Gen Alpha Has Updated their Lingo, the Rest of Us Are Just Catching Up

You could be scrolling through TikTok only to find out that you are deep in a rabbit hole of “sus,” “skibidi,” and “bussin,” wondering when English got this complicated. At first, you nod like you get it, but your fingers are already sneaking to Google for a quick check.

Somehow, Gen Alpha has officially taken over the lingo dictionary this year, and they did not even bother to send a memo. Dictionary.com announced on October 29 that the 2025 Word of the Year is "67,"  pronounced six-seven and not sixty-seven. 

"67" is a Gen Alpha slang term that is intentionally vague and lacks a definitive meaning, often used to express ambivalence or nonsense, similar to "so-so."

Its origins are a blend of Skrilla's song "Doot Doot (6 7)" and viral TikToks featuring basketball player LaMelo Ball. The term has gained popularity due to its inherent meaninglessness and an associated hand gesture. 

Born roughly between 2010 and 2025, these kids are digital natives through and through. They have been speaking to Alexa longer than they have been holding pens, and their slang is as quick, cryptic, and chaotic as the internet that raised them.

READ ALSO: Gen Z slangs everyone should know (part 2)

For the rest of us millennials, Gen Zs, and even some early Alphas, keeping up feels like trying to learn a new language that updates every week. Just when you finally understand what “sigma” means, they move on to something new, and you are back to square one, blinking in confusion.

Every generation has its own slang era. Boomers had “groovy,” Gen X had “rad,” and Millennials made “cool” eternal and even popularised “savage.” Then came Gen Z, who gave us “lit,” “no cap,” “periodt,” and “vibes.” But Gen Alpha? They have taken the baton and sprinted straight into meme madness.

Their vocabulary is not static, it is constantly evolving. A random TikTok sound, a YouTube meme, or a gaming stream can spawn new words that spread across the world in hours.

“Skibidi,” for instance, started as part of a surreal YouTube meme “Skibidi Toilet”, and somehow became shorthand for anything chaotic, funny, or absurd. “Fanum tax” came from a gamer known for stealing his friends’ food on camera. “Sigma” is not just a Greek letter anymore, but now a personality type. And “rizz” is literally charisma but with Gen Alpha flair.

This generation does not wait for slang to catch on. They create it, remix it, and discard it before adults can even use it wrong.

Where Gen Z had to type out phrases, Gen Alpha just drops a meme, a sound, or an emoji, and everyone instantly gets the vibe.

Their communication is visual-first and word-second, which explains why they speak in references that feel like inside jokes for the whole internet.

READ ALSO: ‘Oscroh’ and 20+ other updated Nigerian slang you need to get on board with

Gen Alpha is the first generation to grow up entirely online. Many of them learned to talk through YouTube Kids, game lobbies, and TikTok edits. Their slang reflects that, as it is a mash-up of internet subcultures, gaming chatter, and algorithm-fed humour.

They do not just use the internet; they also think like it. Their conversations jump between irony, exaggeration, and meme-speak faster than older generations can process.

They use phrases like “Ohio” to describe something weird, “NPC” for someone boring or robotic, and “based” for someone who is unapologetically real. These are all terms that came straight from the internet and digital communities.

Unlike previous generations who used slang to express rebellion or identity, Gen Alpha’s language is about belonging in a digital world.

Their slang is a shared dialect of humour, absurdity, and pop culture references that only make sense if you are actively online. And for the rest of us, decoding it feels like reading kids' scribbles.

READ ALSO: 7 Nigerian student slang terms that became mainstream culture

Surprisingly, there is a plot twist. Gen Z is starting to feel old and these are people who once mocked millennials and called their lingo lame and old-school. They are now squinting at Gen Alpha slang videos, thinking, “What does skibidi mean again?”

This is not just a vocabulary gap; it is also a speed gap. Slang used to last years, but now it expires in weeks. The internet has turned words into trends, and once a slang term hits mainstream, Gen Alpha instantly retires it. If your parents start saying “rizz,” congratulations, it is officially over.

For millennials and Gen Z, this feels both amusing and humbling. We used to think of ourselves as the tech-savvy generations, fluent in memes and irony.

But Gen Alpha has rewritten the rules. Their humour is more layered, their references more niche, and their language is definitely more experimental. They can express an emotion, a situation, or an entire story with just a sound or emoji, and this is something we struggle to keep up.

READ ALSO: 5 Nigerian traditions Gen Z is quietly ditching

Yes, Gen Alpha has updated the dictionary, and the rest of us are just trying to keep up. We can complain about how ridiculous “skibidi” sounds, but give it time, and you might catch yourself using it ironically, then unironically, and then for real.

Language has always been a living thing that constantly evolves. The difference now is that it is growing at Wi-Fi speed. Gen Alpha is just leading the charge with memes, slang, and digital swagger, and all we can do is either decode or get left behind.