What does "wil(d)in'" mean?
In Rihanna's song "FourFiveSeconds", this line is sung in the chorus:
Now I'm four, five seconds from wilin'...
I searched on Google for the definition of "wilin'" and got this:
wildin' (also wilin') verb
to have fun, act crazy with a group of friends
Source: Online Slang Dictionary
Whilst this definition sounds accurate, I would like to know if there are any other meanings.
Also, how common is "wildin'" in spoken American English, and in what dialect or culture?
Wilding is a term that gained media use in the 1980s and 90s to describe gangs of teenagers committing violent acts, particularly against property or each other.
It has more recently was supplanted by the phrase "violent flash mob," but still make some headline appearances as in this 2013 New York Daily News article. For older terms, cf. "mob violence" or "rumble."
See also sense 2 at dictionary.com
Wilding:
- to have fun, act crazy with a group of friends. Note: also pronounced as "wilin'". (Submitted by Kesha Edwards from Charlotte, NC, USA on Jun 04 1997.)
(onlineslangdictionary.com)
Origin and usage appear to be mainly from U.S., my assumption is that it is a slang verb form of the more common adjective 'wild'.
AHD cites the verb to wild with the meaning:
(intr.v.) wild·ed, wild·ing, wilds.
To go about in a group threatening, robbing, or attacking others.
From what little I know it would suggest an act of violence (such as punching the wall, etc.), which works if her song speaks of worried family.
To me it means Not having wild fun but rather like in Kanye's refrain "hold me back I'm about to spaz." Both of their phraseology e's mean the same thing.