That they were afforded a kind of linguistic reverence was what awed me, what drew me in. Before Urban Dictionary, I'd never seen words like hella or jawn defined anywhere other than in conversation. Here was a place where words and phrases that friends, cousins, neighbors, and people I knew used with regularity found resonance and meaning. My understanding of it hewed to a simple logic. now stop bitching and get back to the kitchen." Under Lady Gaga, one top entry describes her as the embodiment of "a very bad joke played on all of us by Tim Burton." For LeBron James, it reads: "To bail out on your team when times get tough." In fact, one of the site's definitions for sexism details it as "a way of life like welfare for black people. Racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism currently serve as the basis for some of the most popular definitions on the site. By allowing anyone to post definitions (users can up or down vote their favorite ones) Peckham opened the door for the most insidious among us. It transformed into a harbor for hate speech. In time, however, the site began to espouse the worst of the internet-Urban Dictionary became something much uglier than perhaps what Peckham set out to create. Under Lady Gaga, one top entry describes her as "a very bad joke played on all of us by Tim Burton." For LeBron James, it reads: "To bail out on your team when times get tough." his eyeliner could literally kill a man") even my name, Jason, has an insane 337 definitions (my favorite one, which I can attest is 1,000 percent true: "the absolute greatest person alive"). You can find definitions for just about anything or anyone: from popular phrases like Hot Girl Summer ("a term used to define girls being unapologetically themselves, having fun, loving yourself, and doing YOU") and In my bag ("the act of being in your own world focused being in the zone on your grind") to musicians like Pete Wentz ("an emo legend. Today, Urban Dictionary averages around 65 million visitors a month, according to data from SimilarWeb, with almost 100 percent of its traffic originating via organic search. In interviews, Peckham has said the site began as a joke, as a way to mock, but it didn't take long before it ballooned into a thriving corpus. Founded by Aaron Peckham in 1999-then a computer science major at Cal Poly-the site became notorious for allowing what sanctioned linguistic gatekeepers, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, would not: a plurality of voice. © 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc.Urban Dictionary, now in its 20th year, is a digital repository that contains more than 8 million definitions and famously houses all manner of slang and cultural expressions. In brief: “Sus” is short for “suspicious.”Įxample: “That milk smells sus, throw it out.” The colloquialism for “delusional,” the term “delulu” is often used in a romantic context when the person reads into the actions of their crush a little too much or creates an irrational fantasy.Įxample: “He smiled at me, he must like me.” “You’re being delulu.” Sus Short for “charisma,” a suave bachelor whose natural charm successfully woos women would be said to have “ rizz.” Maybe they’re not the hottest hunk in the room - or maybe they are - but their effortless flirtation somehow works.Įxample: “Pete Davidson dates beautiful women - he must have rizz.” Menty bįlippantly nicknaming a “mental breakdown” as “menty b” somehow softens the blow of the freak-out and, in part, normalizes mental health struggles through veiled humor.Įxample: “I’ve had three menty b’s this month.” Delulu Now, a class in Zoomer-speak is in session.ĥ The chronically online generation has devised new slang terms that have befuddled older co-workers. “It’s truly amazing how our generation has developed its unique vernacular, incorporating phrases and emojis that have become widely recognized slang around the globe,” the agency’s PR manager, Emily Goldstein, said in a statement. In the US, Google searches for “Gen Z slang” are up 123% and curiosity about “Gen Z words” has increased by 86%, according to data from communication and growth firm Movchan Agency. The younger generation’s head-scratching lingo is befuddling elder coworkers as it seeps into Slack channels and Team chats across the nation.īorn between the years of 19, Zoomers have shaken up the corporate world by introducing their chronically online colloquialisms in the workplace, prompting the uninitiated to surf the web for a definition. OK, boomers - it’s time to get fluent in Gen Z. I’m 24 - having kids is selfish, I don’t ever want to become a mom Gen Z suffers from ‘menu anxiety’ when dining out - with many too scared to order their own meals Gen Z scoff at concept of virginity: ‘There’s different ways to have sex’ Gen Z hates email - but so do the rest of us.
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