Tip-toeing the Line Between Cool and Cringe: What brands can learn from Gen Z slang  

In today’s digital world, the language used by content creators is a window into market culture. 18–24-year-olds spend the most time online of any adult group in the UK (6h 20m per day), largely on their most popular networks: YouTube and TikTok*. They are the leaders in shaping how online communication works.

Their slang compresses sarcasm, emotion, praise, irony, disappointment, and a whole cultural mindset into short, viral terms. When someone says a launch was “mid” (mediocre) or they were “lowkey cooked” (subtly, partially, or secretly in trouble, overwhelmed, or exhausted), they are giving you a clean, high-signal read on sentiment. It is fast, native, and brutally efficient.

Just thinking about Gen Z/Alpha slang as “internet fluff” is a serious missed opportunity for brands looking to understand and connect with these generational groups.

For brands, that matters because slang is often the first indicator of how people actually feel before they leave reviews, churn, or convert. Brands are frequently presenting themselves as in the know online and still get lost in translation.

Volume tells you what’s mainstream. Growth tells you what’s next. Social listening is a research technique that scrapes publicly available online data from places like Instagram, Reddit and TikTok, and then analyses this to find key insights and upcoming trends. The core benefit of social listening is that we’re analysing data, which is unprompted, full of raw opinions and can shape a detailed picture of a brand’s online reputation.

Here’s what we found when we looked at popular slang words used by the GENZ and GenAlpha Audiences, using our social listening tool, Ipsos Synthesio:

Top words by volume – What slang is used the most?

• #1 Vibe - 7% SoV -4% YoY: Someone or something’s mood or energy 
• #2 Cooked - 4% SoV +38% YoY: Exhausted or We’re so cooked = we’re so in trouble 
• #3 Go Off - 2% SoV -22% YoY: Express passionately; e.g. Go off, queen! 
• #4 6-7 – 2% SoV +35% YoY: Term from nonsense humour 
• #5 Low Key – 2% SoV +125% YoY: To a small degree

Top words by growth - What’s trending up? 

• #1 Nonchalant – +701% YoY: To be chilled/unbothered 
• #2 Canon Event - +301% YoY: ‘we’ve all done it’ or a pivotal, shared life event; e.g., an emo phase 
• #3 Situationship – +260% YoY: Undefined romantic relationship 
• #4 High Key – +200% YoY: Very much so 
• #5 Crashing Out – +137% YoY: Suddenly becoming angry or distressed 

Slang on the decline - What’s on its way out?

• #1 Skibidi - -77% YoY: Gibberish word 
• #2 Rizz - -68% YoY: Short for charisma 
• #3 Delulu – -67% YoY: Delusional 
• #4 Touch Grass – -58% YoY: Get in touch with reality 
• #5 Go Off – -22% YoY: Express passionately; e.g. Go off queen! 

Imagine you’re observing the following conversation: 

What was said : Alex: I bought the new game last night, they high-key cooked with this one 
Translation: Alex: I bought the new game last night, they did such a good job making it! 

What was said : Zara: Same! The vibes were immaculate. I couldn’t put it down, then overslept for class this morning, and I was crashing out 
Translation: Same! I loved the game so much that I couldn’t put it down, then overslept for class this morning, and I was freaking out. 

What was said : Sam: 💀💀canon event… You two low-key need to go touch grass tho 
Translation: 😂😂 We’ve all done it… You two kind of need to go outside and take a break from video games, though. 

Here’s the trap: slang isn’t cringe-misusing it is. Brands often fail in three ways: 

• Overuse: trying to cram 6 slang terms into brand copy reads like performance, not personality. 
• Wrong context: words like cooked/chopped are highly situational - misplacing them breaks trust instantly. 
• Outdated usage: slang has a short shelf-life. Some terms will feel dated within 12-24 months, especially if they’ve already crossed into mainstream brand adoption. 

The goal isn’t to “sound Gen Z” It’s to sound human-and informed. An easy rule of thumb is to use slang like seasoning. A little can make content feel fresh. Too much overpowers the dish, and people clock it immediately.

Slang should highlight a real human emotion. One well-placed term that matches the moment can feel topical. Five terms in one caption can feel like a marketing intern speedrunning TikTok – and risks isolating non-pros. 

Relatability and authenticity don’t come from copying language. They come from understanding what language reveals.

That’s where Ipsos Synthesio comes in: we use social and search intelligence (and GenAI-assisted analysis) to help teams spot emerging language, map it to sentiment + context, and turn it into actionable strategy, from creating innovative content themes to addressing crisis signals.

If you’re building a social strategy in 2026, slang isn’t a gimmick. It’s a signal. And the brands that win are the ones that listen before they speak.

Full Synthesio Slang Data***

• *Ofcom Online Nation Report 2025 
• **(for 18–34-year-olds) Ofcom Online Nation Report 2025 
• **Public posts from X, Instagram, Reddit, Forums, YouTube and TikTok via Synthesio. Data collected 01/01/24 – 31/12/25, based on 202231 mentions from the UK in English. Data filtered to remove spam, bots, and retweets. 

Ready to turn cultural signals into actionable insights?