As social media’s grip on Gen Z tightens, new mannerisms evolve and affect how students talk, learn, and act. Today’s most well-known trend is called “brainrot.” Especially in an age where attention spans are shorter and trends fly by, language is changing each and every day. Social media has now entered the classroom and everyday conversations. As brainrot constantly evolves, its impact may be greater than one might think.

Oxford’s English Dictionary defines brainrot as, “A perceived loss of intelligence or critical thinking skills, esp. (in later use) as attributed to the overconsumption of unchallenging or inane content or material.” However, many young generations view brainrot not as a loss of intelligence, but as a broad label for trending TikTok slang. These so-called “brainrot terms” are reshaping digital humor.

The origin of brainrot is unknown, but most students say they first started hearing it around 2020. These brainrot terms emerged from TikTok but weren’t acknowledged as “brainrot” until the trend of “Italian brain rot” came around. Before these terms were labeled, there were many TikTok sayings people would repeat. Students recognized these first terms as ‘’bussin, sheesh, dabbing, and sus.’’ These terms became worldwide online jokes for mainly Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Senior Eli Reinberg explains the uncertainty of when brainrot truly started. “I think it’s hard to mark where brainrot really started, at least I can’t really define where,” Reinberg said.

In the BSM hallways, these ongoing terms and jokes can be continually heard. Math teacher John Groess acknowledges this shift in humor, partly due to the increasingly digital world, and the reliance on others to shape our own personality. “Now it’s like your joke is something that you see some creator do … it’s like an outside joke you’re all copying,” Groess said.

Brainrot terms start and spread on TikTok. These terms spread very fast because users see and share the content with others. These sayings and terms typically seem like nonsense at first, until they are discovered by many, and a week later, everyone is repeating the same words. An example of this extreme spread is the term “67.” This term has no literal meaning to it, yet students all throughout the community have adopted this term. There is also a hand gesture used along with it, contributing to the fast and easy spread of this term. Junior Mary Waters describes how this obsessive term has impacted her life. “As much as I hate it, I use 67 more than I use regular words/numbers. Any number could be mentioned, and I immediately think [of] 67,” Waters said.

The rapid growth of brainrot terms impacts students’ vocabulary as well. Many students have begun replacing words with brainrot terms without realizing it. An example of this is the use of the word “rizz.” This Brainrot term has been used in place of the word charisma. Although many kids did not use the term charisma, now, the word rizz can be heard all around. This word can also be heard in combination with other brainrot terms, creating random phrases that confuse many. These examples are only a few of the many replacements in students’ vocabulary. Sophomore Paige Helmer recognizes this switch throughout the school in vocabulary. “It has been normalized throughout high school and kids to swap out words for [these] new terms,” Helmer said.

Brainrot may seem like a harmless joke to some, but it is a very serious phenomenon. It shows the evolution of communication through social media from what was once known as a silly micro-trend to a lifestyle that’s altering teenagers’ way of life and vocabulary. Brainrot has come a long way from 2020 to now and will continue to evolve and make itself apparent in teenagers’ daily lives.

The new introduction of these words and phrases has gradually impacted many students’ vocabulary over time, even though some may not notice this. These brainrot terms coming and going are a powerful reminder of the impact that social media can have on communication everywhere. Despite the mild controversy brainrot has, it is not all negative. “So it’s not the end of the world…it just seems like there’s a lot more people saying the same thing, as opposed to smaller groups having more fun with their friends,” Groess said.