in your face
1. interjection An aggressive exclamation of triumph said after one has defeated someone or proven someone wrong. Although rude, the phrase is often used jocularly, without actual hostility. You said I wouldn’t make the team, and guess who’s the newest member of the pitching staff? Yeah, that’s right, in your face! I beat you, just as I predicted—in your face!
2. adjective Overtly aggressive, especially in an attempt to garner attention, interest, etc. Typically hyphenated. I don’t think an in-your-face advertising campaign will work in this case. We need something more subtle. People hate buying cars because the salespeople are way too in-your-face. Nancy’s in-your-face attitude will serve her well in the business world.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
in-your-face
or
in-yer-face
INFORMAL
COMMON If someone or something is in-your-face or in-yer-face, they are direct and forceful, in a way that might shock or offend some people. She was a lively, in-your-face woman who was sometimes too honest for her own good. This is one of the most in-yer-face movies of the year.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
in-your-face
mod. confrontational. Fred is just an in-your-face kind of guy. He means no harm.
McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
- be out of (one’s) league
- be out of somebody’s league
- (one) is not going to bite (someone)
- bell, book, and candle
- bell, book, and candle things that are miraculous or that signal that
- be ships that pass in the night
- be like ships that pass in the night
- be like ships passing in the night
- a happy bunny
- a happy camper
defiantly confrontational; also an exclamation of contempt
According to the The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, this slangy phrase originated in sports journalism about basketball during the 1970’s as a phrase of contempt used against the opposing team and extended to other areas in the 1980s.
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hey, my banana is soft
i’ll banana you in your face!!
damn you’re a little homo
i’ll show you homo in your face!!
mom, where’s the cookie jar?
i’ll cookie jar you in the face!!
hey jason, can you pass me that drink?
i’ll pass that drink all over your face!!
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A one-size-fits-all retort guaranteed to amuse or annoy.
For reasons that elude linguists, sociologists, and recipients alike, the phrase is sometimes held by its proponents to be the greatest comeback ever, and one to which no reply is possible.
Several studies have found a relationship between the humor value of «your face», the number of repetitions, and the average age of the audience. A commonly cited example gives the relationship as:
humor = 2^(n * (1 — abs(13 — age)))
This model predicts that for ages 12-14 «your face» never gets old. For age 13 its humor grows geometrically, hence a sequence of «your face» retorts may only end due to anoxia or exhaustion.
For everyone else «your face» just isn’t funny.
Bob: dood, whut up.
Alice: your face is up.
Bob: that’s lame.
Alice: your face is lame.
Bob: don’t make me come over there.
Alice: don’t make me come over your face.
Bob: that’s whack.
Alice: your face is whack.
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The ultimate comback to ANY and ALL insults thrown at you…..also something you can say if you dont know what to say. When someone asks you a question, you can say «YOUR FACE!» This saying will also get your friends or ANYONE pissed, and leave.
person 1 : your fat
person 2 : your FACE is fat!
person 1 : Your ugly!
person 2 : Your FACE is ugly!!
person 1 : well…..YOUR STUPID!
person 2 : YOUR FACE IS STUPID!!
person 1 : (Runs away crying)
—————————————
person 1 : Hey guys look at the cow!
person 2 : YOUR FACE!
————————————
person 1 : hey who wants to go to the movies today?
person 2 : ………..YOUR FACE!
—————————————
person 1 : Did you do your homework?
person 2 : YOUR FACE!
person 1 : SHUT UP! im asking you a question!
person 2 : YOUR FACE!
person 1 : I said SHUT THE FUCK UP!
person 2 : Yeah and i said YOUR FACE!
person 1 : GOD DAMMIT, BITCH!!
person 2 : ok i’ll stop……..YOUR FACE!!
person 1 : fuck you bastard!! (Leaves)
—————————————
person 1 : man, im tired…….
person 2 : shut up!
person 1 : YOUR FACE SHOULD SHUT UP!
————————————-
(playing video games)
person 1 : HaHa im beating u!
person 2 : YOUR FACE!
person 1 : doesnt matter im STILL beating you!
person 2 : Your face!!!!
person 1 : God enough!
person 2 : YOUR FACE YOUR FACE YOUR FACE YOUR FACE YOUR FACE YOUR FACE YOUR FACE!!
person 1 : FUCK!! (Stops playing, and leaves)
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Second of a logical progression of traded insults that can be applied to any statement, providing the other person plays along. Can be used when another person tries to turn an offhand statement back on you. Providing you are the one to make this statement, your victory is guaranteed.
Upon stating that something is (adjective) and having another person turn this back on you by stating that YOU are (adjective), you will respond that their face is (adjective). They will try to counter that your mother is (adjective), but upon stating that their mother is a whore, you will win, because nothing beats that.
Your opponent might predict where this is going early on and try to break order, but this just shows them to be a fucking douche.
Originates from a strip in the Gigaville webcomic.
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Language
Last Modified Date: March 06, 2023
Last Modified Date: March 06, 2023
«In your face» is an idiomatic expression that is associated with urban slang and meant to convey macho aggression and bravado. It is frequently used in sports such as boxing or basketball to taunt an opponent after taking the more dominant position in a match or game. This type of bluntly spoken slang phrase is also characterized as bold and defiant when the speaker wants to initiate or sometimes gain the upper hand in a confrontation. The speaker may use it to demonstrate his or her superiority in a given situation.
Depending on the geographic region and its common dialect, «in your face» can frequently be pronounced as «in yo face» as an alternative. The origin of this kind of aggressive idiom can be traced to the United States of the mid-1970s, when it was first quoted in a basketball novel called A Mile Above the Rim. «In your face» has since become commonplace during nose to nose stand-offs between boxers just before they begin a timed round as the sport’s rules dictate.
This type of idiom can also be found outside sports and is often a phrase of choice in areas of popular culture. «In your face» has been selected as a title for rock or rap songs and albums; it can also be found in the fashion world as the name of a clothing line or as a T-shirt slogan. Due to the successful integration of this idiom into pop culture, its exact meaning can depend on the context of a given situation.
The expression is also used as an adjective that means «direct» or sometimes «unpretentious.» It can be used to describe visual artwork, films, speech patterns, and even how someone may perform his or her job. In the last example, «in your face» can be used to describe tough or no-nonsense tactics.
While «in your face» can be construed as trash talk in some cases, it can also be spoken as a way of expressing confidence. It can be a means of assertiveness that sometimes discourages rather than provokes a confrontation. The expression is sometimes spoken in order to underline a recent achievement, particularly when the speaker is initially viewed as inferior or is underestimated. While confrontations are usually not desired and can be sometimes be culturally inappropriate, the bold attitude that accompanies this idiom is more highly regarded in cultures that value individualism.
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In Your Face Meaning
Definition: Look at how successful I am and how unsuccessful you are!
People use this expression to gloat about an accomplishment at the expense of another party. It usually is confrontational and aggressive, but one could also say it in a joking manner.
Origin of In Your Face!
This expression first appeared in the latter half of the 1900s. It may have originated around the 1970s in the sport of basketball, in which players would sometimes invade the personal space of players on the opposing team and shout in your face.
Many people still use this expression to show dominance in a sport. However, one could also use it in other situations. For example, if one person had taunted another that he or she wouldn’t succeed at a test, and the taunted person did succeed, then the taunted person could use this expression. In this case it would mean Ha! I did it even though you said I couldn’t.
Examples of In Your Face!
In this conversation, a mother and daughter are talking about a college that accepted the daughter.
Daughter: I finally got a letter back from that university that I really hope accepts me.
Mother: Well, don’t get your hopes up, dear. That is a very prestigious university, and you didn’t study as much as you should have. Open the letter and get it over with. Try not to be too disappointed.
Daughter: Oh! They accepted me! I did it! In your face, Mom!
Mother: Humph.
In this example, two coworkers are upset because of a third coworker, Stan, and his negative comments.
Dave: Stan told me that you were going to be fired during that meeting with your boss. Were you fired?
Ben: Nope! In fact, I got a raise! In your face, Stan!
Dave: Stan went home for the day. He can’t hear you.
Ben: Oh, then I’ll tell him tomorrow.
More Examples
This excerpt is from an article questioning the importance of statues and whether or not they are offensive.
- You have sports franchises with logos depicting the same humans in an offensive, disrespecting cartoonish way in our present time and no one seems to care. We have in-your-face racism on a daily basis, homelessness, hunger, etc. The list goes on and on. –New York Daily News
This article is about a politician’s wife who is very public about which brands she likes.
- But her in-your-face hashtags were in keeping with a consumer culture that has grown increasingly assertive in declaring corporate allegiances. –LA Times
Summary
People use this phrase to mock someone who lost, or someone who doubted them and was wrong.
- In your face means Ha! I did it. I was right and you were wrong!
Contents
- 1 In Your Face Meaning
- 2 Origin of In Your Face!
- 3 Examples of In Your Face!
- 4 More Examples
- 5 Summary
I
in your face
Meaning
- a bold, defiant or aggressive manner
- aggressive or confrontational
- direct and forceful
- shocking or annoying in a manner difficult to ignore
- provocative
Example Sentences
- Unable to tolerate Jack’s in your face attitude anymore, his boss fired him from the job.
- That was a very in your face advertisement they showed last night on TV which made some very bold statements.
- Mark is just an in your face sort of a person and sometimes talks rough. He really means no harm.
- “In your faces, kids” shouted the footballer to his opponents after having scored his third goal of the match.
- It was going to be a high profile fight by the two boxers and was marked by in your face comments from either side before it began.
- No one liked him because he was always in your face and seemed to be at war with the world.
- Her performance yesterday at the dance show was very aggressive and in your face. Not many would have liked it.
- His defiant and in your face nature was a result of his difficult childhood.
Origin
The phrase originated in the USA around the 1970s and most of the early uses related to confrontation in sports. The phrase became popular outside of sports around the 1980s.