What Does 'Read You To Filth' Mean In Slang?

Many people resist the changes in language used to refer to sex, but it is an area that has evolved significantly over the past hundred years. Writers from the past often used euphemism, and were often restricted by the constraints of Victorian prudishness. Today’s writer has the opposite problem: such language can seem to be affected or even silly. So writers have reverted to using straightforward language to refer to sex in order to be authentic. The expression “Dick me down” is an example of this current. It is based upon a very recent, perhaps short-lived, part of the English language and thus is of interest to historians in order to gauge whether it will be found to be a temporary phenomenon or a permanent addition to the language.

So this is either about using secrets in fiction or in online discourse, and I can imagine that the former could easily be translated to the latter, but in stories, secrets generally function as plot points of high dramatic value. They are often the moment when the reader gasps and throws their hand up over their mouth. Secrets are just pure concentrated drama. In fiction, secrets are great because they make me so angry when they are revealed in the worst possible way and then I get to be so happy when the character seeks revenge. I love to hate when an author uses secrets this way because it instantly makes me care about the character and then I’m invested in their quest for revenge.

The number 18 has so much meaning around the world – in most countries, it signals the age at which a person gets new rights and can take on new responsibilities. So when we put that number in a media tag, we imply that reading/ watching/listening to that story is an adult act – and thus we expect the reader to have the emotional/ intellectual maturity to deal with what we’re publishing. That can mean very dark stuff, or very complex stuff, or even just really explicit stuff. So when we use “18+” as slang, we’re referencing both the legal minimum age and the assumed maturity that a community grants to someone of that age to consume said content.

After poking through old forum threads, archive snapshots, and the way people talk about it, I’ve come to see the term’s origin as more of a slow, messy stew than a single point on a map. It didn’t spring fully formed from a studio or a book; it bubbled up inside small, fringe communities where people traded shock-value slang and niche sexual vocabulary. Those communities—early message boards, Usenet groups, fetish forums, and later imageboards and Reddit threads—serve as fertile ground for ugly, silly, and taboo words to be invented and then amplified. Urban Dictionary plays a starring role in this story, but it’s more of an archivist and megaphone than an inventor. Because anyone can submit entries, the site tends to capture slang just after it starts to ripple through internet subcultures. You’ll often find the earliest Urban Dictionary entries show up in the early to mid‑2000s for many terms of this kind, and from there mainstream listicles, shock sites, and casual social posts pick them up and spread them wider. That means Urban Dictionary often functions both as a mirror reflecting underground vocabulary and as a broadcast antenna that helps that vocabulary jump into the broader online public. Tracing the absolute first use is tricky and rarely conclusive. The language bears hallmarks of British and American internet subcultures mixing together, and specific threads that popularized the phrase tend to be ephemeral—deleted posts, anonymous boards, or private group discussions. Contemporary references often come wrapped in sarcasm or disgust, which is part of why the phrase stuck: it shocks, it provokes a visceral reaction, and reactions are currency on the internet. Personally, I find it an interesting, if gnarly, example of how internet culture collects and preserves the weirdest corners of human behavior—both the vocabulary and the attitudes that produced it—without much editorial care.

The term ‘dicked down’ is used as an extremely direct slang term, similar to being ‘hooked up’ or ‘slept with’. However, while those terms can be somewhat vague as to what exactly happened between the two individuals, ‘dicked down’ is not. The term is commonly used in an extremely heterosexual manner and refers to penetrative sex of some kind or another. It is often used to denote a somewhat transactional or very physical connection, which lacks any sort of romanticism. As such, you are unlikely to come across the term in a romance novel and it is far more at home in a gritty urban fantasy, in a rap verse, or in a very edgy contemporary drama trying to gain a genuine insight into a particular subculture and using the most appropriate language to do so.

The books you’d find with this tag? Search for “high angst,” “denial of feelings,” “idiots in love,” or “mutual pining” on TikTok and you’ll find tons of comments with this acronym. Yes, it’s a badge of honor for those particular tropes and how characters typically interact with each other within said books.

The expletive "fuck me" can be hilarious or heartbreaking. In BoJack Horseman it's saturated with self-loathing, in Brooklyn Nine-Nine it's a comedic set up and timing. Writer's note: the way a character react after they've said this will define the scene more than the word itself. Use it as often as you like, just don't use it as a writers crutch.

This also brings to mind the business side of things. Can authors on Patreon or SubscribeStar actually make a living by writing this very specific hyper-niche content? I would wager that at the top of the pyramid there are a few who can make a living at this, but the long tail theory comes into play as well. If you are able to serve a small and very passionate audience with work that they would otherwise have no access to, they will of course pay for it because you are their only option. The economics of micro-genres can be quite surprisingly viable when there is direct support for the creator involved. It highlights again just how the digital landscape has fragmented entertainment into thousands and thousands of very viable and even profitable micro-genres that would not have seen the light of day in a physical world.

The internet is also a reminder of the worst aspects of language. You can be admiring a cute cat playing the piano on YouTube within minutes, and then spend hours scrolling through the worst of the worst on etymology of intensely sexist Jamaican cursing. Information is power. But the worst part is that once you have learned something, you cannot “unlearn” it. This particular “word” does not serve any positive purpose. Learning it does not make one a more complete or wise individual in any way. It merely provides another term for hatred that can be added to one’s vocabulary. This word is one of nothing but harm to most people’s lives. It adds nothing good to the lexicon of someone who learns it. All it does is further pollute the vocabulary of the mind of someone who speaks it. Sometimes I wish that things were still the way they were. Such knowledge was kept within the community that had full comprehension of its power and evil. It was not disseminated to everyone on the planet to be further watered down. Not everything needs to be a Wikipedia entry. Some words are best kept local. They should have power and consequences that are understood completely by the speaker of that word or words. Not a trivia question for the rest of the world.

Just lurking here because I'm also curious now. That title is a sentence and a half.