Test Your Brain Rot: Can You Define ‘Lowkenuinely’?

This is a series about the mysteries of internet speak.

A test can be lowkenuinely hard. An outfit can be lowkenuinely ugly. You can feel lowkenuinely sad.

Is that lowkenuinely confusing?

Lowkenuinely is a portmanteau of low-key and genuinely, two adverbs that have been smashed together by young TikTok users who began using it at the end of last year.

“It just means low-key and genuinely at the same time,” said Layla Gonzalez, a 20-year-old student at Fayetteville Technical Community College in North Carolina. “It could be in place of the word low-key and in the place of the word genuinely.”

She recently told a friend that 7-Eleven was “lowkenuinely out” of the type of iced tea her friend wanted.

So, does it mean anything at all?

Think of the word as a modern iteration of literally, a word that is often used as a hyperbolic intensifier rather than to denote its, well, literal meaning.

“When the pastor at the altar low-key asks your wife if she wants to be your lawfully wedded wife, and instead of saying ‘I do’ she genuinely says ‘genuinely’ and you lowkenuinely tweak out,” reads the text of a video widely believed to be the first use of the word from November. (The user credited with coining the phrase did not respond to interview requests.)

Adam Aleksic, author of “Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language,” attributed the sudden popularity of the term to “slang overload,” when a word or phrase becomes widely used to the point of becoming meaningless.

“Most brain rot is the overuse of words, so like ‘skibbidi rizz Ohio’ or ‘matcha Labubu Dubai chocolate,’” said Mr. Aleksic, 25, referring to some recent nonsensical phrases.

But wait, it’s already morphed into a new word?

Like many online slang terms, lowkenuinely has also evolved quickly, as the term has spread.

Isaiah duPree, a sophomore studying linguistics and cognitive science at the University of California, Davis, discussed the term on his TikTok account where he regularly makes videos about linguistics for nearly half a million followers.

In an interview, Mr. duPree, 19, described how some people are now inserting other words — including “Kirk,” a reference to Charlie Kirk, the right-wing political activist who was assassinated last year — into lowkenuinely for emphasis. That’s how you get a word like “lowkirkenuinely.”

Dylan Parks, a 17-year-old high school senior from Mendham, N.J., described how in some corners of the internet, Mr. Kirk’s name and image have been used as a dark meme after his death.

“His name has become such a taboo that it functions like a swear word,” Mr. duPree said.

Versions of “lowkenuinely” might be overheard in classrooms and at after-school activities. But the term is still most popular with a “more online” crowd, Ms. Parks said. “It’s not as common as just like, ‘low-key.”

— Madison Malone Kircher

Produced Michael Beswetherick and Antonio de Luca.

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