Slang Myths, Debunked

Most of what you’ve been told to panic about is wrong. Here are the six biggest slang myths, calmly dismantled — followed by the small, specific part that genuinely is worth your attention.

6-7 is a nonsense catchphrase, not a secret code

It isn’t. ‘6-7’ is famous precisely because it means nothing — a rhythmic catchphrase kids repeat because it’s funny and because adults find it maddening. There is no hidden meaning to uncover. The absence of meaning IS the joke. The full story →

“Brainrot” is a joke about junk content, not a medical claim

No. ‘Brainrot’ is a self-aware joke — kids use it to describe the content they themselves consume. Oxford named it Word of the Year 2024. The genuine, discussable concern is overconsumption of low-effort short-form video, not the vocabulary. Read the explainer →

This slang is almost never drug code

Overwhelmingly not. The vast majority of terms here — rizz, gyatt, bussin, skibidi, aura, delulu — are about charm, food, looks, and nonsense. Panic lists that recast ordinary slang as coded danger tend to generate more fear than safety. If you want the honest flag-list, we made one: the calm parents’ guide.

The skull emoji 💀 means “that’s hilarious”, not a threat

💀 means laughing. “I’m dead” → that was hilarious. Many younger users now use it instead of 😂, which can read as old. Similarly 😭 often means an overwhelming feeling (laughter, joy, affection), not only sadness. The full emoji table →

“Sigma” is usually an ironic joke, not a sign of radicalisation

Almost always ironic. ‘Sigma’ did originate in manosphere spaces, and that lineage is worth knowing — but in Gen Alpha’s mouth it has been flattened into pure nonsense (“what the sigma?” ≈ “what?”). Knowing the origin lets you tell the difference between a meme and a worldview, which is the actual skill worth having.

Slang is how languages change; it is not destroying English

Every generation has heard this about itself. Slang is a normal, healthy engine of linguistic change — and many words dismissed as ‘Gen Z’ or ‘Gen Alpha’ nonsense, such as slay, cap and rizz, come from AAVE and Black queer and drag culture, and some have been in use for decades. Dismissing it as decay usually means dismissing the communities who created it. See the real origins →

The honest summary

Most slang panic is manufactured. The genuinely worth-watching corner is small and specific: appearance pressure (looksmaxxing, mogging, chopped) and the harder edge of manosphere ideology. Everything else is kids being funny — which is what kids have always done.