History and True Meaning of “Netflix and Chill”

A popular phrase that has been in existence for a long time all over the world is “Netflix and Chill”. But do you know how it started at all and the true meaning behind it? If your answer is no, then continue reading because this article is going to show you the history and true meaning of “Netflix and Chill”.

Netflix can be tagged as one of (if not) the biggest paid movie streaming platform in the world. With over 24 years of being in existence, Netflix has been able to spread its coverage to 190 countries all over the world. The main countries where Netflix is not available yet in China, Crimea, North Korea, and Syria.

With each country having a unique library of content, Netflix makes sure each country has what is suitable for its audience. For example, the library you will get in Ghana is different from what you will get in the United Kingdom and so forth.

Since Netflix is a movie streaming platform, many people have been using the term “Netflix and Chill” basically to mean watching movies and having fun. But is that the true meaning of “Netflix and Chill”? Let’s find out.

What Is The True Meaning of “Netflix and Chill”?

‘Netflix and Chill’ is an English (both United Kingdom and the United States) slang for a romantic and sexual activity usually after or during watching a movie which does not happen. The intention behind the formation of this term was not what we have made it known.

The term has been sexualized even though the first-ever time this statement was made was just a tweet made by someone on Twitter. ‘Netflix and Chill” truly means the act of watching Netflix, typically alone.

On Urban dictionary which is a site where users are allowed to make their own additions to a phrase, ‘Netflix and Chill’ is defined as a “code for having sexual intercourse or doing other sexually related acts”. This is many other definitions given by social media is not the true meaning of the popular phrase.

History of “Netflix and Chill”

Before we jump into the origin and history of this phrase, let’s look at Netflix began its operations briefly. Netflix started originally somewhere in 1997 as a Video and DVD rental company, where they were competing with some big names like Blockbuster. Later in 2007, Netflix introduced their digital streaming platform which has been in existence to date.

In 2009, Netflix became available for the biggest consoles at the time, i.e., Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. It was around this same time that the first-ever documented use of the phrase was made popular on Twitter by someone with the username ‘NoFaceNina’. The tweet stated, “I’m about to log onto Netflix and chill for the rest of the night”.

However, in 2015 the phrase hit its turning point after it was introduced to the Urban Dictionary. This is where most people go to find popular social media slang and its meanings. After some time, the phrase began to generate a sexual connotation that flooded all over social media.

In July 2015, Netflix itself posted this GIF on its Twitter page. In this GIF, two people were lying on a bed (a man and a woman) and the woman fell off the bed without the man even looking at her for a second. This was captioned as “Netflix and chill? No, really.”

Sometime later, Netflix announced a prototype called ‘The Switch’ which would have functioned as a button which when clicked, can dim the lights, turn on Do Not Disturb on your phone, order a take-away; and queue up series to binge-watch. This was referred to by many as ‘Netflix and Chill’, but due to some limitations, this service could not come into existence.

Conclusion

‘Netflix and Chill’ has become a popular slang especially among teenagers and the youth even though it is just a little over a decade old. Many people have been using it out of context and this article has been an eye-opener for everyone.

In this article, we have explained everything you need to about the phrase “Netflix and Chill”, its history, and its true meaning. I hope this article has been able to answer all your questions and if it didn’t, please put it in the comments section below.