Slang terms that have had their meanings inverted over time?

[Red Mage Riot]

I was just thinking about this at work last night(I have a REALLY boring job, ya'll), that, back in the olden days being "the goat" in a situation meant you were the fool, or the idiot. Nowadays, when someone calls you the GOAT, it's actually pretty high praise. Any other terms like this that have swapped meanings throughout the ages?

[Cyno]

In hockey, a hat trick is scoring 3 goals in a single game. In baseball, it's striking out 3 times in a single game.

[The Ichi]

Being "that bitch" probably didn't use to be a term of endearment.

[Natural Born Farmer]

These days "slacker" is a pretty innocuous insult used to refer to someone who isn't living up to their potential.

When it originated, it was a term for someone who'd dodged the draft in World War 1, and was one of the strongest condemnations you could hit someone with.

[BlackoutCreature]

May 25, 2023 15:43:39 GMT -5 Cyno said:

In hockey, a hat trick is scoring 3 goals in a single game. In baseball, it's striking out 3 times in a single game.

"Hat Trick" has in general become slang for doing anything in three's nowadays.

[Johnny B. Decent]

Being a "chad" meant being an annoying fratboy dickhead.

[saneiac]

May 25, 2023 16:04:53 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

These days "slacker" is a pretty innocuous insult used to refer to someone who isn't living up to their potential.

When it originated, it was a term for someone who'd dodged the draft in World War 1, and was one of the strongest condemnations you could hit someone with.

That can't be right. Marshal Strickland was calling people slackers way back in 1885.

[schma]

May 25, 2023 16:39:11 GMT -5 Johnny B. Decent said:

Being a "chad" meant being an annoying fratboy dickhead.

To be fair, a lot of people using absolute Chad as a positive term would probably find a lot to like in an annoying fratboy dickhead.

[chazraps]

"Hot Take" and "Cold Take" used to mean very different things, then people started sarcastically referring to someone's cold takes as their hot takes, and now hot takes means what cold takes once did.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

I'm always feeling gay until I pull a boner.

[poodoojenkins]

May 25, 2023 15:51:57 GMT -5 The Ichi said:

Being "that bitch" probably didn't use to be a term of endearment.

Just ask that bitch Carol Baskin.

[Sephiroth]

“Eat my a$$” used to be an insult

[mrtuesday]

Nimrod.

In the Bible, Nimrod was the descendant of Noah and was known as a great mighty hunter.

In classic Looney Tunes cartoons, Bugs Bunny would call Elmer Fudd "Nimrod" as a way to mock Elmer being anything but a mighty hunter.

Now, Nimrod is just another word for idiot. Thanks, Bugs.

[chrom]

Beta was another word used for prototype.

Now, it's referred to someone who's a wimp and a wuss.

[brettappedout (BLM)]

Suspect/Sus. person in trouble with law or video game term

now sus definitely feels like a new term derogatory term for saying gay atleast how I've seen how people use it on the social media or say it online during games when clearly not talking about cheating or breaking a rule in said game.

[thegatewaydrug]

Not "bad" meaning bad, but "bad" meaning good!

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

"Based" has a weird history. Invented by a Black person to describe positivity and tolerance, then appropriated as a White supremacist dog whistle, then reclaimed as a genuinely positive term.

Let this serve as a reminder that reclaiming stuff works and we shouldn't let racists have anything.