Born 1997-2012

Cutting off all contact with someone without explanation. No message, no call, no reason given: they simply stop responding and disappear. The term emerged from online dating but spread to friendships, professional contacts, and family relationships. Being ghosted is disorienting precisely because the silence provides no information. It is widely considered cowardly. It is also extremely common.

A romantic or physical relationship that has not been formally defined. More than friends, less than a relationship, with no conversation about what it is or where it is going. The defining feature is the absence of a label, usually because at least one party is avoiding the commitment that a label implies. Situationships can last months or years. They end either by becoming a relationship or by one party leaving, usually the one who wanted more clarity.

The period of early romantic interest before anything has been established: regular texting, some flirting, possibly meeting up, but no formal acknowledgement that this is going anywhere. The talking stage can last days or months. It is characterised by uncertainty, analysis of response times, and the anxiety of not knowing whether the other person is "talking to" anyone else at the same time. The talking stage did not exist as a named phenomenon before social media made ambiguity this manageable.

Overwhelming someone with affection, attention, and flattery at the start of a relationship, to an extent that feels intense rather than genuine. Love bombing is a manipulation tactic: it creates emotional dependency quickly, making the recipient feel special before the behaviour changes. The term moved from psychological literature into mainstream Gen Z vocabulary, part of a broader trend of using clinical concepts to describe relationship dynamics.

Giving someone just enough attention to keep them interested without any real intention of pursuing a relationship. A like here, a message there, a reply after three days. Enough to maintain interest, not enough to constitute real engagement. The person receiving breadcrumbs is kept in a state of hope without any real prospect of it being fulfilled. Named after Hansel and Gretel: a trail that leads nowhere useful.

Watching someone's social media activity (viewing stories, liking posts) after cutting off direct contact with them. The orbiter has stopped communicating but has not disappeared: they maintain a peripheral presence. For the person being orbited, it is more confusing than a clean break. The term captures the dynamic precisely: circling without approaching.

Introducing a new partner to your social media audience indirectly: a hand in a photo, a shadow, a tagged location that implies two people without naming the other person. A soft launch tests the social water before a full reveal. The hard launch is the explicit announcement: a photo together, a post that names them. The vocabulary is borrowed from product marketing and applied without irony to relationships.

Sending a message that the recipient has visibly opened (the "read" receipt has appeared) but not replied to. Being left on read by someone you care about is a specific social anxiety of the smartphone era. The person has seen your message. They have chosen not to respond. Whether that is deliberate, forgetful, or a sign of disinterest is impossible to know, which is the source of most of the anxiety.

An obsessive fan. Also used as a verb: "I stan her." Named after Eminem's 2000 song about a fan whose admiration becomes dangerous. Repurposed online as a term for intense but not necessarily unhealthy fandom. Stan culture describes the collective behaviour of devoted fan communities who promote their favourite artists aggressively online. "Stan Twitter" is its own ecosystem. The word has softened since its origin: "I stan this decision" now simply means enthusiastic approval.

Looking extremely good, particularly in terms of clothing, hair, or makeup. "Her outfit is snatched." Often applied specifically to a particularly fitted or well-styled look. From drag and ballroom culture via AAVE. Similar to "on point" but more emphatic. When someone's look comes together perfectly, it is snatched.

Affects you in a way that is more meaningful, more emotional, or more intense than expected. "This song hits different at 3am." The implication is that context, mood, or circumstances have changed how something lands. The same experience, in different conditions, produces a different response. "Hits different" acknowledges that meaning is not fixed in the thing itself but in the encounter between the thing and the person.

An assessment of the energy or atmosphere of a person, place, or situation. "This place failed the vibe check" means something felt off. "He passed the vibe check" means first impressions were good. The vibe check is informal and instinctive: it is a read on the general feel of something rather than a specific evaluation. Used seriously and ironically in roughly equal measure.

Something so funny it is figuratively destroying you. "This is sending me." Short for sending me over the edge, into hysterics, or simply out of this world. An expression of extreme amusement that requires no object: the thing doing the sending is understood from context. Used in text and captions more than speech.

To manipulate someone into questioning their own memory, perception, or sanity. From the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband manipulates his wife by dimming the gas lights and denying he has done it. The term existed in psychological literature for decades before Gen Z made it mainstream. "You're gaslighting me" means you are telling me my experience of events is wrong, and I don't believe you. Now used so broadly that any disagreement risks being called gaslighting.

Withholding information, recommendations, or access in order to maintain an exclusive position. Not sharing where you got your coat. Not recommending the restaurant because you don't want it to get busy. "Stop gatekeeping" means share the information. The term reflects a culture that generally values sharing discoveries and tips openly. Gatekeeping is presented as selfish. The counterargument, that some things are better when fewer people know about them, is largely unwelcome.

Harmful to your wellbeing: a relationship, a dynamic, a person, an environment. The word existed before Gen Z but they deployed it far more widely and specifically. A "toxic relationship" has damaging patterns of behaviour. A "toxic friend" drains rather than supports. The language of toxicity gave many people a framework for naming dynamics they had experienced but lacked words for. It has also been criticised for pathologising ordinary conflict and difficulty.

Red flag: a warning sign in a person or situation that something may be harmful or problematic. Green flag: a positive indicator. "He doesn't have any friends. Red flag." "She remembered what I said three months ago. Green flag." The traffic light metaphor applied to human behaviour. The terms have spawned yellow flag (uncertainty), beige flag (a quirk that is neither positive nor negative but distinctly notable), and various other extensions.

Lowkey: somewhat, mildly, or secretly. "I'm lowkey obsessed with this show." Understated enthusiasm, or enthusiasm you're slightly embarrassed about. Highkey: openly and emphatically. "I highkey want them to get together." The difference is confidence of expression. Lowkey implies reservation. Highkey implies public commitment. Both are used so frequently that they have lost much of their original meaning and now function mostly as emphasis.

A euphemism for death or suicide, developed on social media platforms where direct references to suicide trigger content moderation. "Unalive yourself" is a hostile instruction. "She unalived herself" describes a death by suicide. The word emerged from necessity: content creators discussing mental health or true crime needed vocabulary that would not get their posts removed. Its existence is a comment on how platform moderation shapes language.

A secondary, private Instagram account used to post more candidly with a smaller, trusted audience. The main account (rinsta, from "real") is curated for broad consumption. The finsta is for people you actually know. The existence of the finsta acknowledges that the public-facing social media self is a performance, and that a separate, less managed self also exists. Some people have multiple finstas for different social contexts.

To withdraw support from a public figure or institution following behaviour deemed unacceptable, and to call on others to do the same. Cancel culture describes the broader pattern of collective public condemnation. Supporters argue it holds powerful people accountable in the absence of formal consequences. Critics argue it is disproportionate, mob-driven, and suppresses legitimate speech. Both can be true simultaneously depending on the case.

Someone who is excessively attentive, deferential, or self-sacrificing toward a romantic interest, usually to an extent that gets them nowhere. "He's simping for her" means he is going to great lengths for someone who is not reciprocating. The word is used critically, implying the person has lost self-respect. Has also been used to shame men for ordinary expressions of care or affection, which has generated significant pushback.

Originally, being alert to racial injustice and systemic discrimination. From AAVE: "stay woke" as a call to political awareness. Adopted by progressive movements to describe social consciousness. Then weaponised by conservatives as a pejorative for progressive politics generally. Now so laden with political baggage that both uses render it nearly meaningless as description. One of the fastest words in recent history to travel from specific meaning to culture war shorthand.

A definitive full stop. Period, but more emphatic. The added T intensifies the finality. "That is the best album of the decade. Periodt." There is nothing more to say. The matter is closed. From AAVE via drag and ball culture. The T is not a typo; it is the point.