- A woman went viral with a video about her Gen Alpha sister telling her what slang is in and out.
- She said "rizz," "bsf," and "GYAT" are in, while "slay," "pop off," and "queen" are now uncool.
- Viewers said these realizations made them feel severely out of touch.
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Every month, new terms popularized by Generation Alpha, or kids born after 2010, go viral, which can quickly make previously hip terms like "rizz" and "fanum tax" already seem like yesterday's news.
Last Wednesday, a Gen Alpha girl named Brooklyn made her older sister Liv Kaplan feel out of touch when she informed her that a slew of Gen Z and millennial slang, from "bae" to "pop off" to "slay," is no longer cool. @Livkaplan's video received 1.6 million views.
Gen Alpha schools their elders
After being asked about the word "slay," which comes from Black and Latin queer culture and is often used online for praise, Brooklyn looked exasperated.
"That was literally like five months ago," she said. "It's like cringe-y."
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She said Gen Alpha doesn't use "cheugy," a word that went viral in 2021 to describe being too basic, nor terms like "girlboss," or "fam," which is shorthand for family.
Perhaps most surprisingly, to call someone a best friend, Brooklyn said Gen Alpha doesn't use "bff" as much as "bsf." She said using "bf" could be confused with "boyfriend."
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She also said the slang terms "queen," "pop off," and "yass" — which were derived from queer culture and are often used similarly to "slay" to pay compliments — are unfashionable.
Brooklyn said "bae," a term of affection used in place of "babe," wasn't in anymore either, although she learned for the first time that bae was an acronym for "before anyone else." Her older sister also had to explain how people use "dime" to say someone's attractiveness is a 10.
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The only terms she gave the green light to were "trendy" (since she said there's no other slang replacement for the word) and "GYAT," which she described as an acronym for saying a woman has a big butt ("Girl Your Ass Thick"). (Though some commenters disputed this detail and accused Gen Alpha of "gentrifying" the word GYAT by turning it from a way to say "god damn" into an acronym.)
In a follow-up video, Brooklyn provided more Gen Alpha-friendly phrases. She said "it's giving," which people often use to compliment a vibe or an outfit, and "rizz," a shorthand for charisma that refers to someone's charm or schmooze, are both still in. She also said Gen Alpha uses words like "cap," a way to say you think someone is lying, and "ate," meaning metaphorically to devour a look or moment (e.g., "you ate that outfit").
The comments on @livkaplan's first video are packed with people saying they feel ancient after hearing Brooklyn's diction.
"Gyat has me sent in the Victorian era with how old I feel," one comment with over 11,000 likes says.
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"This is painful bc i'm not even old and ive used/still use over half of these," a viewer wrote.
Another commenter said they needed "a walker" because of how old the video made them feel.
@Livkaplan did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
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