Every day the world wide web invents a new word that unironically becomes a part of our everyday vocab. The internet’s new favorite word to throw around in every conversation is “Rizz”.
Rizz means your ability to “have game”, typically for men attracting women. One can also use it regardless of sex. Twitch streamer Kai Cenat popularised the term over a year ago. It first popped up on Twitch and YouTube before it took over social media in recent months. Now, it’s going mainstream. For example, Pete Davidson, Hollywood’s favorite playboy, has dated pretty much everyone from Kim Kardashian to Ariana Grande, earning him the nickname “Rizz God”.
Even brands have gotten behind the word, milking it to the fullest.
we put the RIZZ in AriZona
— AriZona Iced Tea (@DrinkAriZona) December 21, 2022
Kai Cenat broke it all down on a recent episode of the No Jumper podcast. “Rizz is when you’re talking to a girl, and at first, shit is not going your way. It’s looking bad for you until you spit game and you’re rizzing them up to where shit starts to go your way,” he explained. “You’re so slick with your words and what you’re saying, to where the girl is like, ‘OK, yeah, who is this?!’ After shit goes your way, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I rizzed her up. I’ve got mad rizz.’”
According to Complex, Kai Cenat says rizz is a word he used to say with his friends before joining Twitch. Once he started using it on streams, it blew up. In 2021, he had competitions with his friends about who had the most rizz. He even held a Rizz Academy on Twitch, where he shared tips for people who have no rizz.
It can be difficult keeping up with all the variations of internet slang that have appeared with the advent of the internet, especially TikTok. Whether it is the mystery of ‘chupagetti’ or “understanding the assignment”, some of these phrases die out eventually. But many are now ingrained in our brains to the point of no return.
It’s hard to believe there was a time when people would struggle to keep up with phrases like “LMAO” and “JFC”. Now terms like “ate that” and “cheugy” (meaning “basic”), live “rent-free” in our minds. Oxford’s 2022 Word of the Year, “Goblin mode” is no different. It is a slang term referring to “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”.
