Meme review
KYM Review: The Top Slang Terms Of 2025
We hope that everyone's brain still works this late in the year, because it's time to review the top internet slang terms of 2025!
Too much exposure to these infectious buzzwords has the planet down to its last few brain cells, but Know Your Meme is here to get them working again post-lobotomy.
Because, in the Big 2025, social media churned out some banger words (even though funny numbers largely stole the show), and there are many to recap. Let's document them here for the confused linguists of the future, scrambling to decipher our hieroglyphics.
The web is far past the "Hawk Tuahs" and "Uncs" of last year's list. Hopefully, that brainrotted past is behind us. But in our expert opinion, we're even deeper in the gutter following these last 12 months.
Let's just get into it, because if we don't quickly enough, there will be 10 more niche new slang acronyms on TikTok by the end of the day.
TS PMO ICL
We're serious about slang acronyms dominating this year. It all started when the initials "TS" were mistakenly used as "this" by several ignorant meme creators. Largely, Black internet users laughed about it, because it seemed to them as if other people were trying to co-opt their AAVE slang and failing at it.
The mistake led to a lot of satirical misuse of TS in the following months, starting right at the beginning of this year, akin to "Hood Irony." Other acronyms that were popular at the time, like "PMO" and "ICL" were swallowed up by the ironic memes and plastered over "Chopped Chin" and "Druski Dancing" videos in confusing, illegible slang overload memes.
The combination, "TS PMO ICL" then emerged as its own string of letters, memorialized in a copypasta, known as the "ICL TS PMO Copypasta," which spread in comment sections and image macros across social media.
@yn_reposts Time for English class #fyp #trending #trendingsong #brainrot ♬ GREENARTS NO MORE PARTIES COVER – GreenArts
@wehatemanikin Historians might actually skip our ahh 💔 #2025 #tiktok #sotiktok #dihh #creatorfund #ts💔 #hieroglyphs #jugging #juggtok #ybggang #ftcgang #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #fypシ #fypage #historiansoftiktok ♬ original sound – Beriz Teez
Performative
Ah … the "Performative Male." Such an interesting creature to observe in its natural habitat: "reading" outside of a cafe, holding a matcha latte and twirling a pair of wired earbuds in the air to hopefully attract a mate.
That method might have worked in 2024, but it was patched this year, when the adjective "performative" cut to the core of the modern Gen Z iteration of a F-boy.
If a guy is caught being performative, it fills some women with "a rage that could destroy nations." So, of course, some guys had to lean into the stereotype, fully parodying it over the summer.
For instance, there was a viral "Performative Male Contest" that occurred in New York City back in July. The trendy dudes in question brushed off their best tote bags and purchased their looksmatched Labubu keychains to pair.
Hopefully, in the new year, every guy shaves off their safe sleazy mustache, or at least, that seems to be the moral of the story. Just be yourself, kings, and stop listening to the algorithm for your personalities.
@sspencerevans Always reading and drinking matcha #performative #fypシ #skitscomedy #foryoupageofficiall #clario ♬ original sound – Spencer
@namyarfx PERFORMATIVE MALE CONTEST TODAY in Washington Square Park!!!! ☕️ 📖 Organized by snakesinbananaz Instagram #matcha #performative #performativemale #washingtonsquarepark #feministliterature #nyc #newyork #contest ♬ Beaches – beabadoobee
Clanker
Time Magazine just picked AI as its "Person of the Year," but if you've kept up with 2025 memes and discourse, you probably know that many people don't consider a "clanker" a person.
The slur for robots and AI was coined in June, although it stems from Star Wars memes, first appearing as a voice-over quote, "Lousy clanker," in the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando.
AI video systems, large language models (LLMs, like ChatGPT) and AI art generators dominated both the news cycles and memes this year. But "AI slop" is still "AI slop," and the rage against the machine through it all was spearheaded by the use of "clanker."
We don't expect it to go away anytime soon. If you really dislike AI, you'll probably keep "clanker" in your vocabulary for life.
@nicoholm13 #fyp ♬ in the yo – STU
@jackjmoore_ If the clankers come knocking on my door i’m ready for them don’t underestimate me chatgpt #fyp #clanker #clankers #ai #chatgpt #robots ♬ jerkmate.com – XWAVE06
Chopped
If you're over the age of 21, chances are you were called chopped and unc at least once this year by some 6th-grade bully on your block. "Unc" was on last year's slang list, but "chopped" is a new one. It went mainstream early this year and retained its relevance in memes and real-life banter ever since.
"Chopped" just means ugly, implying that one's face looks beat up and mangled. It went viral this year, mostly because of "Chopped Chin," one of the first memes worthy of an entry in 2025. It showed a kid dancing courtside at a WNBA game. Unfortunately, the internet focused on his "chopped" jawline that no amount of mewing could fix, apparently.
The word was used to title other memes from the year, like "Dabo's Chopped Photo." Sadly, both young men became symbols of the insult. But we're proud of them — they really took it on the chin.
@frenchballsack Welcome to 2025 ❤️🙏 #choppedchin #welcome #2025 #trendin #swisscheese #squidgame ♬ original sound – 🪂🪫🦠🪂🪂🪂
@bladeroles #chunc #fyp #taxidriver #aging #chopped ♬ Off Tha Cid – smokedope2016
Aura Farming
"Aura" is another slang term that made last year's list, but its offshoot, "aura farming," truly had its moment this year. The term was coined on TikTok in January, and in the following months, examples of shameless "aura farmers" popped up across the web.
Basically, the term describes someone who is constantly bolstering their cool points. It could be the way they dress, walk or talk, such as if your friend shows up, dressed to the nines in designer and flips a bottle on their first try, their "aura points" might shoot through the roof (unless they're trying too hard).
Every friend group's got an aura farmer. If it's not you, we're sorry. You might not be the group leader. That's okay, though. The world needs "Turkish Quandale Dingles" too to make sure that a surplus of aura remains.
@h.chua_212 #aura #aurafarming #auramaxxing #fyp #xyzbca #bowling ♬ TORE UP – Don Toliver
@hokutoshinkenbakura #aurafarming #nonchalant #fyp ♬ original sound – vilyrn
SYBAU
In the aftermath of TS PMO ICL madness, another slang acronym, "SYBAU," took the spotlight and has largely become more impactful than its precursor.
Although the abbreviation was first logged on the Urban Dictionary in 2003, its repeated use on TikTok at the start of this year added it to the slang acronym lexicon that was quickly developing and devolving in anti-meme fashion.
The virality of SYBAU ultimately led to a prevalent instinct this year of immediately turning any catchphrase into an acronym. "SYFM" and "SDIYBT" are two of the most popular spin-offs, which also earn honorable mentions here.
SYBAU's meme history is not complete without mentioning the so-called "SYBAU Picture," showing underground rapper LAZER DIM 700 flicking up his hands with the acronym next to his head.
The meme became one of the most used exploitable formats this year, as seemingly every catchphrase-based meme that came after it received at least one iteration in its style.
@_c0zm0_
Dead Rose Emoji
Back in February, during the rise of the JuggTok community online, so-called "JuggTokers" decided to stop using the Heartbreak Emoji (💔) because it had apparently "gone mainstream" due to memes like "What's a Father?" and "Dih to Your Crack" that used it to represent masculine tears.
So, what was the alternative? The Dead Rose Emoji (🥀) was initially proposed, and the campaign worked well. In the following weeks, seemingly everyone was using the Emoji in viral memes, as its meaning began to obscure due to overuse.
By now, anyone who's chronically online has probably seen the Emoji more than their own name. It's one of the most common punctuations in 2025.
The "Nah She Got You Blushing Twin 🥀" copypasta is a solid example of the wilted flower's reign at the height of its relevancy in March.
@ybgtway 🥀🥀#luracks#fyp#foryou ♬ not myself – luracks
@zaccc150 🥀nah🥀she🥀got🥀you🥀blushin🥀twin🥀awh🥀hell🥀nah🥀twin🥀you🥀gotta🥀lock🥀up🥀twin🥀this🥀ain🥀even🥀you🥀twin🥀on🥀foenem🥀grave🥀bruh🥀 #CapCut #Meme #trending #song #sad #real #viral_video #fyp #vfx #lebron #gooningtolebron #wigglesondoesnthavetiktok ♬ original sound – ️
Labubu Matcha Dubai Chocolate
Although they aren't necessarily slang terms, "Labubu Matcha Dubai Chocolate" are completely new words that do sound made-up, like straight from the mouth of Jabba the Hutt.
The slang overload meme that they embody all tie to different 2025 consumerism trends, namely Labubu toys, matcha lattes and Dubai chocolate bars.
All of those were buzzwords picked up by the hivemind's algorithm, as they entered the influencer cycle of paid promos and viral marketing.
By the summer, everyone needed a Labubu strapped to their backpack in order to even enter a Starbucks, before purchasing a matcha drink while listening to Benson Boone (or some other coworker music) on the store radio.
The viral fads led to intense mockery in memes, leading to the Performative Male archetype already discussed.
Next year, "Mr. Algorithm" will surely tell us what to buy and what to like. Hopefully, the words aren't as silly-sounding as these.
67 / Six-Seven
Who needs slang words when we've got slang numbers? Like, actually … If this year proved anything linguistically, it's that we could all speak with calculators going forward and it wouldn't change our humor much.
Of course, we're talking about one of this year's undeniably biggest memes, "67," which had iPad-juiced Gen Alpha goobers shaking their hands and saying, "Six, seven," ad nauseam.
The creator of the term, rapper Skrilla, has been intentionally vague about the meaning of the numbers in his song "Doot Doot," but quite bluntly, their meaning doesn't mean much anymore.
Saying "6-7" is just a tick at this point; an itch that needs to be scratched. Previous generations had sixty-nine and twenty-one.
But now this generation has several: 41, 93, 61, 56 and 89 are just some of the new no-no numbers that teachers need to avoid saying out loud.
Even strings of letters like "L-M-N-O-P" and food orders like a cream cheese bagel are not safe either.
If you're tired of the 67 meme, don't fret. It's almost 2026! Just like with the word "skibidi," your son Mason will be onto the next pacifying word in the new year, and it will annoy and confuse you just as much. We guarantee it. Just remember that it is funny (or it was at some point).
@the_daily_yt_clipper This trend is so corny😭🙏🥀💔new Cam Wilder vid is fire tho🔥 #icecream #camwilder #rwe #rwebasketball #basketball #67 #apocolypse #cringe #corny #funny #fyp #fypシ #lol #viral ♬ original sound – TheDailyYTClipper
@happysquid26 #newmeme #trending #fyp #meme I love the new 58214436202558220255821443115582582 meme is so funny and original 😂😂😂 #Newmeme58214436202558220255821443115582582 ♬ New meme audio 58214436202558220255821443115582582 – happy squid 26🐙
Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2025 meme roundups below:
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