Slang Glossary
Every term we’ve decoded, in plain English. Tap any word for the full explainer.
#
- 67
- a playground catchphrase with no fixed meaning, often shouted in response to anything and sometimes paired with a two-handed weighing gesture, popular among children since 2025
A
- ai baby
- a realistic but entirely computer-generated infant, made with AI, that features in short videos doing things real babies cannot, such as dancing or speaking
- ai pet dance
- a trend of using AI tools to turn a photo of a pet or other animal into a short video of it performing a human dance routine
- aura farming
- deliberately acting in a way meant to build an air of effortless coolness or charisma, often through repeated calm or confident behaviour
C
- chat
- an affectionate name for ChatGPT, used when treating the AI chatbot as a personal companion, advisor or confidant rather than a mere tool
- chinamaxxing
- the trend, mainly among young people in the West, of deliberately adopting everyday Chinese habits such as drinking hot water, eating congee and wearing indoor slippers
D
- delulu
- playful slang for delusional, especially being optimistically or self-flatteringly convinced about one's romantic chances or a hoped-for outcome
- demure
- modest and reserved in manner; online it is used with knowing irony, from the phrase "very demure, very mindful"
- doobie scoot canoe
- an English mishearing of the German lyric "du bist gut genug" ("you are good enough") from the 2026 song "Gut Genug", used as a viral catchphrase
F
- free will
- a meme phrase used to jokingly justify a spontaneous or unconventional action by framing it as a sudden realisation that one is free to do as one chooses
I
- ishowspeed
- IShowSpeed is the online alias of Darren Watkins Jr., an American live streamer and YouTuber known for his high-energy in-real-life broadcasts and worldwide tours
- italian brainrot
- a genre of absurd, AI-generated characters with mock-Italian names, often animals fused with objects, narrated in rhyme by an Italian text-to-speech voice
L
- lone alpha wolf
- an internet archetype of the solitary, brooding tough guy, now mostly invoked as a joke that mocks the melodrama of the pose
- looksmaxxing
- the practice of systematically trying to improve one's physical attractiveness, from grooming and exercise to, in extreme cases, cosmetic surgery
M
- mewing
- pressing the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth, done in the belief it will sharpen the jawline over time
- midlife crisis
- a period of anxiety and abrupt life changes some people experience in middle age, often prompted by a growing awareness of ageing
N
- npc
- slang for a person seen as lacking independent thought, going through life on autopilot like a background character in a video game
P
- peak
- slang for the highest quality or the very best; in British usage it can instead mean unfortunate or terrible, depending on context
R
S
- scuba
- a viral dance in which a person pinches the nose and waves one arm while sinking down as if going underwater, also used as a playful way to call out a small, harmless lie
T
- the way christopher nolan intended
- an ironic phrase used when watching something in a deliberately poor or inferior format, mocking how few people can see a film in its ideal version
- tung tung tung sahur
- an absurdist AI-generated cartoon character shaped like a traditional Indonesian wooden drum, whose name imitates the drumbeat used to wake people for the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan
- twin
- a close friend you feel deeply similar to, used as a term of address, with no implication of being actual siblings
U
- unc
- short for uncle, used to refer to an older man, either affectionately or to tease someone for acting old