Slang & Words We're Watching

Slang (page 3)

romantasy

a literary subgenre blending fantasy and romance

sanewashing

Making something considered ‘insane’ seem more ‘sane’

side quest

an activity that is secondary to one's main endeavor

simp

to show excessive or fawning devotion to someone or something

situationship

When you’re more than friends but less than official

sleepmaxxing

The use of practices and devices purported to help increase the quality and quantity of sleep

slop

unwanted and unasked for AI-generated content

SMH

'Shaking my head'; an expression of disapproval or disbelief

smoke

trouble, competition, conflict

smol

Adorably small

soft launch

an act of hinting about a new romance on social media

sonder

the awareness that other people all have their own complex set of feelings and experiences

stonks

Slang for “stocks” (shares in a company); an ironic remark on an amusingly mishandled situation, financial and otherwise

Sunday scaries

anxiety felt when the weekend is almost over

tech neck

neck pain caused by hunching over one’s phone or computer

the dark side

a negative, disreputable, or evil position

thicc

Curvaceous; burly; lovably large

thot

an offensive term for a woman seen as promiscuous; a disparaging term for a woman

throw hands

to fight using one’s fists

torpedo bat

a baseball bat with a thicker-than-usual barrel

tradwife

A dutiful housewife active on social media

unalive

a euphemism for ‘kill’ or ‘die’

uncanny valley

a disturbingly lifelike aspect of something (such as a robot)

Utah curls

long, loose curls with straight and relaxed ends

vibe coding

Writing computer code in a somewhat careless fashion, with AI assistance

webtoon

A digital comic scrolled vertically

winter arc

a three-month period dedicated to focusing on goals before the new year

WYLL

What you look like

yassify

to heavily edit an image with beauty filters

yinz

“you” or “y’all” in Pittsburgh

YOLO

you only live once

zaddy

an attractive older man

zoomies

A burst of frenetic running in dogs and cats; a bout of agitation or animation
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