Talk:receipt

"Receipts" has apparently acquired some new sense in the Internet social justice world, Tumblr etc. I believe it's something like proof, or evidence; e.g. A accuses B of having said a certain unacceptable thing, and others ask "receipts?", wanting the exact quotation or link that evidences this. Equinox ◑ 02:33, 20 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

I figured it was either figurative for, or alluding to some actual instance of (for example on some reality-ish TV show), someone pulling out old receipts that they had saved which showed that someone had done something objectionable. I've seen people complain that when a white male celebrity does something progressive people applaud him, but when a female celebrity says she's a feminist, "people be pulling out receipts from years ago" (I imagine other people complain that it works the other way around). Another example I've seen is "potatoes are actually my unproblematic fave" - "but they were the cause of a famine" - "I can't believe you just pulled receipts on potatoes". - -sche (discuss) 00:32, 13 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

I would define it as "evidence of past wrongdoing or problematic behavior or statements". - -sche (discuss) 00:40, 13 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

Its origins are not related to social justice, and somewhat older than 2015 - more like the mid-to-late 2000's. Like a lot of current 'stan' slang, it likely originated on the celebrity gossip blog ONTD (the audience of which wasn't especially attuned to social justice, except insofar as they were mostly young and female/gay), or was at least popularized there. It comes from an interview that Whitney Houston did with Diane Sawyer. Sawyer asks Houston about rumours that she spent an exorbitant amount of money on cocaine, and she replies "I wanna see the receipts!". This was a heavily-giffed moment, and ONTD was a big early adopter of gif as medium of communication. Colin M (talk) 19:52, 8 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

 Done I see we have this sense now. Equinox ◑ 19:55, 8 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

Yes, though the current division into two senses is a little weird. They should probably be combined into one, with a label like "originally internet slang", and a definition that doesn't place any restrictions on the information being evidenced (it's often wrongdoing, but it can also be something positive or neutral). Colin M (talk) 20:01, 8 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

for example in I am in receipt of your letter --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:49, 9 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

Isn't there a category for silent letters yet? --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:08, 9 September 2019 (UTC)Reply

@Backinstadiums:...erm... this word doesn't have a silent t. Maybe a silent p! Equinox ◑ 19:59, 8 March 2021 (UTC)Reply