POV: You look down at your phone to see you have incoming call from Freakbob, do you pick up? Or will you decline? If you’re employed and have no idea what this means, this is internet slang referred to as brainrot. Social media has always had an influence over younger consumers by making phrases and memes so popular they infect viewer’s vocabulary. Constantly there are new waves of slang that wash over kids on social media, becoming popularized and widely used in almost every conversation.
Phrases such as “bet,” “gucci,” or “yeet,” are examples of slang that have made it off of the internet and cemented themselves into the everyday language of kids. The amount of internet lingo being used in every day conversations has been associated with another concerning name, brain rot.
Sofia Alas, a 9th grader in QUEST, says, “My very close friend often DMs me reels about Ninja’s low taper fade or the Talk Tuah podcast. He often speaks and communicates in brainrot to me.”
People have begun to make the assumption that overusing this slang in daily conversation is what’s “rotting brains”, but this extravagant use of slang is a sign that kids are online too much. People tend to judge teens when they say things like “alpha sigma rizz” in real life, but this brainrot slang is doing more good for teens than bad.
According to the Oxford University Press, who had brain rot as their word of the year, “Brain rot” is a term that refers to the effects of being “chronically online.” Being “chronically online” is when a person spends a great majority of their time consuming media online and on social media instead of being involved in the real world. Although it’s not an official diagnosis, “symptoms” of being brain rotted are a shorter attention span, low focus, and mental fatigue.
Brain rot has been most associated with this newest era of internet slang. Words and phrases like “skibidi,” “rizz,” and “Mama, a girl behind you”, are examples of this new generation of online lingo. These are all phrases that come from extremely viral internet memes and clips.
“Skibidi” is a phrase that came from “Skibidi Toilet” which is a cartoon that came out and gained popularity in 2023. “Rizz” was an internet phrase short for charisma that describes somebody’s ability to flirt, and “Mama a girl behind you” is from a Snapchat video of a young boy filming his mom that went viral. Watchers have been mimicking this way of speaking that sounds almost foreign to anyone who isn’t constantly online.
When people hear this “chronically online” slang, it’s seen as alienable and unintelligible, therefore it’s heavily criticized by adults who do not spend as much time on the internet. They may believe the slang itself is what’s responsible for “brain rot” behavior. It’s easy to point the finger at bizarre slang they don’t understand and blame it for affecting teenager’s attention spans. But the slang could potentially be beneficial to teens.
Millikan psychology teacher Mrs. Hines says, “…it basically helps you guys to code with each other so that you have a different language than the adults, you have to kind of create your own generational identity, and it’s done with slang.”
In this era of technology, it feels harder to find common ground with people. This slang is a method the younger generation can use to connect with one another, because everyone understands the lingo and it creates a community.
French teacher Mr. Lange has also taken notice of this new slang and has become infamous for using it during class.
“I like to know what’s going on in society, particularly in regards to my students, because I feel like I have a responsibility to know what their likes and interests are,” Mr. Lange says, explaining why he integrates internet slang into his teaching. Using internet slang in class allows Mr. Lange to connect with his students more and get them more engaged.
Using brainrot slang in real life may be a testament to somebody’s excessive amount of time online, but it allows teens to create their own community and connect with others around them. Because of that, I give brainrot 5 big booms, just like Big Justice.
