The English language is constantly evolving, but social media has cranked up the rate at which it changes. As quickly as a new dance can appear and disappear from TikTok, so can a new in-the-know slang term. Many of these terms and phrases have been around since before 2022, but they exploded into the zeitgeist over the last year. From living like a main character to feeling the vibe, here’s a roundup of some of the most popular slang in 2022.
Main Character
The “main character” is “a person who lives, breathes, and is like the protagonist of a story or series.” On TikTok, an early usage of the “main character” theme by user @ashlaward pairs harp music with a voice-over urging people to “start romanticizing their life.” “Main Character Syndrome” is contagious: “The ‘main character’ meme indulges that desire to be seen — its relatability comes from how we all want a cute crush to lock eyes with us as we drudge through life, we want celebrities to spot us at concerts, we want to be singled out for being exceptional.”
Understood the Assignment
To “understand the assignment” is to “give 110%” — whether it’s your behavior, your outfit, or whatever you have to give. According to Google Trends data, this was the most-searched slang term of 2022. It originated from American rapper Tay Money’s viral TikTok song, in which she says, “Damn Tay you killed this / I understood the assignment (duh!).”
Nepo Baby
A “nepo baby” is a successful person — usually in the arts — who is born to famous, wealthy, or otherwise well-connected parents. Twitter user Meriem Derradji called Euphoria actress Maude Apatow a “nepotism baby” after she realized director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann were Apatow’s parents. As internet discourse dissected the long history of nepotism in Hollywood, the phrase was shortened to “nepo baby,” which carries with it a derisive tone.
Entering My [BLANK] Era
This is another term that took off on TikTok and Twitter — it serves as a means to easily express the idea of personal rebranding or self-improvement (sometimes ironically) in digital spaces. Someone might claim to be “entering my villain era” if they’re coming out of a bad breakup and looking for a rebound, for example. As the names of historical eras — such as the Middle Ages and the Renaissance — give us a way to mark time and group events with similar characteristics, so can an individual’s eras.
Tech reporter Elena Cavender said, “Defining yourself by an era is another way to make sense of your life on the internet. By segmenting our lives into eras, we create a coherent narrative — one with a beginning and end. Being out of one era and into another is a marker of growth and resilience.”
It’s Giving…
This phrase is used to introduce a description (“It’s giving 1920s glam!”), or if it’s used alone, it implies that something is working for you. If someone walks into the room in a fabulous outfit, you might say, “Her dress is giving.” Alternatively, if you don’t like it: “It’s not giving.” This phrase is appropriated from LGBTQ+ ballroom culture, which was brought into the modern lexicon by RuPaul’s Drag Race and Black Twitter.
Vibe
“Vibe” can be a noun or a verb and can be applied to nearly anything. As a noun, it describes a distinctive emotional atmosphere (which is entirely subjective to what the “vibe” entails), but as a verb, it means “to chill, be at peace, let life do its thing.” In many states, it was one of the most-searched slang terms of 2022.
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