The Origins Division
The Slang You Call Gen Z Isn’t Gen Z
Slay was ballroom praise by the 1970s–80s. Cap has meant ‘lie’ in Black slang since the early 1900s. ‘Clocked’ is ballroom vocabulary. Many of the words labelled ‘Gen Z slang’ come from African American Vernacular English — and here are the receipts, term by term.
The pattern nobody names
Trace many “internet slang” words back far enough and the path is the same: it begins in Black American communities (and often specifically in Black and Latino LGBTQ+ ballroom culture), circulates there for years, gets picked up by Black creators on social platforms, goes viral, is adopted by everyone, and is finally described in news articles as “Gen Z slang” or “TikTok slang” — with the origin quietly deleted.
This isn’t a fringe claim; linguists quoted by TODAY and NBC News say the same. So we credit it explicitly on every meme page, and we made this one to name the pattern itself.
The receipts
| Term | Actually from | Usually credited to |
|---|---|---|
| Slay | Ballroom / drag culture (1970s–80s) | “Gen Z” / TikTok |
| Ate (“ate and left no crumbs”) | Ballroom / Black queer vernacular | TikTok |
| Clocked | Ballroom — to be seen through | “New Gen Alpha slang” |
| Bussin | AAVE | TikTok food videos |
| Cap / no cap | AAVE (decades old) | “Gen Z” |
| Crash out | AAVE (online by 2013; spread by Louisiana rapper NBA YoungBoy) | TikTok 2024 |
| Unc | AAVE (“uncle”) | “Gen Alpha” |
| Rizz | Shortened from “charisma”; popularised by streamer Kai Cenat | Oxford Word of the Year 2023 |
| GOATed | Muhammad Ali’s “The Greatest” → LL Cool J’s 2000 album G.O.A.T. → sports | Sports Twitter |
| Drip | AAVE / hip-hop | Fashion TikTok |
The six roots
Most of the internet’s slang didn’t start on the internet. Before a word trends on TikTok, it usually has a history — often in Black culture, the LGBTQ+ ballroom scene, gaming, or global fandoms. Here is the honest map of where the words come from.
African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
The single biggest engine. AAVE has driven American slang for generations — words are created in Black communities, adopted by everyone else, then re-labelled ‘internet slang’ once they trend, which quietly erases their origin.
The ballroom & queer scene
New York City’s ballroom scene — a Black and Latino LGBTQ+ subculture — is where a huge share of ‘praise’ vocabulary was born. ‘Slay,’ ‘ate and left no crumbs,’ ‘serving’ and ‘it’s giving’ all trace here before they hit TikTok.
Gaming & streaming
Streamers and multiplayer games mint and spread slang at speed. ‘Sus’ exploded through Among Us; ‘rizz,’ ‘gyatt’ and ‘fanum tax’ were popularised by Kai Cenat and the streamers around him (gyatt itself comes from African American English); ‘NPC’ and ‘glazing’ grew in gaming culture.
‘Brainrot’ & absurdist internet
A newer engine: deliberately nonsensical, hyper-online humour. ‘Skibidi’ (from a viral animated series), ‘Ohio’ (from a Tumblr joke) and the number ‘six seven’ belong to this irony-poisoned, meaning-optional corner.
K-pop & stan fandom
Global fandoms are prolific slang factories. ‘Delulu’ (short for delusional) started in K-pop fan communities before going mainstream, and stan culture drives fast adoption of praise terms like ‘goated’ and ‘ate.’
The manosphere (a cautionary root)
Not every root is wholesome. ‘Sigma,’ ‘looksmaxxing,’ ‘mogging’ and the harsher edge of ‘simp’ (a word rappers were already using in 1987) come from manosphere and incel-adjacent forums focused on status and appearance. Most Gen Alpha use is ironic, but it’s worth knowing the ideology underneath.
Why the credit matters
Two reasons, and neither is scolding.
First, accuracy. A dictionary that says “slay is Gen Z slang” is simply wrong — it’s a factual error about a word ballroom culture was using by the 1970s–80s. We are a site, allegedly. We should get the etymology right.
Second, the pattern has a cost. The same speech gets called “unprofessional” or “improper English” when Black speakers use it, and “fun and current” once everyone else does. AAVE is a rule-governed dialect with a consistent grammar, not sloppy English — that’s a settled position in linguistics, not an opinion. Recognising where words come from costs nothing and fixes something real.
The honest version of “who owns slang?”
Nobody — and that’s fine. Language spreads; that’s what it’s for. The problem was never that everyone says “slay.” The problem is forgetting, and then explaining the word back to the people who invented it.
What this site does about it
Every meme page names its actual origin community where one is documented. Where a term is contested or its origin unclear, we say so instead of guessing. If we’ve got one wrong, it’s a bug — and worth telling us about.
FAQ
Where does most Gen Z / Gen Alpha slang come from?
A large share originates in AAVE and Black culture, plus the LGBTQ+ ballroom scene, gaming, K-pop fandom and manosphere forums — then spreads to the mainstream via TikTok, YouTube and streamers.
Is using this slang appropriation?
Not automatically — but it becomes a problem when people use the language while disrespecting or erasing the communities it came from. Knowing and crediting the roots is the respectful baseline.
Why does so much slang come from AAVE?
AAVE has long been a driving engine of American slang. Terms are created in Black communities, adopted by the mainstream, then re-labelled ‘internet slang’ once viral — which erases where they began.
Is most Gen Z slang actually AAVE?
A large proportion of it is. Terms like cap, bussin, drip, slay, ate, clocked, unc and crash out all originate in African American Vernacular English or in Black and Latino ballroom culture, long before they were labelled ‘TikTok slang.’
What is AAVE?
African American Vernacular English — a rule-governed dialect of English with its own consistent grammar and pronunciation system, spoken primarily in Black American communities. Linguists treat it as a legitimate dialect, not incorrect English.
What is ballroom culture and why does slang come from it?
Ballroom is a Black and Latino LGBTQ+ subculture built around competitive performance ‘balls.’ Its house system began in Harlem in the early 1970s, and Harlem drag balls go back to the 1800s. It generated a rich vocabulary — slay, ate, clocked, serve, work — that later spread into mainstream internet speech.
Is it wrong to use AAVE slang if I'm not Black?
Language spreads and that's normal. The widely-voiced concern isn't usage — it's erasure: the same speech is called 'unprofessional' when Black speakers use it and 'trendy' when others do. Crediting the origin costs nothing.