It goes again, like in the title of this note: "You think you're
based
but you
cringe
."
Generation
Z
or
centennials
, that is, those born between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, surely understood the phrase.
The fact is that the majority
came into this world with access to a cell phone and social networks
, read
,
Tik Tok, X
before
and
Snapchap
(
was a boom for Generation .
And that implies some shared characteristics.
It is estimated that centennials number about
4.4 billion people
worldwide, about
60 percent
of the Earth's population, so we cannot define them more than in broad strokes.
Brush strokes to be more exact.
Teenagers social networks.
Photo: Shutterstock
But, as they say, all communication mediated by
technology
, by social networks and other media (
, of course), can be seen as a
language innovation laboratory.
What can we say about
memes,
almost a new genre.
In this note, there is a selection - necessarily arbitrary - of some of the most used terms, part of their history and their context.
A very extensive glossary of those "rare new words".
Also, a
bonus truck, with less "liquid
" concepts, at least until now.
A compass, navigators
Being based:
The term emerged in the United States as "based."
It is a typical case of "borrowing" between languages, so common on the virtual planet.
It is used, in general, to describe a person who gives their opinion on a topic no matter how controversial it may be.
It means that you have security, conviction and that "I don't care what people will say."
Cringe
.
Its translation from English is "shrink" or "become small."
But on the networks it is something like "embarrassing others."
Another meaning is "mersa".
Random:
Literally refers to something that is random but has a variety of meanings.
You can talk about something different from what was expected, both for good and bad, or, directly, about something that disappoints.
Also, something absurd.
And from anyone, at random.
The word is a wild card, to be interpreted according to the context.
.
Crush:
Grew up with Instagram.
The word in English means crushed and is sometimes used to describe the crushing of food or the impact of a car accident.
On social networks, "having a crush" refers directly to "having a crush."
It can refer to a crush or a coincidence in some aspect that suddenly unites you with someone.
LOL:
It is an acronym for
laughing out loud
, that is, laughing out loud or dying of laughter.
Among gamers, it began to be used to charge the opponent.
Nowadays, many young people also use it in a mocking tone, that is, in a derogatory way.
ATR
: At Full Rhythm.
The term describes a state of mind, joy, euphoria, positive attitude.
It owes part of its popularity to Pablo Lescano, the leader of Damas Gratis.
ASAP:
It started in the virtual world as one of the most used abbreviations in emails, so it belongs more to the circle of work jargons.
It is an English acronym that means “as soon as possible” and which translates as "as soon as possible." Be careful: it also circulates on the networks.
Bro
: Alludes to brother, brother in Spanish.
It is used among close friends or among members of communities, as a sign of belonging.
C picó:
It has two meanings.
One is linked to reaching the maximum intensity of a situation ("This party was peaking", that is, it is at its maximum).
The other associates the expression with degrees of controversy and even aggression.
Regarding the replacement of the pronoun
"se" with "c"
, some experts claim that we owe it to the use of WhatsApp, since the operation serves to
limit writing
.
The abbreviations would deserve a separate note
.
Mildis (fault), Milgra(cias), Perfe (cto) Refe(rencia), Compro(bante)
are other of the most used.
Doxing
: Refers to “exposing dox” (an informal way of referring to documents) and directly refers to publishing information or images to cause damage.
A way to scratch.
Fandom
: a community of fans that gathers in electronic media.
And a business: targets.
From a marketing point of view, fandoms are a great source of information, because they behave like well-defined groups, even segmented by age and sociodemographic characteristics.
Hype
: The most.
An extreme emotion.
Or the maximum expectation.
The exaggerated.
It comes from English, from the word
hyperbole.
Mimir
: Japanese illustrator Dr. Moricky published an image of a kitten ready to sleep in 2020.
Among the comments, "mimir" appeared, alluding to "sleep" said with the tenderness of a child.
She asked what it meant but understood that it was an animal.
So she published another illustration with two protagonists: "Two mimir."
It was funny virally and it was funny.
And the term continued to circulate, above all, as a meme.
This follows.
The Alpha generation, that is, those born between 2010 and 2020, will have other realities and other words to name them or the same ones but changed.
J.S.