“Just Ebonic Slang”: Shaquille O’Neal Once Broke Down How He Invented His Own Language

Shaquille O’Neal has been credited with many things in his accolade-filled life. Of course, he was a dominant presence on the NBA court, but he’s also made a name for himself in front of the camera and even in the classroom. He has four NBA championships, a doctoral degree, and a net worth of over half a billion dollars. But perhaps his most surprising and equally impressive achievement was inventing a new language.

The Diesel came up with this idea in the early 2000s and explained how it worked during an interview with Conan O’Brien in 2001. It was also around the time Shaq was promoting his new book titled Shaq Talks Back.

The chat happened one year after the eventual Hall of Famer helped the Lakers, alongside Kobe Bryant, win a ring. This prompted Conan to question the Shaq-Fu Master about his other big linguistic achievement.

“I can’t take all the credit for inventing it. It’s just Ebonic slang,” responded O’Neal, who was quite proud of his creation. Conan then followed up by giving Shaq a few examples to explain to the TV audience. The first test was a phrase known as “bling bling.”

“Bling bling is when the light hits the diamond, and the light from that diamond hits your eyes,” stated the then 29-year-old superstar, who gave a visual example by showing his sparkling ring that nearly blinded the famed TV personality.

Another term that Shaq was asked about was foul-shaving. “Foul-shaving is when you have a game and you don’t feel like playing, so you get three quick fouls, so you have to sit on the bench,” explained O’Neal. This got a huge laugh from both Conan and the audience, as it seemed to indicate that the Lakers legend did that often.

It honestly wouldn’t have been surprising if Shaq ended up doing this on purpose, even though he later claimed that he didn’t. Considering the big man’s affinity for going out on the town and having fun, foul-shaving was probably a good tactic.

Conan then asked Shaq about an acronym known as SHAM. “SHAM stands for short answer method,” said O’Neal. This was what he used when speaking to members of the media he didn’t like or didn’t want to chat with.

That totally tracks. Not just that he coined a term, but that he justified its creation based on something petty like not wanting to be grilled while doing press. Shaq may be a prankster every now and then, but he certainly doesn’t lie about this kind of stuff.

That said, some of these phrases have been popularized outside of Shaq. “Bling Bling” is a term that was used before Shaq, specifically in Hip-Hop, and it will be used long after he’s gone. Still, it’s cool to hear the basketball genius take credit for it. Because honestly, who’s brave enough to correct him?

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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