no cap
For real, seriously
What does no cap mean?
No cap is a slang expression meaning “genuinely; truthfully,” used to emphasize the sincerity or seriousness of a statement.
Examples of no cap
Orlando ain’t really all that, I think I like Tallahassee better, no cap
—@kikimariev, Threads, 27 Nov. 2024
Life is short. It’s ok to stop reading something you’re not digging. / No cap.
—The less you care, the happier you will be. No cap greatest mindset i ever applied in my life …
—No for real, no cap, my money long like anacondas / No for real, no cap, I keep a sack like Sapp and Tucker
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Where does no cap come from?
No cap originates in African American English slang, in use by at least the early 2010s in the lyrics of hip-hop artists from Atlanta, Georgia. Their popularity helped spread no cap into the mainstream in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
The cap in no cap is based on African American English use meaning “to boast; exaggerate; lie; insult,” with examples recorded in the mid-1900s (although this sense islikely much older). Capping, in its sense of “insulting,” is associated with a distinct form of wordplay in Black culture, known as the dozens, involving a ritualized exchange of intensifying insults.
How is no cap used?
No cap is used widely in informal language. It is frequently placed at the end of a statement (“That was the best pizza ever, no cap”) or beginning (“No cap, I’m quitting my job today”). As such, it functions as a kind of adverb known technically as a disjunct. While no cap is meant to convey truthfulness, statements it qualifies are themselves frequently, and purposefully, exaggerated.
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