E-Paper
Aura Farming, Banana Botox and more: Is your vocab up to date?
Mad at your boss? Rage-apply for other jobs. Stressed? Chill with a fridge cigarette. In 2025, there's a word for every mood. Here’s our guide to 2025 slang
Keep up. Language is changing fast. And the internet generation is inventing new terms quicker than you can say “Delulu is the solulu”. Some terms have escaped the group chat and are out in the wild, confusing Boomers in the workplace. Others have become oddly specific micro-labels for micro moments of modern life.
So, how may of these can you figure out right away?
Fridge Cigarette
Sounds like: Some kind of chilled vape.
Actually is: A cola. Bad for your health (and addictive) just like a cig. But this one, you source from the refrigerator. How’s that for a dramatic coping mechanism?
Usage: “Didn’t cry. Just had a fridge cigarette while reconsidering my life decisions.”
Tip: Works best after 1am, a heartbreak, or after sending a risky text. Bonus points if you lean on the door dramatically while cracking a can open.
Banana Botox
Sounds like: A new injection popularised by a Kardashian.
Actually is: Any unhinged DIY skincare ritual. It emerged from the viral TikTok trend of rubbing banana peels on one’s face in the mistaken belief that it’s a natural alternative to Botox. Zero science, 100% vibes.
Usage: “If an influencer is sharing ‘One tip that dermatologists won’t tell you’, it’s probably Banana Botox.”
Tip: The viral eat-your-retinol carrot salad contains no retinol. Also, please run DIY hacks by a doctor before you try them.
Reverse Catfish
Sounds like: A case of scamming a scammer.
Actually is: Someone who looks better in real life than they do in their online profile, on social media or dating apps. A Gen-Z unicorn.
Usage: “His profile gave 6, but he showed up as a 9.5. Reverse catfish!”
Tip: It’s the opposite of an Insta filter. These people look good even in bad lighting. To be weaponised wisely.
Barebacking
Sounds like: Something John Wayne did in your grandpa’s favourite movie.
Actually is: The act of jumping into feelings, flings or vulnerability without protection or logic. Essentially, no emotional PPE.
Usage: “I told him I liked him after two dates. Guess I’m now emotionally barebacking.”
Tip: It comes from the same idea as raw-dogging, but this one is for the feels.
Throning
Sounds like: You want to see John Snow rule King’s Landing.
Actually is: Dating someone only to up your own social status and boost your own ego.
Usage: “Dating another nepo baby? Clearly you’re throning.”
Tip: Best used to extract petty revenge.
Hyperpop
Sounds like: Elon Musk setting up a music app no one asked for.
Actually is: An internet-born music genre defined by distorted sounds, bubblegum vocals, and maximalist chaos. Imagine if glitter had anxiety. Also extends to visuals, personalities, and vibes that are overstimulated by design.
Usage: “This Charli XCX playlist is part hyperpop, part sugar rush.”
Tip: Don’t forget to wear your blingy sunglasses.
Green Nail Theory
Sounds like: A collab between carpentry and gardening.
Actually is: The idea that if someone is confident enough to wear green nail polish, they’re badass, bold and unafraid in general. It’s almost like manifesting with a manicure.
Usage: “Wore green nails in my Reel the other day and whoa, no trolls in the comments.”
Tip: Go bright green and all you’ll manifest is Shrek.
Looksmaxxing
Sounds like: Making the most of your looks.
Actually is: Roughly that. It’s doing whatever it takes to look your best IRL or on a screen. The ’90s kids called it a makeover, and went to the mall. Today, Softmaxxing refers to light methods, such as dietary adjustments or exercise, while Hardmaxxing refers to more drastic measures, such as cosmetic surgery and hair transplants.
Usage: “I’m in my looksmaxxing era. Gua sha and weighted squats.”
Tip: Not for the poor. That’s capitalism shining out of your DP.
Morning Shed
Sounds like: A place for farm animals to get breakfast.
Actually is: The literal act of shedding the beauty-product build-up from the previous night, including layers of overnight masks, no-heat curlers and pimple patches. How else will Gen Z get ready for the day?
Usage: “Post-morning-shed me is 15% prettier and 80% less emotionally protected.”
Tip: If you’re taking layers off, please wash the pillowcase too.
Prejuvenation
Sounds like: An inkling about a future salon appointment.
Actually is: Preventive beauty treatments in your 20s, so the decades ahead look less wrinkly. Think Botox on the forehead, laser hair removal, collagen smoothies and retinol night creams.
Usage: “Of course she knows about lip fillers at 23, she’s in prejuvenation mode already.”
Tip: Start early, but under a dermatologist’s supervision.
Chaotic Customisation
Sounds like: Someone misspelled your name on your birthday cake.
Actually is: Being obsessed with personalising everything – a monogrammed water bottle, iPhone cover, playlists for every mood, a separate DP for every social-media app, charms, patches, pins, laptop stickers about your hobbies, a curated Insta grid, wearing clothes only from “your season”, to the point of a visual overload.
Usage: “Her resume is chaotic customisation in Helvetica and stickers.”
Tip: It’s not a cry for attention, it’s just someone who’s hiding behind a template until they find their own voice.
75 Hard
Sounds like: The pornstar name generator is at it again.
Actually is: A viral online challenge that’s a discipline flex. It combines intense physical and mental discipline for 75 days, involving a strict diet, workout, and wellness regimen, along with zero joy.
Usage: “Four days into 75 Hard and I already miss cheese.”
Tip: Don’t post about it until Day 30, so you can quietly quit without the shame.
Chameleoning
Sounds like: Someone’s giving up their identity just to fit in.
Actually is: Exactly that. When someone adapts their taste, style and whole personality to match the people they’re hanging with, no one calls it peer pressure any more.
Usage: “He’s into astrology, so she’s now chameleoning as a birth chart expert.”
Tip: Harmless, until you forget your OG personality.
Blush Blindness
Sounds like: Someone can’t tell when they’re embarrassed.
Actually is: A trend popularised by the GRWM videos. It’s when you’re emotionally attached to a glowy, tanned look and can’t tell that you’ve applied too much rouge.
Usage: “Blush blindness had me thinking sun-kissed when I was actually sun-slapped.”
Tip: Step away from the mirror, then come back. That’s when you’ll know if it’s too much.
NPC Energy
Sounds like: A new solar-electricity company.
Actually is: Moving through life awkward, and glitchy, like the extras or Non-Player Characters in video games. When you’re the background character in your own story, and kind of okay with it.
Usage: “He got dumped so hard he’s had NPC energy since May.”
Tip: Let NPC folks be. They’re just buffering.
Rage Applying
Sounds like: Adding a bit of anger to everything.
Actually is: responding to a bad day at work by applying to countless jobs in one sitting, out of spite and frustration. It’s revenge via résumé.
Usage: “My boss asked me to ‘circle back’ and I rage applied during lunch break.”
Tip: Don’t do it on Monday night. Everyone’s applying then.
Spicy Quiet
Sounds like: Someone masking the flavour of chilli.
Actually is: Just charged silence or a deliberately tense atmosphere, designed to distance, disorient or create drama.
Usage: “I didn’t block him. Just left his long message on read. Spicy. Quiet.”
Tip: Never be the one to break the spicy quiet. Show them you’re a warrior too.
Core Rot
Sounds like: Biting into a bad apple.
Actually is: When aesthetic trends are all over Insta, are overshared and start to decay.
Usage: “Ballet had a moment. Now, it’s just bows on everything. Core rot max.”
Tip: If you saw it on Wednesday, it’s probably rotten by Saturday.
Glazing
Sounds like: The top of a nice doughnut.
Actually is: Simping’s shinier sister. Someone who’s absurdly over-the-top in their praise.
Usage: “I knew he was glazing when he said my eyeliner healed his trust issues.”
Tip: Don’t fear it. It’s flirty and ironic.
Mog
Sounds like: Smog, without the S.
Actually is: Slaying effortlessly, completely outshining everyone in appearance, success or charisma. It’s not just winning, it’s dominating.
Usage: “She mogged the whole room by mixing vintage Dior with this-season’s Zara.”
Tip: Must be earned. No room for faking.
Aura Farming
Sounds like: Clairvoyants gathering in a field.
Actually is: Engineering main-character energy; or intentionally crafting a specific vibe, mood, or moment. Building a vibe-based personal brand.
Usage: “I’m aura-farming the Sad Rich Girl vibe with Lana Del Ray and unreturned texts.”
Tip: Never say you’re aura farming. Just disappear for a few days, then post a random blurry photo with no caption.
Coffee Rave
Sounds like: A five-star review of the neighbourhood Starbucks.
Actually is: A nightclub party, music and all, but set in a café, with coffee instead of cocktails.
Usage: “No need to put on glitter and a sequinned skirt. It’s just a coffee rave.”
Tip: You won’t get drunk, but you’ll be hopped on caffeine. Don’t drink and drive.
Coldplayed
Sounds like: The band has performed your request too late.
Actually is: Being outed doing something you shouldn’t have been doing, on a live camera, the way the CEO and his head of HR were at the Coldplay concert this month.
Usage: “Better to tell your boss you’re working remotely than get Coldplayed at the resort.”
Tip: Act natural if you’re caught. Hiding only arouses suspicion.
From HT Brunch, July 26, 2025
Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
