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Stay in the loop: Your essential guide to understanding Gen Z’s ever-evolving internet lingo

Internet Culture, Social Media

Credits: Tracy Le Blanc / Pexels

Internet lingo can be complicated to keep track of, so here’s a quick and updated overview of some of the most recent slang.

GenZ people are born between 1997 and 2012 and their internet-driven vocabulary keeps evolving.

  1. Roman Empire

It started off as a simple question over TikTok where women ask men how often they think about the Roman Empire. The answers in these viral videos revealed a shocking frequency which then led to a wider discussion on all social media platforms. Men in these videos claimed to think about it every day or at least three to four times a week. 

@hannahkbrown

Never once do I think of such things. How is this real?! #romanempire

♬ original sound – Hannah Brown
@hannahkbrown on TikTok

The term “Roman Empire” has turned into a symbol of what people often think about, creating another sub-trend.

Credits: @lunarparacosm on X
Credits: @pimviaje on TikTok

2. Pookie

The term “Pookie” was used majorly on TikTok to refer to your significant other or someone you love/admire. 

However, it gained attraction after a video by TikTok user @444pray, known as Prayag Mishra, went viral. He noticed his fans calling him “Pookie” In the comments. He then used the same term to address his fans, in the following few videos, which also went viral.

People mostly liked the way he pronounced it as “poo-keh” hence creating a wave of the trend around all social media platforms. 

Credits: @444pray on TikTok

3. Rizz/Rizzler

Simply put, “Rizz” is short for charisma. This term was initially seen in videos by a YouTube and Twitch streamer, Kai Cenat, who began using it as a joke with his friends. It eventually became a massive trend on TikTok to portray an individual’s seduction skills and pickup lines alongside the song, ‘White Tee,’ by Summer Walker and NO1-NOAH.

Credits: @nahlu1z on TikTok
Credits: @roadk1llbunny on X

“Rizzler” is another term that birthed from the same trend and is used to refer to someone with excellent flirting skills.

Comments from Instagram

4. Mother is Mothering

The origin of this phrase is said to be within the LGBTQIA+ community. The initial idea was to refer to an individual’s favorite celebrity or artist as “mother.” It became famous after a Taylor Swift fan account made a now-deleted tweet using the phrase “I love when my mother is mothering.” 

Image via Knowyourmeme.com

It generally means that the person is doing what they do best and is now used by almost every celebrity fanbase.

Credits: @kryptikdj on X

These are just a few of the many internet phrases that GenZ has introduced us to. Feel free to tweet us at @WestWorldUk for any more slang that you want to be decoded.