Keeping up with the terms your Gen Z coworker is using can feel like a full-time job of its own.
While they might poke fun at you for your outdated slang — not very “groovy” of them — younger generations are just doing what every generation before them has done: evolving language.
Sometimes, this just looks like repeating words and phrases without being overly discerning about where they came from.
“The internet is just one big gigantic seventh grade where you are looking for the coolest kid and you’re going to follow what they do without thinking real hard,” Jessi Grieser, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of Michigan, told Business Insider.
“The issue that we’re coming into now,” Grieser added, “is that it’s a little easier for those insider terms to escape and eventually become separated from the group in such a way that we sometimes don’t notice that that word originally came from there.”
This sometimes results in words and phrases that originated in Black and LGBTQ+ communities being adapted by broader audiences, and often developing new meanings altogether.
While the process of word adoption is the same as it has always been with previous generations, Grieser said, the speed at which it’s happening is what sets the internet generations apart from their older counterparts.
And although you might not know exactly what some of Gen Z’s words mean, chances are they aren’t using them to make fun of you, Kelly Wright, an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, told Business Insider.
“Just look up ‘cringe’ and try not to be that,” Wright said.
Here are 15 slang terms from Gen Z — defined by the Pew Research Center as people born between 1997 and 2012 — that will help you not feel so out of the loop in 2025.
For many, it’s the year of “locking in.”
Finding a job in 2025 might feel harder than ever. Whether you’re on the job hunt or you recently secured one, it might be time to “lock in.”
The term is used to describe a state of deep focus, where one completely employs all their energy toward the task at hand without outside distractions.
If something aggravates you, you might “crash out.”
In 2025, if you’re not locking in, you might be crashing out.
The phrase, which originated in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), per The New York Times, is used to describe strong, overly emotional outbursts, or someone who is prone to having them.
On this summer’s season of “Love Island USA,” the phrase was heavily used, from describing one participant’s reaction to her partner’s disloyalty to the “crashing out challenge,” in which islanders ran into a wall or a foam pit.
6-7 means … something.
No one is quite sure of what 6-7 means. That’s the joke.
If you’ve been around schoolchildren at any point this year, chances are that you’ve fallen for the six-seven nonsense. Symptoms of unc-ness (more on that later) include frustration that you don’t understand what it means, to the kids’ amusement.
The term, which is believed to have originated as an online meme with the 2024 song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla, was recently named as Dictionary.com‘s Word of the Year, perhaps signaling that its days as an inside joke might be over as adults try (and fail) to adopt it.
Some uses of the term can mean “so-so” and are often paired with a hand gesture where both open hands with palms up are used as a balance scale moving from side to side.
But for the Gen Alpha and younger Gen Z who have adopted the phrase this year, the numerals simply served as a marker of online brainrot — a generation-wide inside joke with no real meaning.
Remember The Game?
If you do things for the sake of looking cool (aka, being performative), you might be “aura farming.”
“Aura farming” is a term for engaging in behaviors that make one gain “aura points” or look cool. This could mean performing an impressive dance move, striking a cool pose, or acting mysteriously in public.
Gen Z is also using additional words to call out people who “aura farm.”
In August, Google search interest in the word “performative” reached a new high, with the term “performative matcha” leading the trend, per Google Trends.
“Performative Male” contests, in which participants dress up as the internet archetype of a man who’s trying too hard to look cool, have even taken place in Seattle and New York.
Staples of the archetype include tote bags, books by female authors, Labubus, and, of course, matcha.
Unless you were in school during the pandemic, you are probably “unc,” sorry.
Short for “uncle,” “unc” is used by younger Gen Z and Gen Alphas to describe people older than them.
The term, which also originated in AAVE, is often used to describe someone who is out of touch with the trends and uncool, similar to the “OK Boomer” of years past.
When someone reaches “unc status,” they are no longer part of the young and cool group, as most of us aren’t.
“Rizz” is on its way out. If you’re cool, you have “swag,” like it’s 2011.
While last year, someone who had charisma was said to have “rizz,” this year that person might just have swag — like it’s 2011 again.
According to Google Trends, the term has seen a resurgence in 2025, possibly also prompted by Justin Bieber’s newest album, “SWAG.”
The term arguably had its heyday around in the early 2010s, after the release of Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag On” in 2009.
This isn’t the Food Network, but you might be “chopped” and “cooked.”
Recent Gen Z slang is borrowing some knives from the chef’s kitchen.
“Chopped” is used to describe someone who’s not looking their sharpest, while someone who has messed up is “cooked.”
Showing up to the office in a wrinkly, ill-fitting outfit might make you look “chopped,” but getting in trouble with higher-ups may mean you’re “cooked.”
Gen Zers are fighting back against AI. Beware, “clankers.”
Taken from Star Wars’ depiction of robots and the sounds they make, “clanker” has recently been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha as a derogatory term used against AI and robots.
This so-called robophobic slur, as some are describing it, per NPR, is a direct response to AI’s growing prevalence in the workplace and through consumer-facing platforms.
A life-changing experience can leave you “oneshotted.”
The term, which originated in gamer communities for combat games where players can be eliminated in a single blow, is used to describe extreme experiences that can “destroy and subsequently remake” someone, per The Atlantic.
It has also emerged as a way to describe people’s life-changing experiences on psychedelics like ayahuasca, including many Silicon Valley figures who have spoken of using the drug, like OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Some people might be “clocking your tea.”
Originating in the LGBTQ+ community and in ballroom culture, “clock that tea” can describe a person catching on to someone’s secrets or recognizing the truth of a situation, per 21Ninety.
The phrase, in its current usage, is usually accompanied by finger claps or a hand motion where someone mimics pinching by putting the index finger and thumb together in a repeated motion.
While originally not used in relation to “clocking tea,” finger claps also originated in the ballroom scene, where they’re used in voguing performances.
On social media, the finger claps are also used to signify agreement with a statement, or to congratulate someone on “clocking” something or seeing right through someone.
If a person “ate,” they executed something flawlessly.
Often associated with fashion and beauty, saying someone “ate” is a way of expressing that they look amazing and did a great job.
Look at almost any picture of Zendaya on the red carpet, and it’d be correct to say, “She ate.”
The term also comes from LGBTQ+ communities and the ballroom scene.
“Left no crumbs” is a continuation of “ate” used as additional emphasis.
If you hear “she ate,” you may often hear “and left no crumbs” immediately after.
The additional phrase helps emphasize how perfect the person’s execution was, though it can be used on its own, too.
For example, “Cardi B ate and left no crumbs at Paris Couture Week” means she executed the look perfectly — everything from her extravagant gown to her glam to the drama of using a live crow as an accessory was flawless.
Some people around you might be looksmaxxing.
“Looksmaxxing” refers to a range of cosmetic procedures or stylistic choices people can partake in to increase their perceived attractiveness.
From injecting Botox to changing a haircut or styling clothes differently, this phenomenon has inspired people to look for areas of their appearance in which they could be increasing or maximizing their attractiveness.
Many have done this with the help of AI tools, like a custom bot on ChatGPT, to which users upload pictures of themselves and ask for styling tips.
You might see a whole lot of Dubai Chocolate Matcha Labubu.
If none of those words make sense to you, you have approximately 15 minutes to find out what they are before they’re never said again.
Labubus (a toy turned fashion accessory), Dubai chocolate (a viral chocolate dessert filled with pistachio paste and shredded phyllo pastry), and matcha (a type of green tea) quickly rose in popularity with younger generations in 2025, and they might go out of style just as quickly.
These fast-moving fads, when grouped together, create a nearly satirical display of the way viral trends are quickly spreading across sectors. Some companies even sell actual Labubu-shaped Dubai chocolates.
As Gen Z-ers would say, this is the consumerism final boss.
Beware of “rage bait” and don’t fall for it.
From social media content creators to, reportedly, companies, the internet is now plagued with content that is designed to enrage people, such as a Labubu Dubai chocolate matcha Crumbl Cookie that a TikTok user reviewed on the platform, despite Crumbl Cookie not selling such a product — they do, however, sell a Dubai chocolate brownie.
You might also be getting rage-baited in your offline life. Playful partners, friends, or siblings might do things to bother you on purpose in an effort to get a rise out of you.
Don’t fall for it. Stay cool. Don’t crash out.
Mykenna Maniece and Jenny McGrath contributed to an earlier version of this article.
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