A Boomer’s Guide to Brainrot

Imagine this: it’s a sunny day, and you’re taking a nice walk in the neighborhood, just enjoying the day, when you just happen to pass by a group of teenagers. Suddenly, you’re faced with an onslaught of foreign terms: “Oh my god, did you see that skibidi Ohio rizzler at school the other day? That’s so fanum tax! I’d totally rizz up that gyatt.” Wow, are they even speaking English? As your head begins to spin from this barrage of random words that sound like a secret code, you begin to wonder whether you’ve finally lost it. Is the old age getting to you? Have you finally started approaching insanity? Well, fear not, because as it turns out, what you’ve just witnessed is a modern-day phenomenon called brainrot. And don’t worry, you’re not alone in your confusion either. 

In fact, many teenagers in this modern era don’t know what they’re “yapping” about themselves! So if you want to dive into this world of meme-speaking and educate yourself on the world of modern slang, let’s get started on this comprehensive guide to brainrot! After reading this, you’ll definitely gain a higher understanding of teenage conversations, and maybe next time you come across that group of brainrotted kids, you can bust out some of your newly acquired vocabulary and give them the shock of their lives!

Skibidi

Perhaps the epitome of Gen Alpha, a silly word with a nice ring to its pronunciation. Originating from the online meme Skibidi Toilet, depicting toilets with heads sticking out of them, this word inherently doesn’t mean anything, but it could imply cool, bad, or dumb, depending on the context. In fact, it can be anything you want it to be! How neat. Common ways to utilize this include saying “what the skibidi” to express shock at how dumb or stupid something is, or “I’m so skibidi” when accomplishing something you are proud of.

Sigma

This word is typically used to describe a strong, highly independent individual who is looked up to by others. It is often used to describe males, but in this modern era, we are all-inclusive, so all individuals can embody it. In this society, being marked as a “sigma” or “alpha” is the highest honor—a badge that marks your superiority over others. Common sayings for this term include “Woah, that guy’s so sigma!” which simply means that the person is very cool and essentially a role model. However, like all brainrot terms, sigma can also have whatever meaning the user sees fit. For example, “what the sigma” is a popular phrase to express shock or disbelief, much like the phrase “what the heck.” 

Alpha

Alpha has a similar meaning to “sigma,” but alphas tend to be more dominant, powerful, or assertive than sigmas, who exclude more cool, independent, confident vibes. The inspiration for the usage of this word comes from the old saying “alpha male,” which corresponds to the leader of a wolf pack. Common phrases include “it’s time to unleash my inner alpha” to express when a person wants to step up and become a leader, or “he’s such an alpha male” to describe a naturally assertive man that excludes a strong and dominating presence.

Rizz, L Rizz, W Rizz, Rizzler

Rizz, more commonly known to older generations as charisma, is used to describe someone who is naturally skilled at attracting others and a smooth talker. The word itself is pretty self-explanatory, as “rizz” is a kind of shortened way to say “charisma.” The most popular usage of this word is used to judge whether a guy can attract girls, or vice versa. This word can be used as a noun or a verb. For instance, “she rizzed him up” describes how the girl was able to get a guy to like her, while “she’s got rizz” describes how the girl has rizz (aka the trait to get people to like her). Manipulated to conform to English grammar rules, the word rizzler is just the noun form of a person with rizz. Even if it’s brainrot, it still follows grammatical rules!

Adding on to the original word, L Rizz and W Rizz mean how a person failed or succeeded to attract others, respectively, as L is an abbreviation for “loser” and W is an abbreviation for “winner.” 

Ohio

Ohio, also originating from an internet meme, is commonly used to describe something strange or absurd, often bordering on unbelievable. The origin of this saying was extremely popular in 2021 and 2022 when social media users would post crazy videos and news articles of occurrences in Ohio. This became a popular meme on the Internet, with people commenting “only in Ohio” on every post. In more recent years, the younger generation has taken it upon themselves to turn this meme into a day-to-day saying, which is how “Ohio” was founded. While this word has no specific meaning, it is often used in succession with other brainrot terms to bring emphasis. For example, a common combination would be “skibidi Ohio,” which really just means skibidi, but tacking on the “Ohio” makes the phrase rather fun to say.

– Can you tell this is where we gave up? Not sigma at all! But by all means, keep reading… –

Gyatt

A fat booty.

“GYATT!!!”

Lock In

Used to describe when someone decides to focus and be productive. Overused by teenagers who say they are going to lock in but then proceed to doom scroll (scroll reels endlessly on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok). “I’m gonna lock in.” – famous last words

Bussin

When the food is too good and you just gotta find a word to describe it.

“This pizza is bussin.”

Fanum Tax

The theft of food between friends.

comes from the streamer Fanum jokingly “taxing” snacks by taking bites of food from fellow content creators during streams

“The journalism club is collectively fanum taxing Ms. Shapiro.”

Aura

The swagness or coolness of a person. 

Usually used in the phrases “plus aura” or “negative aura” to describe certain actions. If someone does something embarrassing or cringe, we would say “negative aura” or “aura loss right there.” On the other hand, if someone performs a slick or smooth action, that would be “plus aura.” 

Could also insert numerical values to describe the magnitude of swagness.

E.g. “plus a hundred aura” vs “plus a thousand aura” 

It’s Giving

Used to describe vibes, especially when you want to compare it to something else. Think of it as a metaphor…but brainrot version

For example, if my friend is wearing a black and white striped shirt, I might say, “It’s giving prisoner.”

Cook

Now…pay very close attention to this one. Cook can be used in two different ways. If the person is cooking, that means that they are doing well. E.g. “I’m cooking” = “I’m succeeding in this.” On the other hand, if the person is being cooked, that means they are failing. E.g. “I’m so cooked” = “I’m so screwed.” 

Ate/Devoured

This word is used to praise someone for excelling in something. For example, a common usage is seen when girls comment on each other’s Instagram posts. Since the girl in the picture usually looks amazing, other girls would comment things like “you ate,” or “you devoured” to praise her for how good she looks. If you want to level up the use of the phrase, you can also say “ate and left no crumbs” meaning how they’re actually so gorgeous that nothing else could have been better.

iPad Kid

Refers to a young child who’s constantly on the iPad while doing other things.

For example, if my brother is always on his iPad while eating, I would say “What an iPad kid.”

Screenagers

Similar to the concept of an iPad kid, screenagers are usually referencing teenagers who are constantly on their phones.If my whole friend group is texting on their phone when we hang out, I would point out, “What a bunch of screenagers.”

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list of all the brainrot words in the world (if we covered everything, this article would be never-ending), but this is just a guide to get you started on some of the most basic slang teenagers use nowadays! We hope this was helpful and don’t be afraid to show off some new vocabulary you have just acquired!