Gen Alpha and Gen Z think you're old if you have no idea what these words are
There's been some pretty random viral words this past year
“Well, back in my day…” yeah, yeah, sure, grandpa in your 30s, you were cool once.
But kids nowadays don’t care if you were part of the generation that saw the likes of ‘bae’, ‘peng’ and even ‘lol’ become a part of everyone’s regular vocab.
Nope, they’ve got words of their own – even if it is debatable in some of the viral phrases getting used are actually even ‘words’ at this point.
And if you don’t know what most of these phrases are, then it’s more than likely that Gen Alpha and Gen Z think you’re old.
Advert
Even if you’ve not got kids yourself, many of us will have scrolled through the likes of TikTok at some point this year and been left absolutely baffled.
6-7
I mean, obviously we’ve got to start with this one; it literally ended up being Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2025.
And looking past the argument of whether it’s even a ‘word’ to begin with, plenty of people simply can’t understand what ‘6-7’ is supposed to mean.
One of Google’s top trending memes of the year, users were scrambling around the internet to get an explanation for the thing that, well, basically doesn’t mean a thing.
Peak internet brain rot, it comes with a gesture that kids all over playgrounds across the world can’t seem to shake out.
Sigma
Also one of the biggest words among the younger generations this year, if you’re getting called this by kids, then they probably think you’re pretty cool (so don’t f**k that up by asking what it means).
This is a bit of a revival of the ‘lone wolf’ personality, essentially someone who’s hyper independent but still popular, a dominant leader who is cool and respected.
So, you’re not necessarily alone, but you’re very selective with who you associate with.
Delulu
Ok, this is an easier one, so if you’ve been messing this one up, it’s on you.
This is simply just the likes of Gen Alpha and Gen Z making words shorter for ease and because they sound a bit more fun, let’s be honest.
And so ‘delulu’ is quite obviously an abbreviation for ‘delusional’.
Unc
This is hardly a new word or bit of slang, but it has become more and more common among the mainstream of younger generations lately.
If younger people are calling you it, it’s not as offensive as it sounds, but it could mean they see you as older.
Anyone can be referred to as an ‘unc’ really, but it’s reserved for those who are a little older, carrying big-sibling or uncle-like energy.
You just need to decide if it’s being used as a sign of respect or purely to tease you for being old.
Aura farming
With Timothée Chalamet often given as an example for being the king of doing this, younger generations seemed to be using this term heavily over the summer.
Taking inspiration from gaming, the ‘farming’ part essentially means gaining points and seeking points in terms of being cool.
So ‘aura farming’ is basically the act of doing things to look cool. Simple.
Jess Battison