Are you struggling to decipher the latest Gen Z slang? Well, this might help.
Philip Lindsay, 29, who works as a special education math teacher in Payson, Arizona, has taken TikTok by storm with his school skits.
The social media star, who has more than 162,000 followers on the video-sharing platform, recently appeared on The Today Show with hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Willie Geist.
During the chat, Philip deciphered some of the most popular phrases currently circulating, including “rizz,” “pick me girl” and “do it for the plot.”
Philip Lindsay, 29, who works as a special education math teacher in Payson, Arizona, has taken TikTok by storm with his school skits.
The social media star, who has more than 162,000 followers on the video-sharing platform, recently appeared on The Today Show with hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Willie Geist.
The segment began with Jenna gushing about the guest before asking him if he ever thought his videos would be so popular on social media.
“I didn’t, but I had some useful things to say, I posted them and here we are,” Philip replied candidly.
Jenna joked that she was “doing a public service for all of us parents” by deciphering some of the unusual phrases used by Generation Z.
And the first to be unpacked was “rizz or the rizzler.”
He explained: ‘This means charisma. It means you have charm. An old word to refer to is “you’ve got game.”
‘They love this one. They are obsessed with this one.
The educator explained that there were several iterations of the word like RIzzly Bear, Rizzler of Oz and Rizzasaurous Rez.
“I have kids who come up to me and tell me they have a PhD in ‘quantum rizziques’ as professors of Rizzanomics,” he added.
During the chat, Philip deciphered some of the most popular phrases currently circulating, including “rizz,” “pick me girl” and “do it for the plot.”
She explained that a “choose me girl” was someone who “tried harder, someone who was maybe more attention-seeking and attention-seeking, who was then genuine with herself.”
Next, Philip focused his attention on the phrase “pick me girl or pick me power.”
He explained, “Think about an intense attempt: someone who is maybe more into attention-seeking and attention-seeking, then being genuine with themselves.”
‘You don’t want to be a chosen one for me. It’s kind of an insult.
The teacher further explained that traits of being someone who “annoys me” included being “loud and obnoxious.”
Jenna then chimed in and joked, “I’m worried that I was a picky person and I just want to apologize to all my high school teachers.”
But Philip wasn’t done exploring Gen Z slang yet.
‘The next one we have is “Do it for the plot.” I really like this one.
“This is ‘life is a movie, my whole life is a movie, there is a story, there are struggles, there are obstacles and I have to create my own story.’
He said young people are now using the phrase as a “new version of YOLO: You only live once.”
“It’s like, ‘I’m about to do something risky or challenging, I’m going to promote myself’ by saying ‘do it for the plot.'”
“Do it for the memories, for the history.”
Philip then deciphered the phrase “W in chat.”
‘This one comes from livestreaming culture. Comments that scroll in the live stream are called chat.
After his appearance on the show, the teacher shared a snapshot on Instagram while he was among the presenters.
‘(If) someone does something nice in the chat, like sending a big gift to the live streamer, it’s like, “W in the chat,” (which) means promoting someone.
‘He leaves the live streaming culture and is now in the real world. If someone does something exaggerated, they will say, “W in chat.”
Other phrases the trio mentioned were ‘mid’ (meaning something is simply medium) and ‘preppy’ (which now represents a host of style attributes including ‘bright, pink, smiling faces’).
When asked if “preppy” is good or bad, Philip admitted: “It depends how they say it.” Sometimes it’s nice and it’s a compliment. Sometimes it is not.
After his appearance on the show, the teacher shared a snapshot on Instagram while he was among the presenters.
He added a caption that read: ‘The connection between student and teacher and student and parent is one of the most important tools for student success.
‘Understanding how they talk is a big part of that connection.
‘Incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share information that will connect students, parents and teachers on The Today Show!’