Tata Young's 'Bling bling'
Dear Dr English,
I guess you do not belong to the MTV generation. You answered a question from a reader regarding Tata Young and the expression Òblink, blinkÓ. What Tata would have said was bling bling. You can read the origin and the meaning in the following links.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1471629/20030430/bg.jhtml?headlines=true
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bling
Cheers
Peter Panayides
Dear Dr English,
This is regarding the query in June 19 paper from Mallika Mongkolporn about Tata YoungÕs use of the phrase Òblink blinkÓ to refer to her jewellery: I think she must have been saying Òbling blingÓ, which is slang for jewellery and often used by black American rap singers.
Urban dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com) has the following definition for bling: ÒJamaican slang that has been adopted by some African-American rappers and inserted into popular culture. The term Ôbling blingÕ refers to the imaginary ÔsoundÕthat is produced from light reflected by a diamond. See The SilvertonesÕ ÔBling Bling ChristmasÕ for the earliest-known usage of the slang.Ó
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Jeremy Bartle
Dear Dr English,
Blink is, of course, not slang but ÒblingÓ is. It means bright shiny things worn usually by women. You should get out more drenglish! IÕm sorry, but you came across as so pedantic in Smartlife. Learning English should be fun, like bling.
Harry Orr
Dear Dr English,
In your column published on June 19, Malika Mongkolporn asked about the MTV appearance of Tata and the comments regarding her jewellery. Malika quoted Tata as saying, Òblink-blinkÓ; perhaps what she heard is the term Òbling-blingÓ associated with the hip-hop culture in the United States.
An online article defines it as Ò...term, which is used to describe diamonds, jewellery and all forms of showy styleÓ. It was coined by the New Orleans rap family Cash Money Millionaires back in the late Õ90s and started gaining national awareness with a song titled ÒBling BlingÓ by Cash Money artist BG. I understand that the word, along with other hip-hop terms, such as ÒjiggyÓ and ÒphatÓ, have now been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Mariel
Thank you all very much. It certainly helps.
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