Origin of the slang term "Becky" -- was there originally a vulgar connotation?
Green's Dictionary of Slang provides only one 2017 citation for the slang term "becky."
use of generic name to describe a white woman who is seen as using her inborn privilege as a means of advancement.
The lone citation is from this article in The Root: "The 5 Types of Becky."
I was somewhat surprised to find in this article an unsubstantiated introduction:
What started as a controversial term for fellatio has blossomed into an all-encompassing term for a specific class of white women.
I had never heard of "becky" as a term relating to fellatio, nor is it mentioned in Green's Dictionary of Slang as such. Green only offers the Root's lone citation and no etymology notes.
Questions:
Is there any basis for this claim that "becky" derived somehow from fellatio? Are there any examples of this use in print or defined in slang dictionaries / compilations?
How old is the term "becky" as used in recent slang? Can the 2017 date be antedated?
Solution 1:
Note: It seems pretty unavoidable that any answer is going to have to address both sex and race. Consider yourself warned.
I've found antedatings for both senses. It looks to me like "Becky" started out as a very white name (see also "the Universal name for White Girl"), then became associated with fellatio in 2009. It's hard to say when the "entitled white girl" sense of the word came about since it's hard to say if a fictional white entitled character is called Becky because that's a white name or if it's because it's an entitled white name.
Although I read some articles that claim the origin of the entitled white Becky is Becky Sharp, a character in the 1847 novel Vanity Fair, I don't think I believe this is particularly connected to modern usage other than as evidence that it's a white name. The book doesn't seem to be consciously making a comment on Becky having racial privileges or being racist, which are present in later iterations of the usage.
It is probably significant to mention the white girls from the song Baby Got Back (1992) by Sir Mix-A-Lot. One girl says to the other:
Oh, my, god, Becky, look at her butt. It is so big. She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends. Who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her, because she looks like a total prostitute, okay? I mean, her butt, it's just so big. Ugh, I can't believe it's just so round, it's like out there, I mean, ugh, gross. Look! She's just so black!
Genius Lyrics
Here there's definitely racism. And possibly entitlement, in the sense that according to Sir Mix-A-Lot "the African-American idea of what was beautiful was shunned".
Urban Dictionary has the following definition for the "white, entitled" sense:
beckys
hot white girls, or snobish women
look at them beckys over there.
#beckies #beckys #white girls #dem girls #white hoes
by rich3000 September 04, 2006
UD also has a number of definitions given starting in 2009 that mention it as a term for fellatio. The relevance of that date is that in 2009 an artist named Plies released a song called Becky which starts off with the following:
Can Miss Becky please raise her hand, bruh
I need some of that good head right now, bruh
I need that Becky
Genius Lyrics
One entry in UD speculates on why "Becky" was chosen for the song:
According to Plies, "Becky" is referring to the act of fellatio. Plies terms the act "Becky" because of the widely held notion and/or stereotype that Caucasian women are somewhat more sexually liberal in terms of frequency of encounters, random partnering, and overall lasciviousness. With "Becky" being a popular name given to females at birth in the White society, one can assume that Plies simply chose this name because of its unique association to "Whiteness", particularly where the female is concerned.
Give me that becky!
#becky #dome #head #fellatio #brain
by Lovely Leo October 13, 2009
It's significant to note that there's another earlier mention of a white girl named Becky in Position of Power (2005), but this is brief and is clearly a name, not a term for the act:
I touch the Hollywood paper, go and shoot me some flicks
Have some supermodel bitches come and suck on some dick
Mama'd turn in her grave if I married a white chick
But Becky'll suck the chrome off a Chevy and shit
Genius Lyrics
Another important instance of the epithet Becky is Beyoncé's Sorry (2016):
I see them boppers in the corner
They sneaking out the back door
He only want me when I'm not there
He better call Becky with the good hair
He better call Becky with the good hair
Genius Lyrics
Diana Gordon, who "teamed with Beyoncé to pen tracks [...] including 'Sorry'" in an interview in Entertainment Weekly dismissed the claims that "Becky with the good hair" refers to any specific person.
See also Merriam Webster, which gives a very similar answer to mine (although I didn't see it until after I basically finished writing this answer).