Today’s teenagers use a constantly changing mix of slang that often leaves adults confused. A big part of this trend is something many teens jokingly call brainrot.
Brainrot emerged from excess use of social media, also known as doom scrolling. The heavy intake of online content allows you to get references to specific or ‘niche’ videos. Teen slang spreads incredibly fast because of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. A new phrase can become popular overnight, and suddenly everyone is using it.
Words like “rizz,” started as kids slang that would appear in conversations at school, in group chats, and even at home. However, the word got so popular even adults know what it means now, and has caused kids to cringe at the old and overused word. For teens, slang works almost like a social code, small niche references create inside jokes within friend groups. Brainrot isn’t only about slang, though. It also describes the constant stream of online jokes, sounds, and trends that teens absorb every day. The more recent one has been the uprising of ‘italian brainrot’.
This follows a string of AI generated characters with an Italian name. Some of the popular ones are Tung Tung Tung Sahur, Trippi Troppa, Tralalero Tralala, Bombardiro Crocodilo, and Chimpanzini Bananini. This has caused an uproar in AI generated memes and the start of a new popular game.
Steal a Brainrot is a new game surrounded by these AI generated characters. The game released in May this year and the concept of the game is to try and steal and collect brainrot characters to gain in-game currency. They have these ‘events’ where you can get special limited-time characters. These events tend to be chaotic because there are multiple different brainrot events and everyone is rushing to collect them.
Junior Noah Loving said he has “watched kids play in the bathroom” and knows some friends who are “obsessed” with the game. When brainrot interferes with school, is where the issues arise.
There were many videos arising on social media with parents posting their kids screaming over this game due to something they got or because they lost a brainrot. This is the point where many said it got “too far” and the game and Italian brainrot meme lost traction.
With this new day in age, things become popular so quickly and then fall off just as fast. Something that everyone is saying one day might be considered “cringe” just the next day. That’s where this rise of doom scrolling has come from, you don’t want to be the only one still saying old jokes. For many, Italian brainrot has already hit its peak and is now on the road to falling off. Soon it will be just another trend sent to the archives to be replaced by the next trending joke.
