Boombayah
Part of a series on Algospeak / Slang Replacement. [View Related Entries]
This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!
You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.
About
Boombayah is a slang term that was popularized on TikTok after 2020 and is typically used by young TikTokers as a euphemism or algospeak slang replacement term for "sex." The word may have originated from the popular 2016 song "Boombayah" by the K-pop band Blackpink, although this interpretation of the word is not made explicit in the song. Videos and posts using the word "boombayah" to refer to sex began to gain notable traction in late 2024.
Origin
On August 8th, 2016, the K-pop girl band Blackpink posted a music video for their song "Boombayah," gathering over 1 billion views on YouTube[1] in nine years. The lyrics leading up to the chorus are as follows;
정말 반했어
(I really fell in love)
오늘 밤 너와 춤추고 싶어
(I want to dance with you tonight)
붐바야 (ah)
(Boombayah, ah)
The earliest known mention of the term "boombayah" being a euphemism or slang for sex is a November 6th, 2023, Urban Dictionary[2] post by kirinSDS that read, "a replacement word (for k-pop fans) for sex."
There were some disparate tweets in 2023 in which people joked about people "doing the boombayah," as seen in a May 18th, 2023, post by X / Twitter user @hachxxs[5] that read, "BRO NAUTILUS AND INKBRUH DID THE BOOMBAYAH?!" and a December 27th post by @emojicat_cloudy[6] that read, "Wait…… If they had a baby…. THEY DID THE BOOMBAYAH!?"
Spread
By 2024, the term "boombayah" came to be used as algospeak for the word "sex" in TikTok comments, as seen in a September 14th, 2024, post[7] by TikToker @zail_slays.
On December 30th, 2024, TikToker[8] @getolovesgojo00 posted a Cardi B Omg What Is That meme with the text, "Me after I found out what boombayah means," gathering over 2 million plays and 26,000 likes in a month.
@getolovesgojo00
On January 7th, 2025, TikToker[3] @notbriannaguidryy posted a video about how Player 222 was pregnant with Player 333's child in Squid Game, saying that they did the "boombayah." The video gathered over 4 million plays and 200,000 likes in a month.
@notbriannaguidryy 😨😰😱👿👺👹
On January 11th, TikToker[4] @alwaystiredhere posted a video claiming to be stuck in a bathroom stall because there were people doing "the boombayah" outside. The post gathered over 1 million plays and 28,000 likes in three weeks.
@alwaystiredhere Help
On January 30th, 2025, X[9] user @FL0FFLY posted Squid Game fan art showing Seong Gi-hun doing the "boombayah" with the Front Man, gathering over 5,000 likes in a week.
Various Examples
@sigmaxhin Replying to @sanemitomioka__26 here's your joke…😓 #fyp #roblox #joke #Random #boombayah #brookhaven🏠rp #rblxfyp #blowthisup ♬ som original – 🐿
@aiden_flyn worst memory💔💔#floptokera🤪🤪🥰🥰😍😍 #floptok😍😍😭😌🤞💅💅 #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #foryou #fyppppppppp #meme ♬ original sound – Vash_left_ball(revengera) – Aidenflyn
@kwxqve_ BOOMBAYAH #blackpink #kpop #anime #viral #notevenemily #blowthisup ♬ uh – いさむ 🍎
@clxfe_res i'm not kidding this is not a private server, i chose a descending server…#boombayah#brookhaven#roblox#crazy ♬ original sound – Ying ˚✿ ˙ᵕ˙
Search Interest
External References
[2] Urban Dictionary – BOOMBAYAH
[3] TikTok – notbriannaguidryy
[4] TikTok – alwaystiredhere
[6] Twitter / X – emojicat_cloudy
[7] TikTok – zail_slays
[8] TikTok – getolovesgojo00
There are no comments currently available.
Display Comments