How is language evolving on the internet ? In this series on internet linguistics , Gretchen McCullochbreaks down the latest innovation in on-line communication .
Here ’s a Holy Writ that you might not have noticed before : lowkey . A peachy exemplar is this tweet :
Although of class the pictorial matter was originally taken for other reasons , if we usurp that the actors in this photograph were actually trying to get their server ’s aid , it ’s a great illustration of what it looks like to do something lowkey . They ’re not beckon widely at the fanciful waiter or calling out that something ’s catch on ardor — no , it ’s not pressing , they ’re play it coolheaded , making some optic liaison , await for the waiter to notice them .
It ’s pretty clear where lowkey comes from . Mainstream dictionaries , such asMerriam - Webster , have low - key with a dash , as in a broken - key company .
In fact , evenUrban Dictionaryhas " down Florida key " with the same meaning in 2005 :
There ’s also a " low - key " that ’s used in picture taking , where itmeans"dark , with little or no fill light and high lighting ratio , " which may be where " down in the mouth - key " as in " low - winder party " came from ( source are unclear on this though . )
In any case , there ’s a clear connexion to the new lowkey : think of - wise , the thought of quiet / relaxed and kinda / subtly are n’t so far aside . But while old crushed - key is an adjective ( a low - Francis Scott Key company , that party was low - key ) , new lowkey is an adverb . It ’s not even that new — it show upin Urban Dictionary from 2009 :
Adverb lowkey is really common online , but I could n’t receive anyone analyzing or commenting on it yet , and also it has n’t yet made its way into dictionaries ( psst , any lexicographer reading this ? ) . Here are a few more model from twitter :
And unlike the " low - Florida key party " meaning , new lowkey also has an paired : highkey . Although highkey is n’t nearly as vulgar as lowkey , there are still lots of illustration . People on Twitter often use it to talk about unrequited crushes :
In a way , it ’s fitting that lowkey has been around for at least six old age but it has n’t been document outside Urban Dictionary anda few obscure sites . It ’s just been lowkey waiting for us to notice it .
