KYM Review: The Top Slang Terms Of 2023

Internet slang was the subject of much debate and derision in 2023, with the gap between those who "get it" and those who don't widening to yet unseen degrees in the span of a few short months.

While a vast majority of new slang terms covered in our 2022 editorial could be classified as Zoomer lingo, 2023 showed us how Generation Alpha is already shaping the way we engage with the internet today.

Internet slang was greatly influenced by platforms such as TikTok, Twitch and X / Twitter this year, with slang terms like Rizz and Glazing bubbling out of these platforms at such rapid speeds that the influx and combination of these terms became a meme in and of itself.

So for those of you who have had a conversation this year with your Delulu cousin or their baby brother with Skibidi Toilet Syndrome that felt completely incomprehensible, here's a recap of Know Your Meme's definitive "Fresh Slang Of 2023 List."

Glazing

Glazing is one of those slang terms that seems so timeless that it's a genuine surprise to learn that its etymology can be traced to the 2020s. The term was popularized by Twitch and Kick streamers Kai Cenat, xQc and Adin Ross using it, and can be best likened to the term "dickriding" (lingo for someone who tries way too hard to suck up to someone else in a really obvious way).

This degree of cringe adoration and kiss-assery found a new descriptive avenue in the word "glazing" this year, with KYM actually getting in touch with the guys who first used the phrase online, all the way back in 2021.

When asked, they described it as a joke that was born out of their Discord chat, likening the imagery of "glazing" to the idea of a glazed donut.

Skibidi (Toilet)

The creator of the YouTube short-form phenomenon Skibidi Toilet inadvertently created Georgia's biggest cultural export since, well, the country was formed. Georgian YouTuber DaFuq!?Boom! began posting surreal animated videos using models from Garry's Mod in February 2023, depicting an army of toilets with men's heads coming out of them fighting a race of TV-headed people who are somehow the good guys in this scenario.

From there, it only got weirder. YouTube began recommending Skibidi Toilet videos to users (many of them seemingly young iPad-addicted kids) en masse, leading to a nearly instantaneous global Skibidi baby takeover, with kids quoting the videos and anxiously waiting for the next installment of the series with bated breath.

The show got so popular that parents began issuing warnings to each other about how "Skibidi Toilet Syndrome" is causing kids to act like Skibidi Toilets themselves after watching one too many videos.

Whether this was a hoax or not, it still gave us one of the best fake podcast clips of the year in the form of two gamers sincerely debating Skibidi lore.

Gyat

Perhaps no slang word popularized this year boggles the mind the way Gyat does. To begin to unravel the near-inscrutable etymology of the term, we must make our way back to AAVE lingo over 10 years ago when "gyat damn" started as a common pronunciation of the phrase "god damn."

However, the term Gyat is now used by some very young people to describe a woman's behind. This turn of events can be traced back to streamer YourRage, who has a habit of letting out an uncontrollable "GYAT" every time a woman with a big butt walks into his field of vision. This is accompanied by his chat echoing the sentiment, and the term subsequently spread online from there in many variations.

Rizz

Rizz is the breakout slang term of 2023, with the Oxford English Dictionary polling 32,000 people to name it the "Word of the Year." Despite first hitting the mainstream in 2022, 2023 was the year a flood of Rizz Nicknames hit the market and propelled the word to think-piece levels of fame and prevalence.

For those still unfamiliar with a word in seemingly every teenager's arsenal, rizz is short for "charisma" and was popularized by a team of streamers who went viral by going on blind dates and grading each other on their game with women.

Throughout the course of the year, rizz has led to numerous variants like Rizz Pick Up Lines, Sticking Out Your Gyat for the Rizzler and the unforgettable Baby Gronk Rizz King, Livvy Just Rizzed Him Up.

Gooning

Gooning is one of the more NSFW slang terms from 2023 that's also been around for almost as long as pornography-addicted people have existed on the internet. The term refers to a sexual practice in which a person masturbates to adult content for as long as they can without climaxing to achieve what is called a "goon" state of mind.

The mental phenomenon is described as a sort of disassociated numbness achieved through media oversaturation, something that would probably make any media critic worth their salt keel over and die.

Jokes about people entering their "Goon Cave," showing off their curated "Goon Kits" and even perfecting their "Goon Stare" took off in 2023, aided in part by one of the next words on the list: edging.

Looksmaxxing: Mewing, Mogging And The Like

Incel-adjacent Looksmaxxing lingo definitely cemented itself in this year's slang list despite its origins going as far back as 2015, thanks to a flurry of TikTok content about how one can bonesmash, mew and mog their way into being attractive.

A practice that can only be described as competitive grooming (no not that kind), "looksmaxxing" techniques are tips men share with each other to maximize their physical appearance for real-world benefits, like wooing women or simply showing up other men.

Australian supermodel Jordan Barrett carried the mantel of leading this trend with his naturally chiseled cheekbones acting as the epitome of what one can achieve by mewing — pressing one's tongue to the roof of their mouth to give the appearance of hollow cheeks. His hooded, "negative canthal tilt" eyes helped him mog or dominate other men by simply existing, or so it is said in looksmaxxing communities.

Edging

For some bizarre reason, kids on the internet who typically make "looksmaxxing" and "mewing" style content on the internet began posting video upon video in 2023 claiming to be Edging (or constantly on the verge of orgasm) at any given point in the day.

From jokes about edging in the back of the classroom to telling other people "I edge to you," montage videos of extremely handsome supermodel Jordan Barrett were repurposed from "mogging" content to "edging" content this year in droves.

In fact, aspiring 2024 U.S. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy became the unwitting victim of a Zoomer "I edge to you" campaign, a development no one could have precedented.

Fanum Tax

Fanum Tax is another slang term coined and popularized by the Twitch squad that has made repeat appearances in this list so far, Kai Cenat and his AMP group.

Sometime in late 2022, Twitch streamer Fanum started barging into Kai Cenat's streams and stealing away some of his food, yelling out "Fanum Tax" while doing so.

The gag was a rousing hit with the squad's younger audience, and kids began to add "Fanum Tax" to their rotating roster of slang terms to bust out at school, and the TikTok parodies soon followed suit.

Perhaps the trend that really skyrocketed the phrase to mainstream fame was Sticking Out Your Gyat For The Rizzler (aka the "Fanum Tax Song"), a song cooked up by what sounds like a child, but one that went massively viral on TikTok in October.

Cooked

In stark contrast to the way Let Him Cook was used in 2022, the word Cooked grew in usage in 2023 to signify someone getting properly roasted.

The word seems to have emerged from sports culture, with early instances of the phrase only being people describing a humiliating and rousing defeat as "getting cooked."

The most viral iteration of the slang term as a meme is a GIF of American boxer Adrian Broner saying, "Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, I ain't gon' lie I'm getting cooked."

Delulu

A shortened, whimsical form of the word "delusional," 2023 was definitely a time when everyone succumbed to their Delulu tendencies. Born out of arguably one of the most delulu subcultures on the internet, K-Pop forums, the word quickly traveled over the teeming masses on Twitter where it was used and overused to death.

In many ways, to be a Stan on the internet is to occupy an inherent delulu state of mind, whether it's the unending devotion to someone who doesn't know your name or the act of harboring the belief that they one day just might.

Being a little whimsical and delusional is a practice near and dear to teenage girls since the beginning of time, so perhaps this is a sign that they can humor their fantasies with just a hint of ironic self-perception.

Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2023 meme roundups below:

• The Top 10 Memes Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• KYM Staff Picks Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• A Year On Twitter With Elon Musk
• Top Gaming Memes Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• Wackiest Stories Of 2023
• Trolls, Rumors and Hoaxes Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• Top Viral Videos of the Year — Coming soon…
• Top Slang Terms Of 2023
• Breakthrough Meme Formats Of 2023
• Most Impactful Fandoms Of 2023
• Top Anime Memes Of 2023 — Coming soon…
• Top Lewd Memes Of 2023