It’s the way things go in the modern world. Words and phrases that become popular get overused, and their meaning is stretched to the breaking point. Eventually, the words become meaningless sounds.
“Gaslighting” for instance, came from a 1944 film and used to refer to audacious efforts to deny objectively verifiable reality. Now, people use it to mean anything misleading. “Fan Fiction” once meant amateur-written spin-offs of major published works. Now, it just means “fiction.”
The evolution of these phrases is unfortunate, because it dilutes a word with a specific meaning and turns it into a synonym for a broader idea. Neologisms helped us to express precise sentiments or notions, and their dilution makes precision less possible.
So it is with “Bye, Felicia,” which was officially killed on Dec. 19, 2018, during “The Tonight Show.”
“Bye, Felicia” is from the 1995 movie “Friday.” Ice Cube’s character is sitting on a front porch on a lazy Friday after having smoked dope with Chris Tucker’s character. A young woman, famous as a moocher, comes to ask to borrow a car or some pot. Tucker shoots her down twice, but she persists. As she is about to impose on Ice Cube’s character for something else, he simply says, “Bye, Felicia,” with finality and without eye contact.
The term became an impolite way to dismiss a person held in low regard. An appropriately icy, motionless, stern posture and tone stated clearly: “I am not moving from this place. But you are.”
But now, former first lady Michelle Obama has changed the meaning. Comedian Jimmy Fallon showed her a picture of her and Barack Obama waving goodbye from Air Force One on the last day of the Obama presidency, which was also the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
What was going through her mind? “Bye, Felicia,” Michelle Obama said.
It got a great laugh; anything rudely disdainful of the Trumps is thought uproariously funny by a certain type of crowd. But it also stretched the meaning of the phrase. Michelle and Barack were the ones leaving. They weren’t sending anyone away. It’s a different sort of disdain to fly away as fast as you can than it is to bid someone to leave your presence.
Things change. Words change their meaning. Sometimes, that’s fine; often, it robs us. But we can’t stop it. So, to the old meanings of phrases — “gaslighting,” “fan fiction,” “beg the question,” and “literally” — we sadly say, “Bye, Felicia.”
