Meaning
What does Bye Felicia mean?
Bye Felicia refers to a popular quote from the iconic comedy flick featuring Ice Cube, Friday.
Online, the line is used as a dismissive and potentially as a rude way of saying goodbye.
For a more friendly farewell, see also See you Space Cowboy.
Origin
What's the origin of Bye Felicia?
Friday premiered in the United States on April 26th, 1995.
In one of the scenes, the two protagonists, Craig Jones and Smokey (portrayed by Ice Cube and Chris Tucker respectively) are approached by a character Felisha who is asking to borrow some Jazz cigarette from them.
It is here, Craig says “Bye Felicia”.
An isolated clip of the scene was uploaded to YouTube by Rob G’s Gaming on March 12th, 2007.
Spread & Usage
How did Bye Felicia spread?
“Bye Felicia” was first defined on Urban Dictionary on December 7th, 2008, with many other entries to follow.
The line became viral in the 2010’s, appearing in any context, from hip-hop songs on YouTube, to Reddit posts, to even Twitter hashtags, from 2014.
Following the premier of Straight Outta Compton in 2015, the phrase went through some controversy, as the film included a scene where a woman of dubious moral commitments is being expelled from a party, with the line “Bye Felicia”.
By many the scene was received as misogynistic.
External resources
- IMBD – Friday
- Urban Dictionary – Bye Felicia
- New York Magazine – #ByeFelicia Gets an Uncomfortable New Origin Story.