Catching Strays (Slang)

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About

Catching Strays is a slang term meaning to get insulted or otherwise defamed in a controversy or argument that otherwise has nothing to do with the person insulted. It is inspired by the term "catch a stray bullet," meaning to get shot in a gunfight in which one is not involved.

Origin

On July 17th, 2019, Urban Dictionary^[1] user sydmak uploaded a definition of "catching strays" that read, "Being hit by a stray bullet." However, a secondary usage of the term meaning "getting insulted" began appearing sparingly over the following years. For example, on December 16th, 2021, Twitter user @liammurphy_603^[2] joked he'd "caught a stray" from an Onion headline (shown below).

On May 19th, 2022, Urban Dictionary^[1] user CookedGroceries uploaded a definition for the term that matched with the internet's usage of the term, writing, "Aiming to insult someone but insulting someone else in the process as well even if not involved" (shown below).

Spread

Over the course of 2022, the term grew more popular on social media as multiple controversies engulfed seemingly unrelated people. On June 23rd, Twitter user @colton_pouncy^[3] used the term when NBA commentator Skip Bayless unexpectedly insulted basketball player Max Christie, gaining over 39 retweets and 1,000 likes in six months (shown below, left). On November 27th, Twitter user @zambonijonez^[4] tweeted that sex workers will often "catch strays" from people intending to insult others (shown below, right).

In early December of 2022, multiple controversies surrounding Kanye West led people to use the term "catching strays," as his various anti-semitic controversies involved other people and brands. For example, while doing an interview with Alex Jones, Ye brought out a bottle of Yoohoo chocolate milk, leading many, such as @samrudykoff,^[5] to joke that Yoohoo had caught a fatal stray (shown below, left). In a series of tweets after, Ye tweeted that basketball player Chris Paul was sleeping with his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, though there is no evidence to support that.^[6] This led many, such as @sadguardiansfan,^[7] to joke that Paul had caught a fatal stray (shown below, right).