The Gen Z Dictionary

An index of terminology mentioned in past editions of the newsletter.

Any time a term receives a footnote in one of my newsletters, I also put it here! These are my personal definitions, so do with that what you will.

Stay relevant, my friends.

A

• Algo: Short for “algorithm” 1

• ASMR: Video or audio content meant to soothe with close-to-the-mic noises. Think spsssspsss 1

• Ate: Did well 1

• AU: Shorthand for “alternate universe,” this is often used as a medium to imagine characters in a world or setting outside of their original

B

• Baby girl: Another way of saying “soft boy,” an endearing term for male celebrities 1

• Bangers: Something catchy and exciting 1

• Beige flag: Not a red flag, but not a green flag 1

• Beta: Weak 1

• BookTok: An unofficial term for the algorithm on TikTok that targets book lovers 1

• Bop: A girl who just posts selfies 1

• Borg: “Blackout rage gallon,” i.e. a milk jug filled with a gallon of mixed drink like vodka and Kool-Aid 1

• Brainrot: Unintelligence from being on the internet for too long 1, 2

  C

• Canon: Something considered by the fandom as confirmed in the original content matter, like a couple who actually date in a book or a character who actually dies a movie 1, 2, 3

• Canon Compliant: Aligning with said canon material 1

• Canon Divergent: Diverging from the facts of the stories, i.e. branching away from the original canon content 1

• Cap: Not true 1

• Chekhov’s Gun: A plot device where every element introduced to the story is purposeful and relevant later on 1

• Clickbait: Social media content, usually inflammatory or shocking, meant to get you to click 1

• Clout: Influence/followers 1

• Copypasta: Text or images copied from one person to the next, often resulting in diminished quality or diluted messaging. Read my explainer about it here. 1, 2

• Crackship: According to Fanlore, “a ship that is highly ridiculous, bizarre, disturbing, and/or unlikely to ever become canon.” 1

  D

• Deepfake: Realistic computer generated images or videos, often of celebrities or politicians 1

• Dead Dove: According to one Reddit user, the “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” term is “a warning or tag used to indicate that a fanwork contains tropes or elements that may be deemed morally reprehensible without explicitly condemning the sensitive aspects.” 1

• Deinfluencing: The process of undoing the influence of social media product marketing 1

• Delulu: Short for “delusional,” big on TikTok 1, 2, 3, 4

• Demure: “refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior in various contexts,” Dictionary.com 1

• Devs: Short for “developers,” as in game or software developers 1

• DLC: Downloadable content 1

• DM: Direct message 1, 2

  E

• ED: Shorthand for “eating disorder” 1

• EDTwt: A side of Twitter encouraging eating disorders 1

• Edits: Fan-made videos, usually spliced together quickly with clips from the show 1

• EGOT: The winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony 1

• Enemies to Lovers Trope: When characters start out hating each other but eventually fall in love 1

• Established Relationship Trope: When characters had already been in a relationship prior to the reader entering into the story 1

  F

• Fake Dating/Marriage of Convenience Trope: When characters fake date or rush to get married. 1

• Fandom: A predominantly online group of fans 1, 2

• Fandom Crossover: When two fandoms are combined (think: Star Wars characters meet Marvel characters) 1

• Fan edits: Fan-made videos, usually spliced together quickly with clips or photos to express admiration for someone 1

• Fanficore: Reminiscent of a fanfiction aesthetic 1

• Fan service: Appealing to the fans, often by bringing back beloved characters or locations 1

• Fanum tax: Stealing 1

• Feels: As in, “this piece of media is making me feel all the feelings”

• Fics: Short for “fanfiction” 1

• Finsta: Fake Instagram account, burner/spam account 1

• Fluff: So-called “fluffy” content where nothing high-stakes happens to the fictional characters 1

• FNAF: Acronym for Five Nights at Freddy’s 1

• FOMO: Fear of Missing Out 1, 2

• Found Family Trope: When characters who lack strong biological family ties form strong relationships with each other, becoming their own sort of family

• Forced Proximity Trope: When characters are forced to be around each other due to the circumstances

• Friends to Lovers Trope: When characters start out as friends and end up as lovers

• FYP: For You Page, recommended content tailored to you on social media platforms, i.e. what the social media algorithim is predicting you’d like 1, 2

G

• Gallery post: Shareable content database in the Sims 1

• Gen Z shake: Picking up your phone at the start of filming, which gives it a shaky effect 1

• GOAT: Greatest Of All Time 1, 2, 3, 4

• Golden Globes: Film and television awards 1

• Gossip sesh: Gossip session. Synonym for “spilling the tea.” 1

• Grumpy x Sunshine Trope: When characters are opposites of each other, one happy, one grumpy

• Gyat: Booty 1

  H

• Hard-launch: Officially announce something, most commonly relationships 1, 2

• Header: The banner at the top of someone’s social media profile 1

• Head Canon: A fact about the story that the fan or fandom accepts as truth, but isn’t actually canon. (You’ve accepted it in your head, hence head canon) 1

• Hot girl walk: A trend that encourages people to go on walks 1

• Hurt/Comfort Trope: When a character needs to take care of another character, usually because they are injured or emotionally hurting 1

  I

• IG: Short for “Instagram” 1

• IMO: In my opinion 1

• IRL: In real life, as opposed to online 1, 2

• Idk: I don’t know 1

  J

• JK: Just kiddinggg 1, 2

• Journo Twitter: An unofficial term for the algorithm on Twitter that targets journalists 1

  L

• Looksmaxing: “attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance,” Collins Dictionary 1

• Lol: Laugh out loud 1

• LOLs: “LOL” as a noun 1

• Lore: The backstory of something 1, 2, 3, 4

  M

• Manifesting: Cambridge Dictionary defined manifest as “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want” 1

• MC: Main Character 1

• Mega-Fic: A ginormous, book-length fanfiction 1

• “Messy Girl” aesthetic: A casually cool, “I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-still-look-better-than-you” way of presenting oneself 1

• Meme fest: When the meme goes viral, inspiring more memes 1

• Meta: Instagram and Facebook’s parent company

• #MeToo: A movement encouraging survivors to come forward with the truth about their sexual abusers following revelations about Harvey Weinstein. 1

• Mogging: Looking better than someone 1

• Mewing: Trying to look good 1

• Midwest nice: “describes a courteous and agreeable manner, often involving self-deprecation, politeness, and avoidance of conflict,” Dictionary.com 1

• Momstagram: An unofficial term for the algorithm on Instagram that targets moms 1

• Mutuals: People you have mutual social media followers with but don’t actually know, also “moots” 1, 2

  N

• Negative aura: Not cool 1

• Nepo baby: Someone benefiting from nepotism, usually a child of a famous person 1

• NGL: Not gonna lie 1

• NSFW: “Not Safe for Work.” Inappropriate. Do not open at work! 1

  O

• OC: Original Character; i.e. a character made up by the author rather than poached from a fandom 1

• OG: “Original gangster,” slang for the original version of something, usually superior to its successors 1, 2

• Ohio: Loser 1

• OP: “Overpowered.” Usually when a video game player has so much advantage that it becomes unfair 1

• OTP: “One True Pairing,” this is a ship you would be willing to sink for (haha, get it?) 1

• Opp: Someone you don’t like 1

  P

• Parasocial: A one-sided relationship where one party feels like they deeply know the other, going so far as to consider themselves friends when they’re not 1, 2, 3, 4

• Photo dumps: A random collection of photos and videos “dumped” on social media all at once, usually on Instagram. See here. 1

• Podium: Something really good 1

• Pog: I’ll send you to Wiki for this one 1

• Pookie: Someone you love 1

• Poppin’: Popular and happenin’ 1

• POV: The point-of-view the story is told from (i.e. first person POV, third person POV, [insert character] POV) 1

• Private Instagram account: Sometimes called a “priv,” “private,” “burner account,” “spam account,” or “finsta,” this type of Instagram is usually reserved for close friends and sh*tposts 1

  R

• Rage-bait: Social media content meant to incite 1

• Ragers: Entertaining parties 1

• Ratios: Follower-to-following comparison 1, 2

• Rawdogging: “The act of undertaking an activity without preparation, support, or equipment,” Collins Dictionary 1

• Read: Making someone aware of their flaws 1

• Review bombing: Artificially inflating the reviews for a company or person to reflect negatively on them 1

• Rivals to Lovers Trope: When characters start out competing with each other but eventually fall in love 1

• Rizz: Charisma 1, 2

• RPF: Real Life/Real Person Ships; fan pairings of people who exist in real life. Often, RPFs are frowned upon, as they cross a line into celebrities’ lives that is considered parasocial and intrusive 1

• Romantasy: A combination of the “romance” and “fantasy” genre, the word reflects a growing fad in BookTok/literary spaces 1, 2

  S

• Second Chance Trope: When characters give each other a second chance 1

• Secret Relationship Trope: When characters are hiding their relationship 1

• Self-Insert or Y/N: A type of fanfiction that inserts the reader as the main character of the story. Y/N is meant to represent “Your Name Here.” 1

• Scemo: Scene/emo music, which I discovered was a music genre upon being recommended it 1

• Ship: A couple or pairing, usually fictional, that fans think should be in a relationship 1

• Shipper: The fan who “ships” a couple 1

• Ship Name: Usually the combination of two characters’ names together to denote a pairing 1

• Ship War: Disagreements within a fandom about superior ships

• Softblocking: When you block someone and then unblock them 1

• Sims: A popular video game that simulates real life 1

• Sigma: Good (also “alpha male”) 1

• Situationship: An undefined relationship that drags on without clarity 1, 2, 3

• Skibidi: Good, bad, and everything in between 1

• Slay: Something that pops off 1, 2

• Slow Burn Trope: When a relationship between characters takes a long time to come to fruition, often stretched across the entirety of the work or series 1

• Soulmate Trope: When characters are destined to be together 1

• Spice: Mature content. (think: “This romantasy has some spice”).

• Spilling the Tea: Synonym for gossip session 1

• Subreddits: Niche, online communities on Reddit 1

• SUS: Short for “suspicious” 1

• Swiftie: Taylor Swift fan 1

  T

• TBR: “To Be Read” list l

• Touch grass: Said as encouragement to get off your computer/out of your house to take a mental break from the internet 1, 2

• Tropes: A reoccurring pattern in fictional character relationships 1

• Tweaking: Acting weird 1

  U

• Unrequited Love Trope: When a character is unrequitedly in love with another character 1

• User-generated content: Social media posts created by fans, rather than companies 1

  V

• Vanity metrics: According to Hootsuite, “a social media metric that looks impressive at a glance but doesn’t necessarily indicate a company’s overall success in reaching its goals.” 1, 2

• VSCO girl: A type of beachy 2010s aesthetic that came from the photoediting and sharing app, VSCO 1

W

• WIP: Work-in-Progress 1

Y

• Yapping: an underrated but incredible word, “talking at length, especially about inconsequential matters,” Collins Dictionary 1, 2, 3

(Page updated as of June 21, 2025)