The Brief: A sassy way of saying "okay" while rolling the tongue, popularized by RuPaul's Drag Race, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and most recently, Cardi B.
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As of March 2019, Cardi B has made moves to legally trademark her catchphrase, “Okurrr”, a “chirping” variation on the word, “Okay”, which can be used as a question, statement, or clapback.
According to Cardi, the “inflection of your chirp” changes the meaning and the word can be used in a variety of situations.
The origins of the word are slightly contentious. Before Cardi B, there was Khloe Kardashian, who used the word as a catchphrase in 2018.
Before that, RuPaul’s Drag Race season six contestant Laganja Estranja used the word back in 2014, but according to Estranja himself, he claims the word first came from the ballroom scene.
The one and ONLY @iamcardib replied to my tweet!! 😱💯🙌🏻 So can we please stop the negative comments?!? She didn’t steal anything… The word #okurrr originated from the ballroom scene, but Cardi was smart enough to capitalize on it!! Props to ya MAWMA!! pic.twitter.com/TvyVyMvfZk
— Laganja Estranja (@LaganjaEstranja) March 23, 2019
if you say okurr three times in a mirror laganja estranja will appear and death drop onto your skull, killing you instantly
— benjles (@savathunssong) February 15, 2018
From what we can tell, the earliest documented use of the word in pop culture dates back to the 2008 film, Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom. Just last week, in response to Cardi B’s petition for trademark, the film’s director, Patrik-Ian Polk shared a clip from the movie, showing actor, Rodney Chester, using the word.
Just as Polk said, “No tea, no shade,” but it’s looking like Cardi B might have to share the credit on this one.