I have a number of readers from outside North America who’ve asked me the meaning of two American English expressions: stan and spilling tea.
“Stan” means “hyper-obsessed fan.” It comes from Eninem’s number, Stan (the video is above) — the one where Eminem raps over Dido’s Thank You in the voice of a creepy, increasingly-unhinged fan who’s obsessed with him. Stan was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary last year.
You’ve probably heard the term “Stan” recently, due to the activism by “K-Pop Stans” — fans of Korean pop bands — who’ve been organizing online to thwart the racist hashtag #WhiteLivesMatter and more recently, who took some of the air out of the Trump rally by signing up for tickets with no intention of attending. 감사합니다 / gamsahabnida / thank you, K-Pop stans!
Check out Vice’s article: Eminem’s “Stan” Gave a Face and Name to Fandom.
To “spill tea” means “to gossip.” The term has come up on Twitter over gossip about Amy “Central Park Karen” Cooper’s very expensive affair with a married man.
Want to know its origin? The podcast A Way with Words has you covered.