Street voices
Janna
·
United States
"Side eye or giving someone the side eye is basically giving judgment or disapproval towards something or being bewildered by something in a way. An example would be, oh my God, why is that man at the club getting so close to you? Side eye. Let's leave."
What it means
Side eye is that sideways look you give when someone's said or done something dodgy, stupid, out of pocket, or just plain embarrassing. You barely move your head, but your face does the whole verdict. To give someone the side eye means letting the judgement land without wasting breath on a full speech.
Usage examples
"When he said the avocado toast was overrated, three of us threw him the same side eye without rehearsing. We did not need a meeting to agree."
"My mum hit me with a championship-level side eye when I tried to claim the leftover lasagne for breakfast. Said nothing, won the war."
"She said her situationship was spiritually faithful, and the whole kitchen gave her side eye."
"I got side eye from the cashier when I came back five minutes later for more snacks, and honestly fair enough."
"I said I was getting back with my ex and my sister gave me the nastiest side eye from across the sofa."
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Where it comes from
This comes from African American English and was in spoken use well before meme culture got its sticky little hands on it. It blew up wider through TV, stan culture, reaction gifs, and social media in the 2010s, but the phrase had already been doing quiet judgment work in everyday conversation for years.
Editors of this term
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