c/buzzword-watch

Trying to figure out what 'glazing' meant online took me a solid hour

Kept seeing people say they were 'glazing' someone in comments, and I was totally lost. I thought it was some new makeup thing at first. I went down a rabbit hole on different social apps trying to find the context. Finally found a video where a guy explained it means giving too much praise, like you're putting a glossy coat on them. It's basically a new way to call someone a suck-up. The whole time I was just scrolling and getting more confused. Has anyone else run into a term recently that made zero sense until you found the right explainer?

Heard 'mid' and 'cooked' in the same day, finally get the difference.

My little cousin in Dallas said a new song was 'mid' but a movie was 'cooked'. Had to ask. Mid is just average, forgettable. Cooked is a total disaster, beyond saving. The movie was apparently so bad it was funny. Anyone got other examples of this kind of tiered slang for quality?

I had to choose between calling something 'mid' or 'bussin' to describe my lunch today

I went with 'mid' for the dry sandwich from the new deli, and now my coworker won't stop asking if everything in my life is just 'mid'.

PSA: I thought 'rizz' was just a typo for 'rise' until my niece corrected me

I kept seeing 'rizz' online and thought people were just spelling 'rise' wrong, like a new slang for getting popular. My 14-year-old niece in Chicago heard me say that last month and just laughed. She told me it means charm or romantic appeal, which totally changed how I read those posts. I was judging a whole trend based on my own guess instead of looking it up. Has anyone else completely misunderstood a new word because it sounded like something else?

I finally caved and bought a 'vibe shift' course for $120 after seeing it everywhere.

It was basically a PDF telling me to wear baggy pants and listen to different music. Has anyone else felt burned by a trendy term that turned out to be nothing new?

Heard a kid at the mall in Boise call something 'mid' and I had to look it up.

Now I notice it everywhere online, and it's starting to replace 'average' or 'okay' in my own head. Anyone else feel like a new word just takes over without you even trying?

Can we talk about the word 'vibe check'

A year ago, it was just a meme about judging a situation. Now my boss used it in a team email to ask about project morale. It went from a joke to a real work term fast. Anyone else seeing this pop up outside of social feeds?

Heard 'glazing' used in a totally new way on a Twitch stream last night

Honestly, I thought it was about donuts at first, but the streamer kept saying it to mean giving someone too much praise online. Ngl, I looked it up and it's blowing up on TikTok right now, mostly in fan communities. Anyone else run into this one, or is it just a gaming thing?

Heard 'touch grass' used in a real meeting and had to look it up

I was on a Zoom call with a marketing team last Thursday and one guy told another to 'go touch grass' after a wild idea. I found out on Urban Dictionary it's not just a gamer thing anymore, it's spreading to work talk for telling someone to get real. The fact it jumped from Twitch chats to a corporate meeting blew my mind. Anyone else seeing this term pop up outside of gaming?

Remember when 'on fleek' was the big thing? I just heard a kid at the mall use it and it felt like a time capsule.

I was grabbing coffee last week and overheard a group of teens talking. One said her eyebrows were 'on fleek' and I almost did a double take. That term was everywhere like eight years ago, but I haven't heard it in real life for ages. It made me wonder what other old slang is quietly still kicking around. Have you heard any supposedly dead terms pop back up recently?

I tried using 'glow up' for a month and it just made me feel worse

Everyone online says to track your 'glow up' progress, so I logged my habits and looks every day for 30 days. I took a photo each morning and wrote down what I ate, my workout, and my mood. By the end, I felt more focused on tiny flaws than any real change. The term makes it sound like a big, fast change, but real progress is slow and quiet. Has anyone else found that focusing on these trendy self-improvement words backfired?

So I used the term 'main character energy' in a work email and my boss asked for a meeting

I saw it everywhere online and thought it was just a fun way to say someone was confident. I wrote 'loving the main character energy on this project' to a coworker on Friday. On Monday, my boss called me in and asked if I was calling the coworker self-centered or difficult. I had to explain it was meant as a compliment, which was super awkward. Has anyone else had a buzzword totally backfire in a professional setting?

Saw 'glow up' and 'main character energy' used back to back in a single tweet.

The first one felt forced, but the second actually fit the story about finding a twenty in an old coat. Anyone got a better term for that specific kind of lucky find?

Honestly, my post about 'glow up' being overused got 500 upvotes overnight. Why is that term still so big?

My niece used the word 'delulu' in a totally normal way and it clicked for me

I was helping my niece, who's 16, with her homework in Phoenix last weekend. She got a math problem wrong and just laughed, saying "Okay, that was a bit delulu of me." I asked what it meant, and she explained it's just slang for being delusional or overly optimistic about something silly. It wasn't mean, just a light way to admit a mistake. I realized these new terms aren't always for mocking others; sometimes they're just a gentler way to talk about our own little failures. Has anyone else noticed slang being used more for self-deprecating humor than for putting people down?

PSA: People keep saying 'glazing' wrong and it's driving me nuts

I keep seeing folks use 'glazing' to just mean complimenting someone, but the original TikTok slang was about over-the-top, fake praise that feels slimy. It matters because we lose the specific shade of meaning, you know? How do you all use the term?

Heard a kid at the park in Denver call something 'mid' and had to look it up

I was on my route near City Park last week and overheard a group of teens talking. One said a new song was 'mid,' which I thought was short for middle. Turns out it's slang for something average or not that good, like a C grade. When did that become a thing? Is this just a local Denver phrase or is it everywhere now?

PSA: I had to pick between calling something 'mid' or 'cooked' in a group chat and chose 'cooked'.

It got a laugh from two people, but my brother in Phoenix texted me 'that's so last month, man.' Has anyone else felt like these terms move too fast to keep up?

My nephew in Austin kept calling things 'mid' and I had to look it up.

Now I hear it everywhere online and even from a client describing a paint color. Does this word have any real staying power?

I finally looked up what 'brain rot' meant after my niece said it and realized I'd spent $60 on a mobile game she called the perfect example.

Has anyone else had a term from the kids make you see your own habits in a new, slightly embarrassing light?

Spent $80 on a 'vibe check' workshop and now I'm hearing the term everywhere

I paid for this online class about reading a room, and now I notice my friends using 'vibe check' to describe everything from a party to a work email, which feels like it blew up overnight.

Pro tip: I was saying 'mid' wrong for months until my nephew corrected me at dinner last night

He said it's not about being average, it's for something that tries too hard and fails... like a movie with a huge budget that's just boring. Anyone else have a term they totally misunderstood at first?

My niece called my favorite jeans 'cheugy' and I had to look it up

She's 14 and said it just means something that's trying too hard to be trendy but is actually out of date. It hit different because I bought those jeans last fall thinking they were cool. Is this word actually everywhere now or just with the kids?

PSA: The word 'vibe shift' is getting so overused it's losing all meaning

Last week, I saw three different articles about a 'vibe shift' in politics, fashion, and my local coffee shop's playlist. It's just a fancy way to say 'things are a little different now' and it's getting slapped on everything. Has anyone else noticed a term that's been run into the ground this fast?

I finally looked up what 'glazing' means after seeing it all over my feed from kids in Ohio.

I used to think it was just a weird typo, but now I know it's a whole thing about obsessive, cringey praise, and honestly, it explains a lot about the comments on certain fan accounts.