"OK boomer," for those uninitiated, is a term "used, often in a humorous or ironic manner, to call out or dismiss out-of-touch or close-minded opinions associated with the baby boomer generation and older people more generally." As defined by the dictionary, that is. And it's joined by 19 other viral internet slang additions now defined at Dictionary.com.
From "chef's kiss" to the VSCO girl-originating "sksksk," Dictionary.com is now a one-stop shop for those looking to brush up on their Gen Z-isms. To clarify, "sksksk" is "an interjection used to convey surprise, happiness, and other intense emotions." Used in a sentence, a VSCO girl might type "sksksk" to her friend over Instagram DM, and then declare "ok boomer" to her mom, who thinks "sksksk" is nothing more than a few consonants strung together.
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"By the time 'sksksk' was the subject of popular conversations — when we all collectively became aware of it as 'a thing' — it was already multilayered. It was already being discussed as a joke, as a stereotype of VSCO girls, and so it was tricky to separate irony from sincerity, or 'real usages' from ones performed online. Our definition sought to capture the many nuances of the term and the extent to which the term’s meaning was wrapped up into our conversation about it," said John Kelly, Senior Research Editor at Dictionary.com.
To decide what new slang terms to add, the team at Dictionary.com analyzes and monitors trends on Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr, as well as trends in popular articles, song lyrics, and other lexical resources.
"Is the term of note or interest in the broader cultural discourse? Is there something important about the term that we can help elucidate in some way? Is there something going with the term that is of lexical interest to us, a deeper word trend that shows a compelling evolution in the language?" said Kelly.
And I think we can all agree that "big mood," "cancel culture," and Baby Yoda are all indomitable members of the broader cultural discourse.
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