Okay I hear you I see what you mean. I should say though it isn’t just my friend group, it really is my generation and the one prior so it’s more of a widespread. I do see what you’re saying. I had never heard the term ‘bless up’ used in a religious before until now although I knew the term bless or blessed was religious. But the thing is, couldn’t you make this argument against all of slang that uses a word in a different way than it’s original purpose? Putting it this way just basically makes slang completely irrelevant and not usable in any situation if you are using a word that is not from its original definition so that’s where I find pointing this specific term out causes issues due to the multitude of other slang you can attack from this angle. I feel like it’s just knit picking at that point

    • fkn
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      11 year ago

      Yes. Terms do change overtime as entire groups use them, but the change is usually massive or multi-generational.

      Slang is just that, slang. The terms still retain their standard meaning and when interpreted still carry the standard connotation.

      For example, in the late 90s “Bad” was a “good” thing, but the connotation of the thing that was good was still a “bad” connotation. A “baddie” being used to talk about a person connotes someone you “don’t take home to your parents” even though you might be interested in them.

      A more modern example is “drip” which historical slang meant a lame/sad/stupid person, like water dripping on you, but the term has changed as the entire zoomer generation started using it to mean clothing… But even that definition comes from its use of “dripping money” which originates from its base usage of to dribble slowly.

      Bless/Blessed maybe changing, but the cultural pull on it to relate to a supernaturally endowed luck or divine favor is huge.

      Bless up, as a greeting, is just another religious style greeting such as “peace be upon you”. They mean basically the same thing. “Hi/good luck/ be blessed/goodbye/etc”… But they are fundamentally religious.

      Bless up, as a reaction to a personal achievement, is a shortened mechanism by which religious individuals deny selfishness and/or pride. “Giving thanks to God” means that the individuals achievement shouldn’t be held against them in a cultural situation where pride is a deadly sin. It’s basically false modesty to avoid being labeled prideful or sinful by their religious congregation, which is 100% what those groups did/do to athletes they wanted to throw under the bus.

      That pointing at the sky thing is virtue signaling to the religious right. “I didn’t make that touchdown, God did.”

      Frankly, the fact that you don’t know this is amazing… It means you aren’t being subjected to the same horrendous shit we were in my generation.