Entry · catalog no. 7305
fall out
/ /ˈfɔːl aʊt/ /FAWL-owt
verb · nationwide · 1940s
✓ Verified
1.
To be overcome — usually with laughter, sometimes with shock or grief — to the point of nearly collapsing. Often "fall out laughing."
“When he hit that high note the whole church fell out.”
Origin & Attribution
Long-standing African American English, at home in the Black church and the jazz world alike — the cats would fall out at a searing solo, the congregation fall out in the Spirit. Recorded in Green's Dictionary of Slang as US Black usage.
1940s
Common in jazz-world and church speech
2010s
Recorded in Green's Dictionary of Slang
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
nationwide · 1940s
Spoken by
Black American speakers; church and jazz worlds
$FALLOUThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady86 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
50/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1940
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
See also