“CDC Said…”

Twitter was exploding with a new meme after the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) altered its Covid-19 guidelines a few months ago in December 2021. Curtailing the suggested isolation period for when someone tests positive and are asymptomatic, CDC suggested that a person only needs to isolate themselves for five days instead of ten. Social media users joked about what the health agency will instruct them to do next, and it started a laughter-fest on the internet. From the CDC recommending ‘Sony greenlighting The Amazing Spider-Man 3’ to ‘wearing a seatbelt even when not driving’, people got pretty creative with it.

Cheugy

We may have a replacement for the famous “Ok, boomer.” Cheugy refers to people who follow trends that may otherwise be considered OTT, or out of date. A cheugy embraces these trends like a pro, without any guilt. So if you are still wearing that old pair of Converse or a lumberjack-style plaid shirt, you are one of them.

Mentrification

Move away, feminism, we have a new cool term. Mentrification has been coined in reference to a now well-known fact that over the centuries, women and their contributions have been rendered imperceptible by and for men. Inspired by the term gentrification, this word was theorised by the Australian writer and activist, Van Badham.

Zennials

We have already over-used ‘Millennials’ and ‘Generation Z’, and hence now it is all the Zennials. The term has been invented for ‘adulescents’ born between 1992 and 1998. If you are a Zennial, then consider yourself pretty cool because you combine characteristics from both millennials and Gen Z.

Squid Game’s lights

‘Red light, green light’ sounds familiar to everyone now, thanks to Netflix’s hit show, Squid Game. The Korean drama series had people hooked all through the pandemic. The first game in the show, Red Light, Green Light gave birth to memes and viral videos that were simply hilarious. If you haven’t discovered it yet, Instagram even has a fun game based on this that’s being used by literally everyone to make their own Squid Game videos.

Red (Taylor’s Version)

Taylor Swift painted the world red, at Jake Gyllenhaal’s expense, and no, we were not ready for this at all. The queen of breakup songs re-recorded and re-released her iconic album with some new additions this year. Upon its release, fans everywhere around the world had an emotional meltdown (Taylor’s version). Swift’s ex-boyfriend, Gyllenhaal, who seemingly inspired “All Too Well” (the hard-hitting 10-minute version) was everything that everyone was talking about. The term ‘Taylor’s Version’ became a phenomenon in no time.