MELLOW OUT

intransitive verb In US slang (especially in California): to relax; to release one's tensions and inhibitions; to become 'laid-back'. Etymology: Formed by adding out to the verb mellow in its figurative sense 'to soften, become toned down or subdued'; as is often the case in these US phrasal verbs with out, there is strong influence from the slang use of the first word in another part of speech. In this case, mellow had been used as a fashionable adjective in Californian slang for several decades in the sense 'feeling good and relaxed after smoking marijuana': to mellow out is therefore to reproduce this feeling in oneself (though not necessarily by using drugs). History and Usage: The phrasal verb has been used in US slang since the mid seventies; during the eighties, American television series made it a familiar expression to viewers in other countries too, although most British English speakers would only use it in parody of Californian speech. The adjective mellowed out is also sometimes found. So prevalent is the word mellow in its various guises in Californian speech that in the late seventies the cartoonist Garry Trudeau coined the word mellowspeak to describe this particular variety of English; the word has survived and extended its meaning to any bland, laid-back, or jargon-ridden language. He's getting it all together at last, mellowing out (in the jargon). Susan Trott When Your Lover Leaves (1980), p. 75 'You told me on the phone that the highest rock climb would be 15 feet.' 'Ah, I did?' he said in his most mellowed-out tones. 'Well, it was no problem, really, eh? You did fine.' Sports Illustrated 16 May 1988, p. 12