gyatt

Gyatt ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|j|ɑː|t|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Gyatt.wav}}) (also commonly spelled as gyat) is a term from African-American Vernacular English originally used in exclamation, such as "gyatt damn". In the 2020s, the word experienced a semantic shift and gained the additional meaning of "a person, usually a woman, with large and attractive buttocks and sometimes an hourglass figure".{{Cite web |last=Topsfield |first=Jewel |date=2023-11-18 |title=Bruh, what's a Fanum tax? Your guide to Gen Alpha slang |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/bruh-what-s-a-fanum-tax-your-guide-to-gen-alpha-slang-20231117-p5ekrh.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224051613/https://www.smh.com.au/national/bruh-what-s-a-fanum-tax-your-guide-to-gen-alpha-slang-20231117-p5ekrh.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |title=A woman's Gen Alpha sister explained the meaning of GYAT to her and it's making everyone feel very old |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-alpha-slang-gyat-meaning-explained-millennial-2023-11 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130210812/https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-alpha-slang-gyat-meaning-explained-millennial-2023-11 |url-status=live }}

With slightly varying definitions, gyatt garnered virality on the social media platform TikTok in 2022{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Molly |date=2022-05-25 |title=Social media users confused over new TikTok slang GYAT |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/05/25/what-does-gyat-mean-as-slang-term-goes-viral-in-tiktok-trend/ |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=HITC |language=en-GB |archive-date=2024-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224045226/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/05/25/what-does-gyat-mean-as-slang-term-goes-viral-in-tiktok-trend/ |url-status=live }} in part due to its frequent use by various online streamers.{{Cite news |last=Calver |first=Charlie |date=2023-09-11 |title=The dating term dictionary for 2023 |url=https://www.gq.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating-term-meanings/image-gallery/7759a787a9d7a35ffc12bab9a0902ead |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=GQ}} It has become an internet meme, particularly employed and popularized by Generation Alpha.{{Cite news |last=Kircher |first=Madison |date=2023-11-09 |title=Gen Alpha Is Here. Can You Understand Their Slang? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/style/gen-alpha-slang.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221112338/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/style/gen-alpha-slang.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Parents and Gen Alpha kids are having unintelligible convos because of 'brainrot' language |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/gen-alpha-kids-parents-brainrot-language-rcna162227 |website=NBC News |language=en |date=10 August 2024}}

Etymology

According to American linguist John McWhorter, the term "evolved from 'goddamn'."{{Cite web |last=Solé |first=Elise |date=2024-01-10 |title=The kids are saying 'GYAT': What does it mean? |url=https://www.today.com/parents/teens/gyat-meaning-rcna129527 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224020032/https://www.today.com/parents/teens/gyat-meaning-rcna129527 |archive-date=2024-02-24 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=TODAY.com |language=en}} Kelly Elizabeth Wright, a research fellow in language sciences at Virginia Tech, claims that the provenance of gyatt is thought to be Black Southern, Jamaican, among other communities of the African diaspora. The term is attributed to having roots of African-American Vernacular English.{{Cite web |last=Portée |first=Alex |date=2024-02-23 |title=How did words like period, GYAT, cap, and drip come to be? All about the Black history of slang |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/black-history-slang-rcna137773 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=TODAY.com |language=en}}

= 2022 semantic shift =

File:Kai_Cenat.png, popularized the word gyatt|220x220px]]

The current meaning of the term gyatt was coined by online streamer YourRAGE, who used it to describe a physically attractive woman, and it was popularized by Kai Cenat, an American Twitch streamer.{{Cite web |last=Monaghan |first=Becca |date=2023-11-29 |title=The coded meaning behind 'gyatt' on TikTok {{!}} indy100 |url=https://www.indy100.com/tiktok/what-does-gyatt-mean-tiktok-2666387145 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224051613/https://www.indy100.com/tiktok/what-does-gyatt-mean-tiktok-2666387145 |archive-date=2024-02-24 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Indy100 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-12-15 |title=This song wants you to stick out your what!? |url=https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2023/12/15/gen-alpha-tiktok-lingo |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=NPR (WBUR, Boston) |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |last=Ihaza |first=Jeff |date=2023-12-07 |title=Kai Cenat, Twitch, and 'Rizz': How the Rap Internet Ruled 2023 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/what-is-rizz-gyat-sigma-kai-cenat-twitch-1234918576/ |access-date=2024-03-17 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

{{Blockquote

|text=Everybody used to say "god damn" or "golly" but I said it weird. I'd always say "gyatt", I would never say "god damn". Chat realized that, and a way of making fun of me in 2020, they started typing "gyatt" to mock me.

|author=YourRAGE

|source="THE ONLY DEFINITION OF #GYATT 😒 #gyat #gyatttttttt" (2023){{cite web|lang=en|author=YourRAGE|title=THE ONLY DEFINITION OF #GYATT 😒 #gyat #gyatttttttt|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eewsJwsT8_0|archiveurl=https://archive.today/5N5vo|archivedate=13 October 2023|date=4 June 2023}}

}}

On October 2, 2023, a TikTok account under the username @ovp.9 posted a short video of a character from the online video game Fortnite "singing" to a musical parody of the 2021 song "ecstacy" by Suicidal-Idol.{{Cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=2023-10-19 |title='You're so Skibidi, so Fanum tax,' and other fun nonsense, explained |url=https://www.polygon.com/23921363/skibidi-fanum-tax-rizz-gyatt-gyat-meaning-meme-explained |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224183156/https://www.polygon.com/23921363/skibidi-fanum-tax-rizz-gyatt-gyat-meaning-meme-explained |archive-date=2024-02-24 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} The parody featured multiple internet culture terms, including Skibidi Toilet and rizz.{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Kaitlin |date=2023-10-17 |title=What is 'Fanum tax'? TikTok song of Gen Alpha slang has Gen Z feeling like the new 'cringe' generation |url=https://www.intheknow.com/post/fanum-tax-sticking-out-your-gyat-for-the-rizzler-tiktok/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124172748/https://www.intheknow.com/post/fanum-tax-sticking-out-your-gyat-for-the-rizzler-tiktok/ |archive-date=2023-11-24 |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=In The Know |language=en-US}} According to The New York Times, the parody is cited as "a key" to the popularization of gyatt.

Backronyms have been created for the term like "Girl Your Ass [is] Thick", "Girl You Ate That", "Get Your Act Together", among others.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Laura |date=2023-05-19 |title=What does GYAT mean on TikTok? Viral slang term being used by thousands of users |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-gyat-mean-tiktok-viral-26952937 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Birmingham Mail |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-04 |title=The kids are saying 'GYAT': What does it mean? |url=https://www.today.com/parents/teens/gyat-meaning-rcna129527 |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=Today |language=en}}

Usage

According to Legit.ng, the term is commonly used by "guys when they see a girl, usually with a curvy body type," and can also be used to indicate enthusiasm or excitement.{{Cite web |last=Mongina |first=Night |date=2023-07-14 |title=What does GYATT mean? A popular TikTok slang term explained |url=https://www.legit.ng/ask-legit/1543329-what-gyatt-a-popular-tiktok-slang-term-explained/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Legit.ng |language=en}}

Gyatt is characterized in the media as a term used both by Generation Alpha and Generation Z.{{Cite web |last=Hatch |first=Megan |date=2024-02-23 |title=What do these Gen Z slang words mean? 24 popular terms explained |url=https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/what-do-these-gen-z-slang-words-mean-24-popular-terms-explained/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=WSYR-TV |language=en-US}} However, some members of Generation Z have stated that they do not attribute the term to their cohort. According to The Today Show, the term is used verbally and on messaging platforms such as Discord, TikTok, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube.

Reception and impact

Alongside its attribution with Generation Alpha, gyatt has been of interest to digital marketers in consideration of the cohort's emerging consumer consumption.{{Cite web |last=Bradley |first=Diana |title=Marketers must learn to understand Gen Alpha's humor, attitude and lingo |url=https://www.campaignlive.com/article/marketers-learn-understand-gen-alphas-humor-attitude-lingo/1848642?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Campaign |language=en}} The term was nominated for the American Dialect Society's 2023 Word of The Year.{{Cite press release |title=American Dialect Society Selects “enshittification” as 2023 Word of the Year |date=2024-01-05 |publisher=American Dialect Society |url=https://americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf |access-date=2025-04-12 |last1=Roberts |first1=Julie}}