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Bye, Felicia

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This article is about the phrase originating from the 1995 film Friday. For the mixtape by Jordin Sparks, see #ByeFelicia.

In American English, the phrase "Bye, Felicia" or "Bye, Felisha" is an informal phrase intended as a dismissive send-off, wherein a person or idea is rendered so unimportant his or her name is reduced to "Felicia." According to Ice Cube, who starred in Friday and co-wrote its script, "'Bye, Felicia' [...] is the phrase to get anyone out [of] your face that's saying something stupid".[1][2] Nicole Richie (adoptive daughter of Lionel Richie) said "Felicia is, like, some random[a] that you just do not even care about."[3]

Origin

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Ice Cube (pictured in 2012) starred in and co-wrote the script for the 1995 film Friday, in which the phrase originated.

The phrase originally comes from a scene in the 1995 American comedy film Friday in which Ice Cube's character says "Bye, Felisha" to dismiss Angela Means' character, Felisha. Due to the phrase being spread orally, it was incorrectly recorded as "Bye Felicia", now the most popular variation.

In an interview with Vibe magazine to commemorate the film's 20th anniversary, Means said she believes the phrase wasn't in the script and Ice Cube ad-libbed the line "based off what I gave him as an actor."[4]

Rise in popularity

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According to Robert Thompson, a media professor at Syracuse University, the phrase went relatively unnoticed at first and it was regarded as a "throw-away line." He suggested that it only became popular with the advent of social media and YouTube.[5] On Google, "bye felicia" first began to grow in popularity as a search term around August 2012 and peaked in September 2015. The phrase has been gradually dwindling in popularity as a search term ever since, although it had a brief resurgence in December 2017.[6] According to Twitter analytics site Topsy, the hashtag "#ByeFelicia" was used over 35,000 times in August 2014.[7][8]

In 2009, the phrase entered the lexicon of the LGBT community thanks to its usage on RuPaul's Drag Race, an American reality competition television series.[1][9]

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In 2014, VH1 launched a reality show titled Bye Felicia starring Missy Young and Deborah Hawkes. Each episode sees Young and Hawkes give a young woman a makeover and help them "say goodbye for good to their inner 'Felicia.'"[8]

In the 2015 movie Straight Outta Compton, Ice Cube (played by his son, O'Shea Jackson Jr.) said, "Bye, Felicia!", while throwing a girl named Felicia out of his hotel room. Naming the girl Felicia was not an intentional reference to Friday, but when Jackson ad-libbed the line as a "coincidental joke", the filmmakers decided to keep it in the film.[10]

The phrase has also been used by numerous celebrities. Some examples include:

Criticism

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Writing for the online magazine The Root, Dustin J. Seibert says that the phrase was originally created by Black people and meant to be used by Black people. According to him, "white people co-opted the phrase and stunk it up [...] Hit up the former Twitter right now and type “Bye Felicia” in the search bar…you’ll see it’s not us using it like that anymore." He specifically mentioned Keith Olbermann as someone who co-opted and "stunk up" the term.[14] theGrio's Monique Judge agrees that Olbermann overused the phrase, and cites him as an example of "white people stealing a phrase with significant meaning for Black people."[15]

In an interview with NPR, Allison Davis talked about the phrase's usage in Straight Outta Compton, saying director Gary Gray unnecessarily added a "misogynistic moment for a punchline." She characterized the scene as "kind of disturbing" and "slut-shaming," and was particularly critical of the decision to have the partygoers blame Felicia, "the harlot troublemaker," and punish her by kicking her out of the party naked.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mackie, Drew (April 26, 2015). "Friday Hit Theaters 20 Years Ago – And Gave Us 'Bye, Felicia'". People. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  2. ^ O'Brien, Conan (host) (April 16, 2015). "Ice Cube On The 20th Anniversary Of Friday". Conan. Season 5. Episode 76. Quote begins at 1:09. TBS.
  3. ^ a b Seacrest, Ryan; Richie, Nicole (August 4, 2014). The Meaning of "Bye Felicia". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Retrieved May 30, 2024 – via Youtube.
  4. ^ Augustin, Camille (April 24, 2015). "Hi, Felicia: Catching Up With Friday Actress, Angela Means, 20 Years Later". Vibe (Interview). Eldridge Industries. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Shelby (August 11, 2015). "Pop culture says hello to 'Bye, Felicia'". Wichita Eagle. McClatchy. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  6. ^ "Twitter Search, Monitoring, & Analytics". Topsy.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b c Reilly, Kaitlin (December 9, 2014). "What Does "Bye, Felicia" Even Mean?". Bustle. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ^ Jackman, Josh (February 7, 2018). "Bye Felicia: What is Bye Felicia and where did it come from?". Retrieved May 30, 2024. Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race will have heard 'Bye Felicia' more times than they can count.
  9. ^ Berkowitz, Joe. "The Inside Story of How the Ultimate 'Bye, Felicia' Got In Straight Outta Compton". Fast Company. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  10. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (December 14, 2017). "'Good Morning America's' Robin Roberts to Omarosa: 'Bye, Felicia'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Sistrunk, Ishmael (January 7, 2015). "Stuart Scott: The coolest man in sports made it to the other side". St Louis American. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Keith Olbermann [@KeithOlbermann] (June 2, 2015). "Sepp #Blatter exit, short version: Bye Felicia" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Seibert, Dustin J. (February 29, 2024). "Catchphrase 'Bye Felicia' is 29 Years Old. But the Original Felicia Isn't a Fan". The Root. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  14. ^ Judge, Monique (March 12, 2024). "Marjorie Taylor Greene's co-opting of #SayHerName is egregious, but white people do this all the time". theGrio. Allen Media Group.
  15. ^ NPR Staff (August 18, 2015). "A Meme Gets An Uncomfortable Backstory In Straight Outta Compton". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Inskeep. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

Notes

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  1. ^ See noun definition #4 on Wiktionary: "An undefined, unknown or unimportant person.; a person of no consequence."
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