Meredith Grey’s on-again, off-again relationship with Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd on the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy gave us more than great television: It also sparked one of the most enduring slang terms of our time: “pick-me.” The term entered our lexicon following an impassioned speech from Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) in which she begs Derek (Patrick Dempsey) to end his relationship with his estranged wife Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) to be with her. (see video below) So, what exactly is a “pick-me,” anyway, and how is the term used today? Webster’s dictionary defines “pick me” as “a slang term for a person, usually a young woman, seen as behaving in a contemptible way for attention and approval, usually from male peers.” Pompeo took credit for her role in the “pick me” craze in an interview, saying: “I fought that speech so hard. I was like, ‘Why would I beg a man? I can’t beg a man on TV, this is so embarrassing!' And then it turns out to be one of the most successful scenes.” Giving an example of the phrase’s usage as heard through her daughter, Pompeo said, “Ugh, she’s a ‘pick-me’ girl.” So, what is “pick-me” behavior? It can include anything from only laughing when members of the opposite sex contribute something to the conversation in an effort to impress them to someone putting themselves down just to get compliments to putting other people down and then indicating that you would never do that. So, move over “Karen,” the “pick-me” girls are taking over.
