''Cheugy'' ( ) is an American

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

coined in 2013 (allegedly by Generation Z) as a pejorative description of lifestyle trends associated with the early 2010s. This aesthetic has been described as "the opposite of trendy" or "trying too hard". The term has been used positively by some who identify with the aesthetic. People who are ''cheugy'' are referred to as ''cheugs''. Things described as cheugy include "

mom jeans Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. High ...

", " live, laugh, love signs", "

Minion Places *Minions, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom People * Frank Minion (born 1929), American jazz and bop singer * Fred Minion, English professional footballer * Joseph Minion (born 1957), American film director and screenwriter *Marcus ...

memes A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

", and "anything that says ' girl boss' on it". While it has been compared to being ''basic'', some sources have suggested that it is "not quite 'basic'". The ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' said that "the ''cheug'''s logical archnemesis is probably the hipster".

Origin

According to an April 2021 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' written by Taylor Lorenz, the term ''cheugy'' was coined in 2013 by Gaby Rasson, a

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...

student, who used it to describe "people who were slightly off trend"; an ''

Urban Dictionary ''Urban Dictionary'' is a crowdsourced English-language online dictionary for slang words and phrases. The website was founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham. Originally, ''Urban Dictionary'' was intended as a dictionary of slang or cultural words ...

'' definition appeared in 2018. Subsequently, it was mentioned in a

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

video by Hallie Cain in March 2021, inspiring explainers from various media outlets (including Lorenz' own article). The

American Dialect Society The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society ...

voted ''cheugy'' its 2021 "informal

word of the year The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere The public sphere (german: Ö ...

". While the original TikTok video received around 100,000

like In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, and quotative. Uses Comparisons ' ...

s, '' Vox'' writer Rebecca Jennings said this number was "

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

viral, but not TikTok viral". The ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' similarly said that "Even on TikTok ..it hadn't really taken mainstream hold". Broader attention outside TikTok came from Lorenz' article, which she described to ''Vox'' as "one of the most-read recent stories in the Styles section". Lorenz said that while the definition of the term was "highly subjective and changing quickly," Instagram was the "pinnacle of ''cheugy''." This post had a much wider reach than the original TikTok post; commentator Sarah Manavis said that "until last week, and certainly before Lorenz's article, few people would have heard of cheugy." Manavis described the coverage of the term as "the latest chapter in the 'war' between Gen-Z and millennials, an

intergenerational conflict Intergenerationality is interaction between members of different generations.Klimczuk, Andrzej, ''Intergenerationality, Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Policies'', n:S. Thompson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice'', ...

that can be best defined by trendy articles in digital publications and broadsheet newspapers alike, ‘questioning whether such a "war" really existed and saying that "what the coverage of the Gen-Z/millennial 'battlelines' achieves is to distract us from the very real generational inequality that exists between both of them and

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

."'"

2020s use

According to a May 2021 article on youth news website ''

The Tab ''The Tab'' is a tabloid-style youth news site, published by Tab Media Ltd. It was launched at the University of Cambridge and has since expanded to over 80 universities in the United Kingdom and United States. The name originates from both an ...

'', "some people have suggested" that the trend betrayed an underlying misogyny. An article on '' CNET'' said that whether the word ''cheugy'' was sexist was "a good question", since girl bosses were female; contrariwise, the article noted that

cargo shorts Cargo pants or cargo trousers, also sometimes called combat pants or combat trousers after their original purpose as military workwear, are loosely cut pants originally designed for rough work environments and outdoor activities, distinguished b ...

and Axe Body Spray were "''cheugy'' stuff you might associate more with men." Other male ''cheugy'' traits include tattoos of compasses. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' said that "misogyny is insidious and takes many forms in our culture, but making fun of someone for posting Minion memes is not one of them." '' Refinery29'' said that its use was "mostly being fueled by backlash" and that "for every person ..that proudly calls themself a '''cheug'', there is someone who cries misogyny or classism." The term is claimed by many to reflect intergenerational conflict: ''Rolling Stone'' said that "Millennials ..are forced to confront the vestiges of our own mortality in the form of relentless, merciless roasting from

Gen Z Generation Z (or more commonly Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the Western demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birt ...

", and ''Vice'' said that "''cheugy'', just like the Gen Z-Millennial war, can also be a phase that comes and goes." ''The Cut'' said that "so far, much of the Cheugy Discourse is people just trying to suss out what is and isn't ''cheugy''. The rest appears to be millennials having an existential crisis." Among Generation Z, the reaction to ''cheugy'' has been described as one of confusion. ''Inside Hook'' said that many zoomers were unfamiliar with the term before its popularization by websites such as Twitter and Buzzfeed, and that many zoomers do not view themselves as participants in the spread of ''cheugy'' (rather perceiving its popularity as "millennial on millennial violence").

Origin

2020s use

See also

References

Further reading