Out of Pocket (Slang)

About

Out of Pocket is a slang term and expression referring to a person or situation that is out of control, behaving in a reckless, inappropriate and perhaps dangerous manner. Purported to have originated from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) expressions in the 1940s, it found increasing traction online throughout the 2010s and 2020s, particularly among members of Generation Z.

Origin

Most dictionaries and etymology resources list at least two other definitions for the phrase "out of pocket." It can mean paying for something with personal funds or being unreachable and out of contact with others.^[1] The earliest reference to "out of pocket" meaning inappropriate behavior comes from Cassel's Dictionary of Slang, which ties the term to 1940s-era AAVE related to playing pool: A shot which ended up "out of pocket" is a bad shot, which means the player misses their next turn.^[2]

On Urban Dictionary, as early as 2003, definitions for "out of pocket" use the "bad behavior" form of the term, sometimes attributing it to pimp slang or prison slang (examples seen below).^[3] For example, on March 22nd, 2003, user DaSnoopinatorFoSho^[7] added the earliest known definition referencing pimp terminology, receiving roughly 75 likes and 200 dislikes in 20 years:

When a ho who pays a pimp looks at another pimp or otherwise conversates with him.

That biatch was out of pocket so I broke her grill.

Spread

Since "out of pocket" predates the internet, it has been used widely across all major social media platforms and many sites throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Some of the earliest postings on X (Twitter) date from 2009. For example, user @Sensuality made a tweet on April 7th, 2009, reminiscing about the good old days in Zanzibar alongside the expression, though it did not receive notable engagement (seen below).^[4]

On July 28th, 2019, during the JonBenet Ramsey comment controversy, American singer and actress Ariana Grande notably responded to a tweet criticizing her comment on the story using the slang expression (seen below).^[8]

More prominent and widespread usage occurred online throughout the 2010s, but the term steadily increased in prevalence after 2020.^[9]

For example, X user @KennyGardner_ posted about the behavior of "caucasoids" at a Jason Aldean concert on August 7th, 2023, earning almost 400 likes (seen below, left) in two months, while user @Sir_Epps posted (seen below, right) about Kanye West on October 8th, 2022, earning almost 5,500 likes in a year.^[6]

The slang expression has also been frequently used by various content creators and streamers over the years, helping to spread the term.

One such example was uploaded on June 16th, 2021, by YouTuber Noel Miller in a video titled "Out of pocket tik toks," receiving over 3.5 million views in two years (seen below, left). Twitch streamer and content creator PayMoneyWubby also commonly uses the expression in its slang context during his livestreams, which can be seen in a video titled "out of pocket TTS requests" uploaded to YouTube by taco boy on April 1st, 2023, receiving over 66,000 views in six months (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References