Nowadays, the word ‘swag’ is a popular word among young people. The word comes up quite often, especially on social media such as Twitter. Young people have given this word their own meaning. This article describes what the word ‘swag’ means and in what context this word is common.
The meaning of swag
The word swag has several meanings. For example, the word is an abbreviation among homosexual young people where the word swag means the following: secretly we are gay. However, this meaning is not well known.
The word swag was also popular in the 1980s. Swag was a synonym for stolen items at the time. The word was often used in films at the time in the context give me the swag. This sentence is especially common in action films where criminals stole loot and used this sentence, or the other way around, that the ‘good guy’ wanted the stuff back.
However, the meaning that young people have of the word swag is neither of the above. The word swag, which in some cases is also written as swagg, is actually nothing more than a style that you express. The style that is meant by swag is cool, relaxed and chill. It is an appearance that you have or teach yourself, so to be cool. This style is common among rappers and hip hop groups. Young people in particular see these groups as examples and therefore adopt this style and the word.
The history behind the word swag
The word swagger, from which swag is derived, originally comes from Scotland. It was a way that some Scots walk, in a swinging, sturdy movement that is also often seen in rappers walking across the stage. The English then misinterpreted this word and made it ‘the way someone presents themselves’. This meaning comes very close to the word swag that young people nowadays mean: the way of radiating, a tough, cool and relaxed appearance. The word with its meaning from England quickly spread across the world to the United States and has thus become the catchphrase as we know it all over the world today.
Users of the word swag
Young people in particular use the word swag. But young people must also have learned these words from somewhere. In all likelihood, young people have adopted the words from rappers, singers and films. For example, in the song Boom Boom Pow, Black Eyed Peas sings the following:
I like that boom boom pow
Them chickens jackin my styleThey try copy my swaggerI’m on that next shit now
In this context, The Black Eyed Peas also mean that they they tried to copy it. Besides The Black Eyed Peas, there are of course many more celebrities who use this word. Now that you know what this word is and what it means, you will encounter the word a lot more often in daily life. This word is
also widely used on Twitter, as described in the introduction. Here too you see that it is a certain type of people, especially young people who want to be tough towards someone who uses this word.