V to kill as a positive connotation?

[Mariner]

I heard today someone commenting positively (no irony involved) on someone's singing performance using the sentence "Yeah! Great job, you killed it! [the song]"

Last time I checked, to kill means to put an end to, to destroy. The only occasion where kill has positive connotations is in phrases like "This comedian is killing me!" or "This show is a killer!"

Or is it?? Is this a new way to use this verb??

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Mariner

I heard today someone commenting positively (no irony involved) on someone's singing performance using the sentence "Yeah! Great job, you killed it! [the song]"

Last time I checked, to kill means to put an end to, to destroy. The only occasion where kill has positive connotations is in phrases like "This comedian is killing me!" or "This show is a killer!"

Or is it?? Is this a new way to use this verb??

This is not unusual (at least in USA) in the performing arts. This use of "kill" is a direct outgrowth of "you killed the audience" (overwhelmed them with a performance"). Now, one can also kill a song or a comedy routine.

[Ouisch]

In a similar vein, it was common show business usage (particularly during the Vaudevillian era) to say "you really slayed them!" ("them" being the audience)


"Kill" is also used as a positive term in computer lingo as well, such as "killer apps (applications)" meaning a software package that is so cool you want to buy a computer just to run it.

[Mariner]

Thanks for the info. Something new every day...

[curmudgeon]

To 'murder' a song on the other hand...

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Mariner

I heard today someone commenting positively (no irony involved) on someone's singing performance using the sentence "Yeah! Great job, you killed it! [the song]"

Last time I checked, to kill means to put an end to, to destroy. The only occasion where kill has positive connotations is in phrases like "This comedian is killing me!" or "This show is a killer!"

Or is it?? Is this a new way to use this verb??

'Could kill' has been around for ages with positive connotations as well: I could kill an ice-cold beer.

[Ouisch]

Originally Posted by Tdol

'Could kill' has been around for ages with positive connotations as well: I could kill an ice-cold beer.

:::::thud:::::: A Brit drinking cold beer?!

[Mariner]

Originally Posted by Tdol

'Could kill' has been around for ages with positive connotations as well: I could kill an ice-cold beer.

A good point, but wouldn't it have the sense of "putting it out of its misery" ? My point being, there is a sense of "consumption", of "termination" in that. While for a song...

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

:::::thud:::::: A Brit drinking cold beer?!

I hate warm beer.

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Mariner

A good point, but wouldn't it have the sense of "putting it out of its misery" ? My point being, there is a sense of "consumption", of "termination" in that. While for a song...

It does have the 'consumption' idea, but putting it out of its misery is undoubtedly a very positive thing to me- one beer's death is another person's joy. The song is a bit different, but I think that the beer example may hover in the middle.