“Having beef” can be extremely delicious or uncomfortably contentious, depending on the context. For instance, someone having beef at their favorite steakhouse will leave happily sated. But having beef with a bitter rival means disagreeing with them and holding a grudge. The origins of this phrase can be traced back to the late 1800s, when “beef” first came to be used as a synonym for a grievance.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the verb “beef,” meaning “to complain,” has been used as American slang since at least 1888. In New York World, a farmer was quoted referring to a horse: “He’ll beef an’ kick like a steer …” While the exact reason for “beef” meaning “complain” isn’t clear, one theory is that it had something to do with soldiers complaining about meager beef rations. By the 1930s, “beef” was also in use as a noun meaning “argument.”
But “having beef” or the similar “starting beef” are phrases that are far more modern in their origins. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that these idioms became popular in African American vernacular around the 1980s. “To have beef ” means “to hold a grudge,” and “to start beef” means “to start a feud.” One well-known early example appears in the 1986 song “Proud To Be Black” by Run-DMC, which has the line, “Got the strength to go the length if you wanna start beef.” The album on which this song appeared helped Run-DMC break into the mainstream, and the lyric was likely heard by millions of devoted fans. This was just one of the ways in which “having beef” made its way into our collective lexicon, where the phrase has remained ever since.
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