Raising Gen Alpha slang: what your kid's words actually mean
Words and memes kids bring home from YouTube, TikTok, and the playground. For each one: what it means, where it came from, and whether it's everyday slang, mildly insulting, crude, or sexual. Short entries first; the biggest trends have their own guides.
Checked October 2026.
6-7 (six seven)
The number kids shout and the hand gesture that goes with it: where it came from and what it means.
Italian Brainrot
Tung Tung Tung Sahur, Tralalero Tralala, Ballerina Cappuccina: the AI meme characters kids quote.
Tung Tung Tung Sahur
The wooden figure with a bat from the Italian Brainrot memes: who he is and where he comes from.
Tralalero Tralala
The shark in sneakers that started the Italian Brainrot trend, and what's in the original audio.
Sigma
Why kids call each other "sigma," and where the word really comes from.
Cap / No cap
What kids mean by "cap" and "no cap," and where it came from.
Rizz
The Oxford Word of the Year for 2023: what "rizz" means and where it came from.
Slay
What "slay" means when kids say it, and where it came from.
Skibidi
What kids mean by "skibidi," and the YouTube series it came from.
41 (forty-one)
The number kids say with a hand gesture, the flip side of 6-7.
Sus
What "sus" means, and how Among Us made it a kids' word.
Unc
Why kids call adults "unc," and what it really means.
Gyatt
What "gyatt" means, and why parents should know it's not just a funny noise.
GOAT
What "GOAT" and "goated" mean, and where the word came from.
Delulu
What "delulu" means and why kids say "delulu is the solulu."
Chopped
What kids mean by "chopped," and why it's an insult about looks.
Aura
What "aura," "aura points," and "aura farming" mean.
Mid
What kids mean by "mid," and where the put-down came from.
Bussin
What kids mean by "bussin," usually about food.
Clanker
What "clanker" means, and the 2025 controversy around it.
Mewing
What mewing is, why kids do it, and what orthodontists say.
Glazing
What "glazing" means, and what dictionaries say about its origin.
Fanum tax
What the "fanum tax" is, and the streamer behind it.
NPC
What kids mean by calling someone an "NPC."
Lowkey
What "lowkey" and "highkey" mean when kids say them.
Ohio
Why kids call weird things "so Ohio."
Brainrot
What kids mean by "brainrot," and Oxford's 2024 Word of the Year.
Ballerina Cappuccina
The Italian Brainrot ballerina with a coffee cup for a head.
Therian
What a therian is, how it differs from furries, and what the masks, tails, and quadrobics are about.
Sussy baka
What "sussy baka" means, where it came from, and whether it's rude.
SMH
What "SMH" stands for, and what SMDH and SMFH add.
SYBAU
What "SYBAU" stands for, and why it's all over TikTok comments.
Chud
What "chud" means as an insult, and the 1980s horror movie behind it.
FAFO
What "FAFO" stands for, and its computing sense.
WYF
What "WYF" means in texts and chats, and why it has several readings.
WYLL
What "WYLL" means, and why it usually comes with a photo request.
ISTG
What "ISTG" stands for, and how kids use it.
Cringe
What kids mean by "that's so cringe," and how old the word is.
Mukbang
What a mukbang video is, and the Korean words behind the name.
SOS
What "SOS" means as a distress signal and as an everyday call for help.
IIRC
What "IIRC" stands for, and why people add it.
Simp
What "simp" means as an insult, and how it went mainstream on TikTok.
Yeet
Why kids shout "yeet," and why it also means to throw something hard.
Pookie
What "pookie" means, and why kids call their friends that.
FML
What "FML" stands for, where it came from, and why it counts as a swear.
Preppy
What "preppy" means to preteen girls today, and how it differs from old preppy style.
Looksmaxxing
What "looksmaxxing" means, where it started, and how it connects to mewing.
ONG
What "ong" means in texts, and how it differs from "OMG."
FR / fr fr
What "fr" and "fr fr" mean in kids' texts.
Bruh
What "bruh" means, from "brother" to a one-word reaction.
TBH
What "tbh" means in texts, and when "honest" turns into mean.
"..." in texts
What three dots mean in a text, according to dictionaries.
Emoji meanings
What 💀, 😭, 🧢, 🗿, and other emojis kids use most actually mean.
Woke
What dictionaries say "woke" means, and how its meaning has changed since the 1920s.
"..." (ellipsis) in texts Everyday slang
Means: Three dots that show a pause or a thought trailing off; in a text, the tone depends on who sends it.
Merriam-Webster defines an ellipsis as marks showing something left out or a pause. source · Full guide →
41 Everyday slang
Means: A nonsense inside joke, said with a palms-down gesture across the chest; the flip side of 6-7.
Thought to come from a 2021 song by rapper Blizzi Boi; spread among tweens in 2025. source · Full guide →
6-7 (six seven) Everyday slang
Means: Nothing fixed; shouted, with a palms-up gesture, when 6 or 7 comes up or as a reply to anything.
From Skrilla's song "Doot Doot (6 7)"; Dictionary.com's Word of the Year 2025. source · Full guide →
Aura, aura points, aura farming Everyday slang
Means: "Aura" is effortless cool; "aura points" are imaginary points won or lost for cool or awkward moments; "aura farming" is doing things to look cool.
Spread on TikTok in 2024; "aura farming" went viral in 2025 with a dancing boy on a racing boat in Indonesia and was on Oxford's 2025 Word of the Year shortlist. source · Full guide →
Ballerina Cappuccina Everyday slang
Means: A meme character: an AI-generated ballerina with a cappuccino cup for a head.
Italian Brainrot trend; first TikTok video March 2025. · Full guide →
Brainrot Everyday slang
Means: Silly, random online content; also the feeling of having watched too much of it.
Oxford's Word of the Year 2024 ("brain rot"); first recorded in Thoreau's Walden in 1854. · Full guide →
Bruh Everyday slang
Means: "Brother" or "bro"; also a one-word reaction to something surprising or annoying ("Bruh.").
From African American English; recorded since the 1890s, spread as an online reaction in the 2010s (Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster). source · Full guide →
Bussin Everyday slang
Means: Really good, especially food: "This pizza is bussin."
Origin disputed; some sources cite African American English. Spread through TikTok food videos in the early 2020s. source · Full guide →
Cap, no cap Everyday slang
Means: "Cap" means a lie; "no cap" means "for real, no lie."
From African American English, where "cap" meant to boast or exaggerate; spread through hip-hop. · Full guide →
Chopped Mildly insulting
Means: Ugly or unattractive; also anything boring or bad.
Spread on TikTok among teens and tweens in 2025. It's an insult about looks, and some related terms target girls. source · Full guide →
Chud Mildly insulting
Means: An insult for a loser, troll, or jerk, usually aimed at men; in political arguments, someone with far-right views.
Likely from the 1984 horror film C.H.U.D.; popularized as a political jab by a 2017 podcast episode, per Dictionary.com. source · Full guide →
Clanker Mildly insulting
Means: An insult for robots and AI.
From Star Wars, for battle droids; went viral in 2025. Critics said some 2025 TikTok skits echoed real-world racism. source · Full guide →
Cringe, cringey Mildly insulting
Means: Embarrassing or awkward; "that's so cringe" means it makes you wince.
"Cringe" is a Middle English verb; "cringey" dates to at least 1986, and Dictionary.com now lists "cringe" as a slang adjective too. source · Full guide →
Delulu Mildly insulting
Means: Short for "delusional": having unrealistic hopes, often about a crush or a celebrity. "Delulu is the solulu" means a little fantasy helps.
From online fan communities, especially K-pop fans; added to Cambridge Dictionary in 2025. source · Full guide →
Emoji meanings (💀 😭 🧢 🗿) Everyday slang
Means: Many emojis have slang meanings: 💀 "I'm dying of laughter," 🧢 "that's a lie," 🗿 a deadpan face.
Meanings as described by Emojipedia; see the full guide for the emojis kids use most. source · Full guide →
FAFO Crude
Means: "F*** around and find out": a warning or challenge that bad behavior will bring serious consequences.
Dictionary.com labels it vulgar American slang; it also lists a computing sense, learning how something works by trial and error. source · Full guide →
Fanum tax Everyday slang
Means: Taking a bite of someone else's food, as a joke.
From streamer Fanum, who "taxed" other streamers' food on camera in 2022–2023. · Full guide →
FML Crude
Means: Short for "f*** my life," said at the end of a story about something going wrong.
Dictionary.com labels it vulgar slang. It took off in 2008 with the website FMyLife.com, where people posted stories of bad luck ending in "FML." source · Full guide →
FR, fr fr Everyday slang
Means: "For real": "seriously" or "I mean it." Doubled as "fr fr" for extra emphasis.
Dictionary.com lists "FR" as an abbreviation of "for real"; Merriam-Webster dates the phrase "for real" to 1950. source · Full guide →
Glazing Mildly insulting
Means: Over-the-top praise of someone; "stop glazing" means "stop sucking up."
Spread on social media around 2021 by streamers such as Kai Cenat and Duke Dennis. Dictionary.com defines it as excessive praise; Know Your Meme says it has a crude sexual origin. source · Full guide →
GOAT, goated Everyday slang
Means: Greatest of all time; "goated" means excellent.
Linked to Muhammad Ali, who called himself the greatest of all time; spread through sports and hip-hop. source · Full guide →
Gyatt Sexual
Means: An exclamation at a curvy body, usually a woman's backside; also used as a noun for a large backside.
A respelling of the "god" in "goddamn," used online since the late 2000s; it spread widely around 2021 through streaming and gaming videos. source · Full guide →
IIRC Everyday slang
Means: "If I remember correctly" or "if I recall correctly."
An internet abbreviation, used when someone isn't 100% sure of what they recall, per Dictionary.com. source · Full guide →
ISTG Everyday slang
Means: "I swear to God": used for strong emphasis, frustration, or surprise.
Dictionary.com notes it's usually used casually, outside a serious religious context; examples date from 2015. source · Full guide →
Italian Brainrot Crude
Means: AI-generated meme characters with fake-Italian names, such as Tralalero Tralala and Tung Tung Tung Sahur.
A TikTok trend from 2025. Some original audio includes Italian swearing against God. · Full guide →
Looksmaxxing Everyday slang
Means: Trying to make yourself look as attractive as possible, from skincare and haircuts to crash diets and surgery; mostly among young men online.
Merriam-Webster traces it to online incel communities in the mid-2010s; it spread on TikTok in the early 2020s. Mewing is one of its practices. source · Full guide →
Lowkey, highkey Everyday slang
Means: "Lowkey" = a little, secretly; "highkey" = very much, openly.
"Low-key" is an old word for restrained; the slang use grew in the late 2000s and early 2010s. source · Full guide →
Mewing Everyday slang
Means: Pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth, sometimes for hours, hoping to reshape the jawline; also a "shh" gesture meaning "I can't talk."
Named after UK orthodontist John Mew. The American Association of Orthodontists says there's no evidence it works and warns of risks to teeth and bite. source · Full guide →
Mid Mildly insulting
Means: Mediocre, so-so; a put-down for something others like.
Short for "middle"; spread on TikTok in the early 2020s. source · Full guide →
Mukbang Everyday slang
Means: An online video of someone eating a large amount of food while talking to viewers.
From Korean meokbang: meok "eat" + bang(song) "broadcast"; recorded in English 2010–15, per Dictionary.com. source · Full guide →
NPC Mildly insulting
Means: Someone who seems mindless or predictable, like a background character.
From video games: a "non-player character" controlled by the computer. · Full guide →
Ohio Everyday slang
Means: Weird, awkward, or cringey ("that's so Ohio").
From "Only in Ohio" internet memes about strange events in the state. · Full guide →
ONG Everyday slang
Means: Short for "on God": "I swear it's true."
Used since at least the late 2010s, mostly typed in texts and on social media (Dictionary.com). source · Full guide →
Pookie Everyday slang
Means: A pet name for someone you love: a partner, a friend, a family member.
Merriam-Webster records it as a term of endearment since the 1960s; earlier it was a nickname for specific people. source · Full guide →
Preppy Mildly insulting
Means: A cheery, sporty style with lots of pink, popular with preteen girls (smiley faces, bows, skincare, name brands); also a girl who follows it. Can be praise or a put-down.
A new sense of an old word for prep-school style; Merriam-Webster finds it on TikTok from 2021, spreading among preteen girls in 2022. source · Full guide →
Rizz Everyday slang
Means: Charm, especially in flirting; "rizz up" means to charm someone.
Popularized by streamer Kai Cenat from about 2022; believed to come from "charisma." Oxford's Word of the Year 2023. source · Full guide →
Sigma Everyday slang
Means: Cool, independent, a "lone wolf"; often said as a joke. "What the sigma" replaces "what the hell."
From "sigma male," a term from online "manosphere" writing that ranks men by status. source · Full guide →
Simp Mildly insulting
Means: An insult for a boy or man seen as too attentive to a girl or woman; now also used loosely for having a crush.
From 1980s–90s hip-hop slang; went mainstream on TikTok in late 2019, per Dictionary.com. source · Full guide →
Skibidi Everyday slang
Means: No fixed meaning: can mean cool, bad, or nothing, used as a joke.
From the YouTube series Skibidi Toilet; added to Cambridge Dictionary in 2025. · Full guide →
Slay Everyday slang
Means: To do something amazingly well; "slay!" means "you nailed it."
From 1970s–80s ballroom culture, later spread by drag and pop culture. source · Full guide →
SMH Everyday slang
Means: "Shaking my head": typed to show disappointment, disapproval, or exasperation.
In use online by the 2000s; on Urban Dictionary by 2004 and on Twitter by 2007, per Dictionary.com. The variants SMDH and SMFH add swear words. source · Full guide →
SOS Everyday slang
Means: The international distress signal; informally, any call for help.
From Morse code (three dots, three dashes, three dots), first recorded 1905–10. Some slang lists say it means "someone over shoulder" in texts; we couldn't confirm that in a dictionary. source · Full guide →
Sus Everyday slang
Means: Suspicious; something or someone seems shady.
Old British and police slang, made popular with kids by the game Among Us. · Full guide →
Sussy baka Mildly insulting
Means: A joking "suspicious fool": someone acting strangely or suspiciously.
"Sussy" from "sus" (Among Us); "baka" is Japanese for "fool." Spread on TikTok in 2021. source · Full guide →
SYBAU Crude
Means: A rude way to say "shut up"; as defined on Urban Dictionary, it stands for "shut your b** a up."
An Urban Dictionary entry dates to as early as 2003; it went viral on TikTok in late 2024 and early 2025, per the user-edited site Know Your Meme. source · Full guide →
TBH Everyday slang
Means: "To be honest," added to a frank opinion or admission.
An internet abbreviation from texting and online chat (Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster). source · Full guide →
Therian Everyday slang
Means: A person who says they identify, in part or entirely, as a non-human animal; kids in the trend wear masks and tails and may do "quadrobics" (moving on all fours).
Short for "therianthrope"; the online community dates to early 1990s internet groups. Spread among teens on TikTok in the 2020s. · Full guide →
Tralalero Tralala Crude
Means: A meme character: an AI-generated shark in blue sneakers.
The first Italian Brainrot character, January 2025. The original audio includes Italian swearing against God. · Full guide →
Tung Tung Tung Sahur Everyday slang
Means: A meme character: an AI-generated wooden figure with a bat.
From Indonesia, 2025; named after the drums that wake people for the Ramadan meal before dawn. · Full guide →
Unc Mildly insulting
Means: Short for "uncle": a tease for someone acting old or out of touch.
From African American English, where it was a respectful word for an older man; Merriam-Webster labels it humorous and often fond. source · Full guide →
Woke Mildly insulting
Means: Aware of social issues, especially racial and social injustice; also used disapprovingly for views seen as too liberal or progressive.
From African American English. Merriam-Webster finds "stay woke" in print in 1924; Dictionary.com dates the figurative sense to the 1940s. Widely used from 2014 with Black Lives Matter; the disapproving sense spread by the end of the 2010s (Merriam-Webster). source · Full guide →
WYF Everyday slang
Means: As defined on Urban Dictionary: usually "where you from?" or "what's your favorite?"
Not in Dictionary.com; The "what's your favorite" entry dates to 2008 and the earliest "where you from" entry to 2014. Some other user-submitted entries there are crude. source · Full guide →
WYLL Everyday slang
Means: "What you look like?": a request for a photo or a description of someone's looks.
Used since at least early 2020 and common on Snapchat by late 2022, per Dictionary.com. source · Full guide →
Yeet Everyday slang
Means: A shout of excitement or approval; as a verb, to throw something hard ("he yeeted the ball").
Spread through a 2014 dance in Black social media and Vine videos; the American Dialect Society's slang word of the year for 2018 (per Dictionary.com). Merriam-Webster dates the shout to 2007. source · Full guide →
FAQ
What is Gen Alpha slang?
Slang used by Gen Alpha, children born from about 2010 on, much of it from YouTube, TikTok, games, and streamers. Many words, such as "6-7" and "skibidi," have no fixed meaning.
Are Gen Alpha slang words bad?
Most are everyday jokes. A few have crude or sexual meanings, such as "gyatt," or come from content about ranking people, such as "sigma." The labels on this page say which.
Why do kids use words adults don't understand?
Part of the fun is that adults don't get it. Dictionary.com notes that some young people use "6-7" to frustrate adults.
How can I find out what a word means?
Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster list most of these words, often with their origins.
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