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10 Slangs You Probably Didn’t Know Originated From Social Media

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social media slang

We all know what social media slangs are. They are the lingo of the internet because they can literally take a comment or post from dry and boring to spicy and funny. Memes and slang culture have made social media incredibly interesting and even addictive. 

Social media slangs and memes are always evolving, and new words and phrases are coined all the time. It’s important to keep updating your slang library so you won’t be left in the dark while everyone else uses it to communicate.

Let’s explore the origin and meanings of these ten social media slangs that went viral.

Turnioniown

Who remembers this slang from 2019? In the video, a car was drifting and going around in circles and the guy behind the camera kept saying, it’s turnioniown. He was in fact trying to say, It’s (the car) turning on its own. But, his Yoruba accent said, not today! 

Netizens use the slang to describe something that is out of control.

Baddie

The slang baddie is used to refer to an attractive woman. It is often used in connection with black women who are seen as hot and confident in their bodies.

“I’m in my house, come and beat me”

social media slang

This slang is often used by folks online after they’ve given a hot take or made a controversial statement. It means that they dare anyone who has an issue with what they have said to come and fight it out with them.

“If you know, you know”

social media slang

Also written as IYKYK. Who remembers that young man on twitter who said he thought IYKYK meant iyeneke? As in how? Lol. Anyhow, this slang refers to an inside joke. As in only those who know the joke will understand its meaning and if you don’t know, well, that’s on you.

“You gerrit? If you don’t gerrit, forgerabourit!”

In the video, the man was asked the full meaning of CV. He said C stands for certificate and V stands for… *whistles*. Then he goes on to say, you gerrit? If you don’t gerrit fogerabourit. Meaning If you don’t understand it, I will not bother to explain it. It can be used interchangeably with IYKYK. 

Detty December

social media slang

Mr. Eazi claims to have coined this term and used it as a hashtag for his concert in Lagos in 2016. According to Wikipedia, Detty December refers to the festive period at the end of the year in Nigeria, typically from mid-December through the New Year. It’s a time of vibrant celebrations, social gatherings, parties, and festivities characterized by high energy, excitement, and optimism. It’s a time when many Nigerians, both within the country and in the diaspora, return home to celebrate with family and friends.

Something hooge!

This slang was coined by the skit maker with the blue shirt and black short tie. Investor Sabinus how far? Who remembered when Investor Sabinus was always expecting something hooge in his skits? Something hooge means what it literally means! When you’re expecting a big amount of money, you say you’re expecting something hooge!

Dey play!

This slang became very popular after a young man who built himself a house and bought a brand new car made a short video on TikTok to show off his accomplishments, telling his viewers and followers to ‘just dey play’ which means that while he has achieved something, they were fooling around and wasting time on things that were not necessary. The Urban Dictionary defines the slang dey play as ‘An expression used to depict utter foolishness and an ignorant misunderstanding of a given situation. Can also be translated to mean ‘Keep deceiving yourself’. 

Groceries

social media slang

Groceries is a fancy moniker for our very own garri. It all started when a student took a picture of garri that he bought which had poured on the floor and captioned the photo, ‘F***! My groceries.’ (I mean if it’s you, will it not pain you? Pour sansan for my garri happened in 4K, just like that.) Netizens took it one step further and sugar was christened sweetener, milk became white caramel, groundnut was assigned floating berries. Who knew drinking garri could become boujee?

“You go explain taya, no evidence”

Burna boy started this one! It was during a Live video where he was encouraging mandem to hustle else dem go explain taya with no evidence to prove that they have in fact been hustling. Or as a Reddit user put it, He’s saying that in life you have to try your best, and be successful in whatever you do. Because in the end if you’re not successful, there’s actually no evidence that you tried your best.

Slangs could originate from anywhere but this article highlighted slangs that originated from social media. How many of them are you familiar with? If you say none, then you’re probably living inside that pot at the back of the twenty naira note. If you say all of them, then, how wouldn’t you know when you’re always pressing phone? 

Are there any other slangs originating from social media that we missed?

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Nesiama Fasola
Nesiama Fasola
Nesiama (Ness) Fasola is a community manager, tech enthusiast, writer and full time hopeless romantic. She loves to scribble words in a bid to make sense of the jumble of thoughts, ideas and emotions that constantly plague her mind. At her leisure, you can either find her nose-deep in a book, brewing coffee or poking around in her garden.

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