Discussion: The ATRL Drag Dictionary

Moonchild

Made for ATRL's Drag Race.
Presented by Moonchild and PinkBox.

A guide for the guests and members who are unfamiliar with drag culture.

Foreword

The queer community has come a long way in a short time, but it's always important to remember our past. Many of us are unfamiliar with our history, including drag culture. Several of the terms we use (and misuse) on ATRL originate from drag culture, or more specifically, 1980s New York City ball culture. The purpose of this thread is serve as a resource for drag knowledge and hopefully inform ATRL members of an important part of queer history. It's meant to give all of ATRL a drag makeover, in a sense. This thread will cover definitions of past and present drag terms and include helpful online resources for those more curious about drag culture.

Definitions

Ball [ball]
noun
1. an often elaborately-structured competition in which drag queens "walk" (i.e. compete) for trophies and prizes. Contestants are judged on dance skills, costumes, appearance, attitude and adherence to the categories in which they are competing.

Banjee [ban-gee]
adjective
1. describes stereotypical masculine urban fashion and attitude; originally referred to hypermasculine Latino and black men who had sex with men.

Beat [beat]
verb
1. to apply make-up: it takes me about an hour to beat my face.
adjective
1. describes someone whose make-up has been applied extremely well: she is beat for days.

Boots [boots]
interjection
1. used for emphasis, equivalent to a verbal or written exclamation point: Miley's drag queen performance at the VMAs slayed the house down, boots.

Busted [buhst-ed]
adjective
1. describes someone whose make-up is tragic: Horchata Montrese was BUSTED.

Camp [kamp]
noun
1. A style of drag that emphasizes theactricality, comedy and over-the-top personas.

Clock [klok]
verb
1. To uncover or expose the truth in a situation; usually negative: the queens clocked Serena ChaCha's attitude and ignorance.

Cooking [kook-ing] [also known as baking]
verb
1. the technique of leaving your makeup, unblended, on your face until your skin heats it up and makes it easier to blend.

Drag [drag]
noun
1. dressing as or impersonating the opposite gender for artistic, entertainment or performance purposes. There are a variety of styles, but drag is usually exaggerated and treated as an extension of the opposite gender.

Drag mother [drag muhth-er]
noun
1. an experienced drag queen who acts as a mentor and guide to a younger, up-and-coming, less experienced, or apprentice drag queen. Drag mothers often do their drag daughter's make-up for the first time.

Drag house [drag hous]
noun
1. has roots in ball culture, but now refers mostly to groups of professionally associated drag queens: the House of Edwards is composed of Alyssa Edwards, Shangela, Laganja Estranja ~~and Vivienne Pinay~~.

Drag pageantry [drag paj-uhn-tree]
noun
1. a highly developed form of pageantry for drag queens and trans women, styled after traditional beauty pageants or beauty contests for cisgender women.

Fierce [feers] [see also: sickening]
adjective
1. incredible, amazing, etc.: that couture was fierce, honey.

Fish [fish]
noun
1. a style of drag that emphasizes feminine appearance and traits. Fishiness is popular among newer queens, but is sometimes not regarded as "real drag".

"For filth"
adverbial
1. to the fullest extent, often used with "read": I just got read for filth.

"For the gods"
adverbial phrase
1. to an extreme extent; complimentary: Miss Fame is beat for the gods.

PinkBox

Definitions (cont.)

Hunty [hun-tee]
noun
1. a term of endearment used among drag queens.

Gag [gag]
ver
1. to react intensely, usually as a result of shock; usually positive: I was GAGGING when I was watching the Death Becomes Her runway.

Kai kai [kai-kai]
noun
1. a drag queen having sex with another drag queen; looked down upon by some queens.
verb
1. the act of having a kai kai.

Kiki [kee-kee]
noun
1. loosely means a get-together among close friends for gossip and small talk: let's have a kiki.

Meaty tuck [mee-tee tuhk]
noun
1. a poorly executed "tuck" which is bulgy or lumpy, instead of smooth and flat.

"No T, no shade"
idiom
1. the drag equivalent of "no offense": No T, no shade, but I don't know how Adore got into the final three when her only talent is singing.

Read [reed]
noun
1. "telling someone about themselves", often highlighting and exaggerating flaws of the person: was that a read?
verb
1. the act of reading: I will read you for filth.

Realness [reel-ness]
noun
1. representation of a theme, concept, idea or look; often tongue-in-cheek: Bianca serves clown realness.

Shade [sheyd]
noun
1. a developed form of reading characterized by subtlety, passive aggression and backhanded compliments: shade is, ‘I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly.' And that's shade.
noun
2. the act of shading: shade her down.

Serve [surv]
verb
1. to present oneself in a certain way: I'm serving up fish, tuna on a platter.

Sickening [sik-uh-ning] [see also: fierce]
adjective
1. incredible, amazing, etc.: because I'm what? Sickening!

Snatched [snached]
adjective
1. describes a small waist: Violet is snatched in that corset.

T [tee]
Also spelled as "tea"
noun
1. truth, fact; often used with tea-related puns: spill the T.

"The house down" [tee]
modifier
1. to the fullest extent, often used with "read": I just got read the house down.

Tuck [tuhk]
verb, noun
1. the act of a drag queen pulling back his genitals to create the illusion of having a woman's vulva. A tuck is often held by panty hose, duct tape or tight underwear.

Werq [wurk]
Also spelled as werk and work
verb
1. to give an outstanding presentation: werq!
2. Strut, especially on a runway: you better werq.

Helpful Resources

Famous Drag Queens: Divine, RuPaul, Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Lady Bunny, Dame Edna Everage, Willam Belli, Sharon Needles, Bianca Del Rio, Courtney Act, Alaska Thunder**** 5000, Conchita Wurst

Drag-Related Wikipedia Articles: Stonewall riots, Drag queen, Paris is Burning, RuPaul's Drag Race

Ball Culture: 1, 2, 3, 4

All questions and suggestions for bettering the thread are welcome!

DevonDreams

yassss bitch yassss

Jackson

never heard of half of these, let me get educated

Starburst

Oxford hew?

Disha

Let me get these all down with my pen and paper

James Maslow

Where is the other definition of drag, doe?

Or henny? Sistrens? Slay? Tea/T, etc...

G.U.Y

EW no

moonlight.

Not me having this bookmarked and writing this down

I never heard of more than half of these words before though lol

Moonchild

Quote:

Originally posted by #JC

Where is the other definition of drag, doe?

Or henny? Sistrens? Slay? Tea/T, etc...

"Drag" as in to insult/attack someone? That and "sistrens" are more associated with stan vocabulary. I was unsure about whether to add "slay", since its meaning is close to the standard meaning of the word.

"T" is in the dictionary, and "henny" is synonymous with "hunty", which is in the dictionary.

Rihductive

the graphics

Eggy.

Not me knowing half of these cause of stan twitter

James Maslow

Quote:

Originally posted by Moonchild

"Drag" as in to insult/attack someone? That and "sistrens" are more associated with stan vocabulary. I was unsure about whether to add "slay", since its meaning is close to the standard meaning of the word.

"T" is in the dictionary, and "henny" is synonymous with "hunty", which is in the dictionary.

You're right

RichyRich

Just watch Paris is Burning. You'll learn all you need to know.

liberalmusiclover

Haven't heard of 4/5ths of these but I died laughing at "meaty tuck."

Rihductive

Quote:

Originally posted by Moonchild

"T" is in the dictionary, and "henny" is synonymous with "hunty", which is in the dictionary.

Is it really though? One could argue that "hunty"
is more intimate than "henny", and carries a stronger connotation.

One tends to be closer to their hunties, almost ride or die.
Meanwhile hennys tend to be more like acquaintances

Kiddo.

this is.....LATE

Mezter

I don't recognize most of these

EDIT: Oh, drag as in dressing up. I came in here to get some pointers

Citrus

Yessss Mezter, embrace your inner queen

Nutitle