The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: The All-Slang Edition

I've defined a ton of slang since I started posting this column in 1878, but this week, I'm going all in on the funny little words the kids use among themselves. That's right: It's all-slang week! From “clock that” to “rawdoggin boredom,” consider this a crash course in what the kids are babbling to each other. As always, remember, you shouldn't use these slang words because they're not your words. Stick to calling things da bomb and saying "23-skidoo," gramps.

(If this isn't enough slang, somehow, check out my constantly evolving glossary of Gen-Z and Gen A slang.)

What does "clock that" mean?

I'm old enough to remember when "clock" was slang for either punching someone or it meant "watch" or "see," so "I clocked that guy" would mean either "I punched that guy" or "I saw that guy." But times have changed—slightly, anyway. My sources tell me that kids now used "clock that" to mean "I understand and agree."

What does "fujoshing" and "fujoshing TF out" mean?

For a rare treat, here's a slang word that didn't derive from African American Vernacular English! "Fujoshing" comes from Japan, and is the verb form of the slang term "fujoshi" that combines the word for "rotten" and the word for "girl." It's used to describe women/girls who are fans of media that depicts romantic relationships between men (also called "yaoi.") It was apparently originally intended as an insult, but was adopted as a badge of honor. So "Fujoshing" or "fujoshing tf out" was Japanese slang for enjoying yaoi, and it has since migrated to English-speaking fandom communities, where it's often used in memes like this, to jokingly describe overanalyzing or giddily reacting to male characters’ interactions in media that are not explicitly romantic:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

It's not in wide use outside of fandom communities.

What is a "slopper?"

I've previously defined "slopcore," and "slopper" is related. It describes a person who uses ChatGPT or other AI programs too much. You could apply it to anyone who takes conversations with LLMs seriously, and/or people who have basically offloaded their thinking to an algorithm.

The term was first used online by @intrnetbf, who reports that his friend coined the term. "That’s incredible verbiage. Slopper! That’s such a good slur, bro. Slopper!”

It's not in wide use, and I know you can't predict what slang words will actually catch on, but I'm rooting for "slopper." Like the dude says, it is such a good slur.

What does “cracked” mean?

"Cracked" is a slang term that used to describe someone who was weird or crazy, but it now means two different things: to have sex, as in "I got cracked last night," and to be really good at something, like "he’s cracked at Fortnite."

What does “doi doi doi” mean?

"Doi doi doi" is piece of brain-rot slang that's burning through our nation's elementary schools. Like a lot of brain-rot slang, it doesn't mean anything. It's correctly pronounced by putting your hand up to your mouth and saying "doi doi doi" because it sounds funny. "Doi doi doi" was created by Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, apparently to annoy Howie Mandel. Here's a video of its moment of origin that demonstrates proper doi doi doi technique:

What is "rawdoggin boredom?"

"Rawdoggin" began as slang word for having sex without a condom, but has come to mean something like "doing something with no safeguards or support." So "rawdoggin boredom" is consciously doing nothing, and it's becoming a TikTok trend. Young people are posting 15-minute-long videos of themselves ... not doing anything. Here's one you can look at (which is honestly more boring than rawdoggin boredom.)

Many boredom-rawdoggers say they're doing it to fix their attention span, but some seem to be more about the challenge than anything else.

Not doing anything consciously is not a new trend, of course. As this X user puts it, "they reinvented meditation from first principles."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Viral video of the week: What Happens If You Abuse a Robot?

This week's viral video comes from longtime Youtuber whistlindiesel, whose channel generally consists of videos of dudes smashing up cars. This week, they're smashing up a robot with a car—specifically, an $85,000 humanoid robot from Unitree Robotics. The video has been viewed over six million times about in about a week, and for good reason. It's hilarious to watch a robot fail at things like cooking and walking into a mirror, but for me, the truly inspired bits are where the whistlindiesel crew do unwise things like putting a machete in the barely controllable robot's hand, or (at least pretend) to give it a loaded gun. Inspired lunacy! Especially the ending where the robot is smashed to bits by a huge pickup truck. I'll deny I ever laughed at this video to our overlords when the robot takeover happens, but until then, I dig it. Clock that.