Gen Z & TikTok

Gen Z and TikTok slang clusters around terms minted post-Vine and scaled via TikTok's algorithm. It overlaps heavily with AAVE (the source culture for most viral 2010s-2020s slang) but is distinguished by accelerated lifecycle — a term like demure can go from emergence to overused-cringe in eight weeks. The vocabulary is heavy on intensifiers (slay, bussin), dismissals (mid, cringe), and meta-commentary on internet behaviour (touch grass, brainrot). Signature exemplars: rizz, no cap, sus, delulu, aura, the ick. The category leans US-East-Coast, generation Z (born 1997–2012), platform TikTok and Twitter. Gen Alpha terms (skibidi, gyatt, ohio) appear here as ironic adult adoptions.