Say Dat! 10 Black Words That Went Mainstream
- By
Veronica Wells
Holla/Holler
A shortened version of the real word, holler, holla took on a couple of different meanings. These days it’s a greeting, it’s a man trying to step to you on the street and it’s an in depth conversation that needs to be had–like right now, (i.e. Lemme holla at you.) I don’t know when it was shortened or when it became mainstream; I just know that every time I hear it, I can literally picture Ja Rule jumping around in his video “Holla Holla” back in 1999. From there it took off. There was Holla Back, Holla at cha Boy, Holla At Me etc. Within the past couple of years, I’ve been surprised to hear white women using the phrase, in form of celebration. Thing is, they keep the “er” at the end.
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