american english - Who ruled first, “girls” or “boys”?


A recent ELL question contains a catchphrase which is utterly novel to me.



Boys rule, girls drool



Wanting to know more, I searched online and found a female variant.



Girls rule and boys drool



The meaning here, interestingly, appears to be quite different. Girls who are physically attractive make boys drool because their mouths, figuratively speaking, are open in admiration.


Not being American and not remembering if this slogan was used in the UK during the 1970s or 80s, I posted a comment asking @James K which version was the older: the boys rule or girls rule.


Unfortunately, I never got a reply, all the comments were swiftly deleted, so here I am asking on EL&U.


The original slogan, from what I could gather, appears to be the "girls rule". The earliest instance in print I found was October 1997 from the magazine American Motorcyclist Oct 1997



Fifteen-year-old Stephanie “Stevie” Welch is waiting while her father readies her Yamaha YZ125. A large banner spanning the front of her family's race transporter takes a good-natured jab at her male competition: “#43, Stevie Welch–Girls Rule, Boys Drool.”




  1. Which slogan came first: "Girls rule, the boys drool" or "Boys rule, the girls drool"? What is its origins?

  2. Does inverting the gender change the meaning significantly?

  3. Is either one used in the UK or in Australia?




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