Meaning
What does Dry Snitching mean?
Dry snitching refers to a practice of testifying against someone indirectly, by speaking out loud.
Since the cliché Snitches get stitches is known by every informer, many of them attempt to evade responsibility by “Dry snitching”.
Origin
What's the origin of Dry Snitching?
Although the exact origin of the expression “Dry snitching” is not known, the phrase comes from the latter half of the 20th century.
It first appeared in print in the Reinhold Aman novel, “Maledicta”, published in 1981.
In the following decades, the phrase slowly turned into a Certified Hood Classic.
Spread & Usage
How did Dry Snitching spread?
With the rise of hip hop culture, the popularity of “Dry snitching” rose even higher in the 1990’s and the 2000’s.
It was first defined on Urban Dictionary on May 6th, 2005, with countless entries having been added in the subsequent years.
It became even more widespread in 2019, when during the trials of 6ix9ine he was accused of “Dry snitching” on several pop culture celebrities and rappers.
Since then, it was featured in numerous blog posts, tweets, image macro memes, as well as articles.
External resources
- Washingtonpost.com – Santana Moss says dry snitching to the media has to stop
- Balleralert.com – Let’s Talk: Are You A Dry Snitch?
- Quora.com – Why do people dry snitch on themselves?
I’m not going to go so far as to say I’m the originator of this term, but I was using it in the late 90’s and your definition is off. dry switching is the act of snitching without receiving anything in return.