Bling-bling, often shortened to just bling, is "flashy jewelry worn especially as an indication of wealth or status; broadly: expensive and ostentatious possessions"
Origins and popularization of the term
In
linguistics terms,
bling is either an
ideophone or an
onomatopoeia, depending on the definition one uses, with
bling-bling being its
reduplication. Some have attributed the term to rappers that came before B.G., or to the old cartoonish sound effects meant to convey the desirability and or shininess of gold, gems, jewels, money, and more.
[Renee Tawa (July 9, 2003). Bling-bling' in the Oxford dictionary? That's phat". Los Angeles Times.]
Bling became increasingly entrenched within the hip hop movement following B.G.'s release of his lead single "Bling Bling" off of his 1999 album Chopper City in the Ghetto.[DONOVAN BARNETT (2023). A Brief History of Bling: Hip-Hop Jewelry Through the Ages". HIGHSNOBIETY.]
Mass usage
The word was added to the
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in 2002, and to the
Merriam Webster dictionary in 2006. Companies such as Sprint and
Cadillac have used the word
bling in their advertisements, for instance. On the other hand, in 2004,
MTV released a satirical cartoon showing the term first being used by a rapper, followed by several progressively less "streetwise" characters, concluding with a middle-aged white woman describing her "bling" to her elderly mother.
The term was subsequently used for anyone displaying a luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle.[Jason Moyo (April 4, 2012). "Preaching the gospel of bling". Mail & Guardian. South Africa/][Kate Bowler (October 9, 2013). "Believers in bling: Behold, the prosperity 'Preachers of L.A. . CNN.][ "De choses et d'autres - Cachez ce bling-bling!". L'Indépendant. (May 14, 2020).]
In other languages
The term has spread to Spanish speaking countries around the world, with Latin hip-hop and
reggaeton artists from places like
Puerto Rico and
Panama. The main nuance is that, in Spanish, it is often stylized and pronounced as "blin-blin".
Furthermore, the Spanish word
blinblineo also refers to bling and its style. Similarly, in French, "bling-bling" traditionally describes
nouveau riche attitudes; such as "wearing expensive suits, stylish sunglasses and conspicuously large wristwatches" or anything that is ostentatious and can be considered of "poor taste".
In German, it is usually used as simply "Bling".
Criticism and response
The short film
Bling: Consequences and Repercussions explains the troubled backstory of many of the diamonds jewelers often use to make the gaudy jewelry. Explicitly, the film takes issue with the fact that, occasionally, the diamonds were originally
blood diamonds, that fuel wars, poverty, slavery, and killings across countries in Africa.
Similarly,
Bling: A Planet Rock (2007) documents and subsequently contrasts the flashy world of commercial hip-hop jewelry against the significant role diamonds play in the ten-year civil war in
Sierra Leone.
From a different perspective, many people consider bling and its aesthetic as empowering, rather than literally and metaphorically likening the expensive chains to slavery.
See also
- General
- International
