Social media platforms like TikTok have made keeping up with teenage vernacular so hard that it leaves even Gen Z baffled! We decode some common Gen Alpha slang words and terms so you don't have to.
Slang has always been around, be it text abbreviations or just words we use in our day-to-day. But for a generation that is growing up in the age of social media apps like TikTok, Twitch, and Instagram (which might even be deemed ‘too old’ and become the new Facebook soon), the trends when it comes to memes and slang come and go in the blink of an eye. It’s to the point where it leaves a Gen Z like myself stumped! So if your kids were born between 2010 and 2024, you’ve got Gen Alpha kids on your hands. But don’t worry, soon you’ll be able to decipher some of the Gen Alpha slang the little ones are spewing nowadays – keep reading, and try to keep up.
67 (I don’t even know what part of speech this belongs to)
Similar to the rise of Skibidi Toilet, 67 is one of the Gen Alpha slang (can you even call it that?) that has no inherent meaning. It originates from a rap song where the artist Skrilla repeatedly says six seven. That portion of the song was then used in TikTok edits of an NBA player LaMelo Ball, solely because of his height being six foot seven inches. One particular edit went viral where a kid was doing a hand gesture while saying six seven before it transitioned to the NBA player – this was the birth of the current 67 meme today. Nowadays, the kids just laugh anytime the words six and seven are said together.
Example situation:
Kid – “Mum what time is dinner?”
Mum – “Six, maybe seven pm?”
Kid – “Haha six seven”
cooked/cooking (adjective)
This one is a unique one – some of the older Gen Z’s remember using the word ‘cooked’ in a positive sense, where it’s usually used to refer to a job well done. For example, if the little one got an A on their test, you could say that they ‘cooked’. But recently, the meaning has evolved into something more negative. If someone or something is referred to as ‘cooked’, it usually means it’s over or it’s the end for them. Think of it like this – old ‘cooked’, the verb, would be like making a great meal. The new ‘cooked’, the noun, would be like burning your food.
Example sentence for cooked (old): “Woah, that’s a great drawing – you cooked with that!”
Example sentence for cooked (new): “Dude, you didn’t do your holiday homework? You’re so cooked.”
“ts pmo 🥀” (phrase)
Gen Alpha has to make their opinion known on the Internet, and what better way than commenting on social media posts! One of the latest phrases they love using when they are upset or dislike something is “ts pmo”, which is short for “this sh*t piss me off”. What I personally could not understand before looking it up myself was the use of the “🥀” emoji. But after further digging, it is used as a substitute for the “💔” emoji – apparently, that is too mainstream, so the “🥀” is used instead.
Example sentence: “Did you see Jayden’s new haircut? Ts pmo 🥀”
“Get a j*b” (phrase)
Employment is now being censored! This one might be more commonly seen by the older kids but Gen Alpha might pick up on this soon. Many online users are now displaying a fear of getting a job and are going as far as to censor the word “job” as “j*b” and considering it a slur, in jest, of course. The phrase “get a j*b” is also being used as an insult, targeted at someone who might be too chronically online or displaying immature behavior.
Example sentence: “You’re playing Roblox on a Monday afternoon? Get a j*b dude!”
Brainrot (noun)
As the name implies, brainrot refers to low-quality content online that ‘rot’ your brain. After consuming a large amount of this content, your brain becomes ‘rotted’ and you start making references to these memes randomly. A good example might be yelling ‘Chicken Jocky’ from the Minecraft movie randomly throughout the day, just because it’s funny. This is also commonly used to describe nonsensical AI-generated memes online, like these Italian brainrot AI-generated characters that are all over TikTok.
Example sentence: “I kept yelling flint and steel yesterday after watching the Minecraft movie, I might have brainrot.”
Aura/Negative Aura (noun)
Imagine vibes, but more quantified. Built on a point system, aura points are awarded to someone who has done something cool or trendy. They can also be taken away when you do something lame or have ‘lame qualities’. It’s possible to even have negative aura points, usually based on repeated lame actions or multiple qualities. While initially used on TikTok, it has made its way offline and become something Gen Alpha aspires to collect.
Example sentence: “Did you see John fall down the stairs earlier? He’s definitely got negative aura points!”
Pookie (noun)
Term of endearment , usually used to describe someone you love. Can also be used platonically, but is usually reserved for a really close friend and should be used mutually.
Example sentence: “Hi pookie, hope you had a good day at work today.”
Unc (noun)
Short for uncle, the Gen Alpha are now referring to anyone above the age of 20 as ‘Unc’. Some have even referred to 18-year-olds as Unc, or reaching Unc status. And if that’s how old uncles are to these youngsters, what does that make the rest of us?
Example sentence: “Why is Unc on Fortnite, shouldn’t he be married with kids by now?”
Big back (noun)
Used to refer to someone who is overweight, or eats as much as someone who is overweight. Usually used in a derogatory manner.
Example sentence: “Did he really eat a whole rotisserie chicken? That’s some big back behaviour!”
Alpha/Sigma (noun)
The concept of the alpha or the group leader has been around for ages, so this is nothing new. However, a series of memes started popping up on social media that ridiculed the people who believed themselves to be an alpha among their group of friends. While this was done ironically via artwork of werewolves and quotes like “You won’t like me when I’m mad!”, some of the younger ones might have taken it a bit seriously and have adopted behaviour that seems “alpha” such as being a silent loner.
The same applies to being a “sigma”, or a man that is successful and popular while being silent and plays by his own rules. Parents might want to be a bit cautious with this one as it might develop some negative traits such as toxic masculinity, but it’s all good as long as they are aware of the irony behind the meme.
Example sentence: “Real sigmas stay on that grindset, there’s no time to waste.”
Looksmaxxing (verb)
This Gen Alpha slang term is a little easier to derive from the word itself. “Looksmaxxing”, or maximising one’s physical attractiveness, is the new wave of toxic masculinity that determines a person’s attractiveness based on several features. While it does encourage men and boys to focus on important aspects such as cleanliness, skincare, and having good posture, it gets a bit overboard when they begin to pinpoint features you don’t really have control over. This includes assessing your canthal tilt, which is the angle of the imaginary line drawn from the outer corner of one eye to the other. Supposedly, having a negative canthal tilt is deemed unattractive, and any person who has it is “doomed”. If not careful, subscribing to such ideologies can be quite detrimental to the self-image of the kiddos – take the time to remind them that looks aren’t everything!
Example sentence: “I’ve been looksmaxxing recently, notice the difference?”
Jestermaxxing (verb)
Derived from looksmaxxing, jestermaxxing refers to making a fool of oneself or making jokes like a jester would for their king. While similar to the classclown, jestermaxxing does have a slight negative context and is usually used on someone who’s usually the butt of a joke.
Example sentence: “He knows his looks aren’t gonna cut it so he’s jestermaxxing now.”
If you’ve reached this far, you’re one of the Uncs and Aunts
These are some of the older terms that aren’t used as often anymore, but you might still hear them thrown around here or there. Feel free to use them to make the kiddos cringe!
“Just put the fries in the bag, bro” (phrase)
This Gen Alpha slang is used in a derogatory fashion, insulting fast-food workers. This is usually used as a reply to someone who’s sharing something online, and you want to tell them to be quiet while also insinuating they work as a fast-food worker. There’s also an element of ‘I’m better than you’ in the statement.
Example sentence: “That guy thinks he knows so much so I told him to just put the fries in the bag, bro.”
Skibidi toilet (noun)
We’re starting with a head-scratcher, Skibidi Toilet. It started becoming a meme when user “DaFuq!?Boom!” on YouTube created a series of short videos regarding a character with their head coming out from a toilet bowl. This 14-second video spread like wildfire amassing over 159 million views since it was posted in early 2023. While the song used had been viral on TikTok before, it seems like the combined effect with the visuals in the video took it to a whole new level of virality. But do the words ‘Skibidi Toilet’ themselves have any meaning? Nope, not at all – it seems like the kids are just referencing the video and laughing their heads off at the mere reminder of it. So now you know what they’re laughing about at least. Understanding their Gen Alpha humour is a whole other ball game.
Example sentence: “Brr Skibidi Dop Dop Dop Yes Yes Skibidi Skibidi Dip Dibidi Nip Nip.” (Yes those are the lyrics to the song)
Mewing (verb)
Building on the concept of being a sigma, “mewing” started gaining popularity as another way of looksmaxxing. To get a sharper jawline, you would employ the technique of mewing. To do this, you flatten out your tongue against the roof of the mouth to tighten the jaw. The popularity of mewing builds upon the popularity of being a sigma. Since you’re not meant to talk when mewing, doing this portrays you as a brooding and silent type. This is illustrated in various TikToks where people are putting a finger to their lips in a shushing motion. They then run their finger across their jawline as a way to tell people “I can’t talk right now, I’m mewing”. Maybe next time the young ones are a little rambunctious, whip out the mewing symbol. You might get them to cringe into behaving!
Example sentence: “Your jawline is kinda weak lil bro, maybe you should talk less and start mewing.”
What’s 4 + 4?
If your answer to the question above is eight, you’re definitely out of the loop. The correct response is; “ATE”, commonly used to praise or compliment someone who has done a good job or looks good. The Gen Z’s might recognise this as the new form of “slayed” or derived from the outed slang, “she ate and left no crumbs” which has a similar meaning. You can get a little creative with this one as long as the answer ends with eight, and TikTok comments are a good place to find some interesting variations. A few examples include “How many letters in devoured?” or increasing the arithmetic difficulty with more complicated equations like “What is (27/3)-1?”
Example sentence: “Girl I saw your new nails! What’s 4+4? ATEEEEEE!”
Rizz (noun)
This one has been added to dictionaries in some countries so its time as a Gen Alpha slang may soon come to an end, but “rizz” is still a widely used term in the the Gen Alpha slang vocabulary. Derived from “charisma”, to have rizz is to have appeal or charm but can also be used as a verb – to rizz someone up is to attract someone. It’s become a bit of a competition to see who has the most rizz but this is nothing new. It has always been a competition to see who has the most game or who could ‘score’ the most.
Example sentence: “Woah dude she’s totally into you, you’ve got mad rizz.”
Gyatt (noun)
To be as blunt as possible, a “gyatt” (pronounced gee-yacht) refers to a… curvacious behind. Perhaps not the most flattering term to describe a lady by and definitely not a term someone under the age of 12 should be using. But because of social media and how hard it is to keep kids off the Internet, they will inevitably come across such terms – it comes down to educating them on why they shouldn’t be saying it!
Example sentence: “Woah who’s that new girl? She’s got a gyatt!”
Fanum Tax (noun)
It all started with one of the top streamers on Twitch, a live-streaming platform. Streamer Kai Cenat lives with a few other streamers and friends who pop in and out of his streams. However, the notorious Fanum has a sixth sense for showing up when Kai orders food and steals some from him. This phenomenon is now known as the Fanum Tax and it can happen to any one of you if you don’t keep your guard up.
Example sentence: “Give me some of that chicken rice, you’ve been Fanum Taxed!”
