Do you find yourself thoroughly confused after having a conversation with a Gen Alpha person? You have come to the right place. Listening to the vocabulary of the Gen Alpha makes you wonder if they are even speaking in English. Also known as the iPad generation, Gen Alpha is adding a ton of new words to the dictionary. With Gen Z’s new vocabulary, we could understand the meanings contextually, but Gen Alpha is something else altogether. Here is a small breakdown of some of the Gen Alpha vocabulary.
1. Rizz: Short for charisma, rizz stands for romantic charm or sexual appeal.
For example, that man has great rizz, I am attracted to him.
2. Lowkey: secretly, subtly.
For example, I don’t follow football, but I was lowkey interested in this particular match.
3. Mid: mediocre, average.
For example, I don’t think you should wear that outfit to the party, it is quite mid.
4. Ick: an expression of disgust or repulsion towards something distasteful.
For example, I don’t like your perfume today, it is giving me an ick.
5. Mood: expressing something that perfectly captures the current emotional/physical state.
For example, you look at a meme of someone being very goofy and say ‘mood’.
6. Sus: short for suspicious.
For example, I don’t want to go to the restaurant down that alley, it looks so sus.
7. Slapped: amazing, or fulfilling someone’s expectations.
For example, India won the match today, and the team slapped.
8. It's giving: exceeding expectations or giving a certain energy.
For example, your whole look today is fabulous, it's giving.
9. Cooked: struggling or having problems.
For example, I haven’t studied for the exam tomorrow, I am so cooked.
10. Tea: gossip or some juicy information
For example, do you want to catch up for coffee today, I have some tea about our friend.
This list is not exhaustive and constantly evolving. Most of these words come from video games or social media platforms like X and Tiktok. As Gen Z or Millennials, you do not need to add these words to your vocabulary, just knowing the meaning is enough if you want to hold a conversation.
Story by Ananya Mehta