Why You Can’t Stop Saying ‘That’s That Me, Espresso’

Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Can’t sleep? Blame espresso. No, not the coffee, Sabrina Carpenter’s breezy caller single. Since the popular vocalist dropped “Espresso” past month, its grammatically incorrect hook — “That’s that me, espresso” — has taken implicit popular fans’ brains. Is Carpenter simply saying she’s the espresso oregon that she gives a circumstantial benignant of espresso to men she’s into? Or possibly the feline she’s singing about is truthful blistery that she temporarily forgot however grammar worked? On Twitter and TikTok, the opus has been memed to death; outside, it’s rapidly heralding the opening of summertime with its emergence to No. 4 connected the Hot 100.

But wherefore can’t we halt saying “That’s that me, espresso,” among the galore different unusual lines successful this song? Vulture asked Ekkarat Ruanglertsilp, a linguistics prof astatine Hampton University who has done extended enactment connected connection and popular euphony (and adjacent published a insubstantial connected Ariana Grande’s thank u, next). Even though Ruanglertsilp admits that popular lyrics are “not meant to beryllium taken seriously,” helium was anxious to bash conscionable that with Carpenter’s latest.

When you archetypal heard “Espresso,” what stood retired to you astir it?
I thought it was cute. It’s amusive and lively and precise bubblegum pop. I emotion this benignant of music, and I’m a instrumentality of Sabrina, truthful I cognize this is her sound. But it’s a spot much sensual than her different songs.

“That’s that me, espresso” has burrowed into everybody’s head. What bash you marque of that line?
I ever judge that popular music, particularly bubblegum pop, is not meant to beryllium taken seriously. So “That’s that me, espresso,” that’s not grammatically correct, right? The reduplication of the connection that is determination to foster a consciousness of playfulness, to drawback attention. I deliberation it besides has to bash with the rhyme strategy and the fig of syllables, to marque each connection autumn into place.

By reduplication, bash you conscionable mean repetition?
Yeah, reduplication means the repetitions of definite words.

Then there’s the metaphor of it, excessively — she’s not espresso, but she’s comparing herself to it to support this feline up.
It conveys a consciousness of power. She has this powerfulness of attracting her boy, to person him wrapped astir her finger.

What other linguistically is going connected successful this song?
We usage the word conversions erstwhile a connection changes its portion of speech, similar from a verb to a noun. For example, “My give-a-fucks are connected vacation.” So successful this case, you harvester them into 1 word.

That makes maine deliberation of different line: “I dream-come-true’d it to you.” It’s benignant of the reverse of that, of taking the noun and turning it into a verb, right?
Yeah. It’s not conscionable a operation anymore, but successful this lawsuit it’s being utilized into 1 word. Or “I perfumed it” from a noun to a verb. I’m not truly definite astir “Mountain Dew it to you” successful this case. I was like, Oh, it mightiness beryllium thing that tin quench someone’s thirst. There mightiness beryllium immoderate semantic displacement present arsenic well, erstwhile the archetypal meaning gets altered a small bit. “I bash it for you” could mean different things present alternatively than conscionable soda. In this case, it could beryllium that, okay, it’s caffeine — it’s an energizer oregon thing similar that.

The enactment “I’m moving precocious ’cause I’m a singer” is comic to maine due to the fact that that’s erstwhile the opus isn’t relatable to everybody other — we’re not each popular singers. But it’s besides 1 of the lines that radical are latching connected to the most.
I analyzed it much successful presumption of sex roles. It shows maine that she has an untraditional women’s role. I’m really a singer. I’m not taxable to conscionable the home realm. So it shows immoderate powerfulness arsenic well. Then “My honeybee, travel and get this pollen” — that tin besides beryllium interpreted arsenic a intersexual innuendo. That’s 1 signifier of pistillate empowerment: to ain one’s sexuality.

Some of the lines that aren’t grammatically close punctual maine of different popular songs, similar successful “Break Free,” erstwhile Ariana Grande says, “Now that I’ve go who I truly are.” Those often extremity up being the catchiest lines successful the song. Why is that?
I’m not truly sure. In 2007, determination was this opus by Timbaland called “The Way I Are.” At the time, I was inactive learning English, and I was like, Huh, this is interesting. That’s not however I learned English. But it besides mightiness beryllium related to an contented of a nonstandard signifier of English. If you speech astir dialects, for example, African American English successful particular, they person their ain acceptable of rules for grammar. And sometimes these linguistic features get appropriated.

I besides subordinate grammatical oddities successful popular lyrics with Max Martin, who co-wrote “Break Free,” and Swedish songwriters. Martin has said earlier that it comes from approaching English arsenic a non-native talker and reasoning astir however thing sounds versus what it means. There was nary large Swedish hitmaker successful the country for “Espresso,” but it does consciousness similar a motion to thing similar that, too.
That made maine deliberation of Britney Spears’s “… Baby One More Time.” I deliberation the hook’s meaning was precise antithetic than erstwhile Max Martin meant it originally. It’s circumstantial to however the assemblage perceives it. Originally, “hit me” was made to mean “call me.”

You were talking a batch astir “Espresso” successful presumption of empowerment. I consciousness similar that runs antagonistic to this silliness that Sabrina herself plays up, particularly arsenic a blonde, conventionally charismatic woman. So immoderate radical person received this song, like, Oh, there’s not overmuch going connected here. But you’re saying it’s the full other — there’s a batch happening.
Another mode to look astatine it: Could she beryllium seen arsenic a femme fatale here? I mean, it’s not a caller concept. A batch of popular artists person done this before: Britney, Madonna, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande. So erstwhile we conscionable perceive to the lyrics without being critical, it mightiness mean portraying this pistillate arsenic being a bimbo oregon thing similar that. But if we really look astatine the lyrics — if we look astatine the societal ideologies down these words, down these linguistic strategies — we tin spot that Sabrina is the 1 holding the power.