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  • - [Voiceover] What is "on fleek?"

  • What is fleek?

  • And where did this word come from?

  • I mean I gather that it's slang,

  • but I really don't hear anybody using it.

  • It would seem to me like it's just

  • something people say on Twitter,

  • and it would appear that I'm not

  • the only one who thinks that.

  • So I'm gonna make this video and try to figure it out.

  • What is "on fleek?"

  • (upbeat music)

  • Big new word, brand new, "on fleek."

  • - On fleek, fleek.

  • - Fleek.

  • - Fleek.

  • So what would you like to know about fleek today, Keith?

  • - Well, I guess A, what does it mean?

  • B, where did it come from?

  • - Gotcha, okay.

  • Fleek is on point.

  • Fleek is good.

  • Fleek is great.

  • Fleek is perfection.

  • - This burger is fleek, or would I say this burger...

  • - You would say this burger is on fleek.

  • - On fleek. - On fleek.

  • - Like on it's best behavior.

  • - Yes.

  • - Where did fleek come from?

  • - Fleek came from a Vine, I'm not sure of a name,

  • but she said her eyebrows were on fleek, the fuck.

  • - Oh so it was first used and accepted as an eyebrow term.

  • - To describe eyebrows.

  • - What do you think of my eyebrows?

  • - Um, if I had your eyebrows,

  • my eyebrows probably would not be on fleek,

  • you know, mines need to be a little bit more groomed.

  • - Would be out of fleek.

  • - That's the worst.

  • Bring up the heat

  • - [Keith] I still don't get it, so I head to San Francisco

  • with Chris to track down some linguists

  • from Berkeley to get their take on fleek.

  • Now they may look like two old white guys, but trust me,

  • they are, but they also know a ton about slang.

  • What is your explanation of "on fleek?"

  • - Well, fleek's interesting because it just

  • bubbled up out of nowhere, in a way words didn't used to do,

  • I mean used to be slang would begin among high school kids

  • and kind of work its way around the school and maybe to

  • other kids of other generations and then bubble up

  • into the speech of older people, and by the time the older

  • people were using it the high school kids

  • have moved on to something else.

  • - [Keith] Right.

  • - The whole point of slang is to keep your language secret.

  • - A secret language.

  • - But now, you can make a video, or a Vine,

  • or something like that, a word catches on,

  • the link is passed all around, and you know two weeks later

  • there are two billion people who are

  • using this expression, it's astonishing.

  • - What do you think about how virality is playing

  • into slang, is it legitimate?

  • - Yes. - Okay.

  • - Absolutely, I mean there are people who

  • try to introduce words into the lexicon,

  • and generally speaking, they'll submit something

  • to Urban Dictionary that's open source,

  • and they'll put it in and say it's in the dictionary

  • but nobody uses it. - Right.

  • - Intentional coinings are really rare,

  • but they do happen,

  • and that's a great example, but the speed with which

  • slang is transmitted is exponentially faster now

  • than it ever has been because of social media.

  • - Fleek strikes me as the kind of word that everybody

  • except that one gal with her eyebrow used in quotes.

  • It was kind of a slang word that existed to be a slang word,

  • nobody ever really used it in earnest, did they?

  • - People are debating whether or not fleek is good or not,

  • we saw this with bae, you know what I mean,

  • like they're like, fleek is corny, why are you using that,

  • that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard,

  • and there are some people who accept it.

  • I accept it, I'll use it if it's, you know, appropriate.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I don't say it for everything, or I wouldn't

  • say it in a professional setting, except for this one.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But, you know, you have to accept it into your life.

  • - So if I really want to accept fleek, I need to understand

  • it how it was originally popularized.

  • I need to get my eyebrows done, or is it my eyebrows did?

  • I need to get my eyebrows on fleek, da fuck.

  • - Hi, my name is Henry Von Norden.

  • - Keith Habersberger.

  • - Nice meet you, and I believe you wanna

  • have your eyebrows done today.

  • - Yeah, I want them to be perfect.

  • - You could use a little bit of waxing right here.

  • - Yep.

  • Woo girl! - Shh.

  • This area won't be as sensitive, ready?

  • - I'm just such a beautiful boy and I will do anything

  • for beauty, but I'm also, you know, emotional and sensitive.

  • - I see that. - Yeah.

  • - Here you go Latoya.

  • - It's just that I miss them already.

  • - Alright. - Oh we did it.

  • Guys we did it. - No you did it.

  • - No you did it, 33 years of eyebrows, and probably

  • a million other things you're good at.

  • - I'm gonna go out to the parking lot and shoot myself now.

  • - Okay, great, everybody had an equally good time.

  • So I just got my eyebrows done, I feel like they're perfect,

  • but now I'm going to ask the people of Hollywood

  • what they think of my eyebrows, and if they say "on fleek,"

  • well then I know I've done it.

  • What do you think of my eyebrows?

  • - They're fine.

  • - Arched.

  • - Nicely thinned, I guess. - Thank you.

  • - I can't really see that you just

  • got them done to be honest.

  • - Thank you.

  • - On fleek.

  • - On fleek!

  • - Very on fleek.

  • - On fleek! - There we go, right?

  • - So that's a word you use?

  • - Yeah, my friend has a shirt that says "on fleek" on it.

  • - So it's totally legitimized slang?

  • - Yes.

  • - You use it in normal dialogue?

  • - I've used it in normal dialogue.

  • - Do you use on fleek in real life, do you use it?

  • - I use on fleek. (laughs)

  • - Good, so they're on fleek?

  • - Yes. - So okay!

  • So I guess though it's still debated whether it's fun

  • or cool to use, people are really using it out in the world,

  • even though it did originate online, so I guess on fleek

  • is good, you can say "on fleek," it's slang!

  • We did it everybody, it's definitely slang!

  • And it just means the same as several

  • other slang words that we already have.

  • Bring up the heat

  • (upbeat music)

  • ♫ I got no choice but to throw hard

  • (upbeat music)

- [Voiceover] What is "on fleek?"

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