bling-bling

bling-bling

slang
1. Jewelry, especially that which is sparkly or flashy. This term can have a negative connotation when describing something deemed gaudy. That dress is so plain that some bling-bling will really jazz it up. Yikes, what's with all the bling-bling tonight? You look like Liberace!
2. Sparkly or glittery. That dress is so plain that a bling-bling necklace will really jazz it up.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bling-bling

1. n. fancy jewelry, especially chains and the like that sparkle or tinkle when in motion. (Streets.) All that bling-bling’s gonna give you a sore neck!
2. mod. fancy or sparkly, from the glimmer of light. (Streets.) Tiff! Your chains are so bling-bling!
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

bling, bling-bling

Sparkly, gaudy jewelry. This slangy term refers to the shininess of such accessories and the name for their clinking sound. It originated in the second half of the 1900s and was popularized in the hip-hop community. A 1999 rap song “Bling Bling” helped spread it to mass culture. In 1988, during a campaign appearance, presidential candidate Mitt Romney described a baby wearing gold jewelry, “Oh, you’ve got some bling-bling here” (Michael Powell, New York Times, January 22, 2008). And describing the Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz arriving for the All-Star game, “He was wearing some serious bling . . . including dark sunglasses that had red beads and diamonds that probably cost more than my house” (Nick Cafardo, Boston Globe, July 13, 2010). It is well on its way to becoming a cliché.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • bling, bling-bling
  • be holding (one's) breath
  • be holding your breath
  • hole in the wall
  • status symbol
  • symbol
  • a status symbol
  • intersperse
References in periodicals archive
Sa frequentation des milieux argentes, en particulier au debut de son mandat lorsqu'il a fete sa victoire au Fouquet's sur les Champs Elysees, avant de passer ses vacances sur le yacht d'un riche homme d'affaires de ses amis, avait rapidement valu a Nicolas Sarkozy le surnom de "president bling-bling".
Sarkozy a un patrimoine d'environ 2,7 millions d'euros
Where are all the not-yet-total trogs, but not still bling-bling homies?
Mike Burnett
Sacha Baron Cohen is a talented force to be reckoned with and for those cynics who think we've had enough of the bling-bling boy from Staines, there's the wonderful Borat `I want a blonde with plough experience' and the brilliant Bruno, a model who sends up the whole vacuous, soulless world of fashion.
TV People: LAUGHTER LINES
Kitwana also observes the work ethic of this generation juxtaposed with its fierce desire for wealth and "bling-bling" materialism.
The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture
But the old banger still has more style and class than most of the bling-bling motors that celebs are seen in these days.
Driven: Stars and their cars
Bling-Bling has been admitted into the Oxford English Dictionary
Notes: from the underground
Jennifer Lopez hasn't given up her bling-bling lifestyle to work as a dog walker.
JENNIFER LO-PETS TAKES THE LEAD ROLE
Me personally, I was one of the original cats to start the bling-bling thing off.
Raekwon the Chef
FLASHY bling-bling jewellery coveted by style-conscious men sent sales of earrings and bracelets to more than pounds 2.75billion last year.
Diamond geezers
It would be refreshing to see celebrities with less "bling-bling" around their necks and draped over their skinny shoulders and more warmth and compassion in their hearts.
Mirror M@ilbox: LYDIA'S SO INSPIRING
Hip hop is getting tired in the sense that all we are seeing promoted is bling-bling.
Noreaga
And with R&B singer Usher also hailing David as his favourite sportsman, it looks like the footy hero may be finding more success as a bling-bling star than his wife.
3am: Becks appeal is a rap
The term "bling-bling" may have started on the street but now it appears in the Oxford English Dictionary.
LORD OF THE BLINGS; Antiques star on glitz list
Who knew three guys from Virginia could make such an impact in this bling-bling bitnez?
Nerd
We were hoping to get some bling-bling in our goodie bags but it was not to be.
3Style: At British Fashion Week - Jade Rocs