What is Cheugy, and Should You Care?
If you are part of Gen Z or spend a lot of time on Tik Tok, then the term “Cheugy” or “Cheug” is not anything new to you. If you are like me though, a young millennial or no Tik Tok then you are probably just as confused as I was when my sister brought this up to me. Or maybe you are so far removed from the internet culture that this new term is news to you. Wherever you are at in your Gen Z slang journey, please let me help enlighten you. What is Cheugy, and should you care?
Let’s start with the basics: someone who is cheugy (a cheug?) is basically a millennial Karen. I feel like we all know the term “Karen” at this point but just in case: a “Karen” is usually a middle-aged white woman who wants what she wants and doesn’t care about others’ feelings or abilities to handle the situation. She will ask to speak to the manager about something stupid. She is most likely a little bit racist. She may yell at you about how since she is vaccinated now, she doesn’t need to wear her mask. You get the picture. A cheug is simply a millennial and less aggressive version of that. They characterized mainly by the things they like and wear like Ugg Boots, skinny jeans, the way they part their hair, their love for a 90s sitcom, chevron print, and wooden signs with sayings like “But first coffee”. Like being “basic”, it is kind of a “know it when you see it” type of a thing. This woman most likely calls herself a girl boss, loves her Rosé and has a thing for early 2000’s movies. Does this sound like you? Because I honestly fit the bill a little here too.
I was born in the last year that you can actually be classified as a millennial, 1996, and many of my friends and my sister prefer to classify themselves as “zillenials” since they are right on the cusp and have things and traits for both generations. I am not such a millennial that I am mad about social media as a whole and super disconnected from things that Gen Z does, but I am not Gen Z enough to keep up with everything, like the term cheug. I have a middle part, but I still love my skinny jeans (see here for more info on this whole mess). And the term cheug is really just being used as a new way to say someone is being basic (I have a post on this here) and a new way to explain that someone is irrelevant. Now, from what I can tell, cheug is a spectrum like so many other things, and you can have certain cheug tendencies without being a full-on cheug. One of the things constantly brought up is the idea of the Disney Adult, which is simply adults who love Disney and Disneyland. I definitely fall into this one because I love Disney and like to dress up whenever I get the opportunity to go to Disneyland. But guess who I am coordinating my outfits with? My Gen Z little sister. My mom even falls into some of these and she is firmly planted in Gen X. So even though Millennials are the ones who are getting the most flack for this, it seems anyone in any generation can be part of this.
So now that we all have a pretty decent idea of what being cheugy is, I want to give my opinions on this term: it will pass like every other trend. Some people seem to be getting really up in arms about Gen Z “telling them what to like” again, while others seem to be embracing it and proudly declaring themselves a cheug. It all boils down to the same thing that always happens: the generation that is older and coming into adulthood who is focusing on bigger, more adult things is called uncool and basic by the generation below them who thinks they are the only ones setting trends. The reality of it people like what they like and there is always going to be someone there to say that what they like is dumb. I work with a girl who is the perfect embodiment of cheugy but she is 19 and firmly planted in Gen Z. Plenty of millennial models and fashion designers are still setting trends faster than Gen Z.
As someone who enjoys fashion and the way trends spread, I find this all so interesting. But the bottom line is if you like it and it’s not hurting anyone, do your own thing and enjoy it. If you still like outdated trends, enjoy your life. If the generation below you thinks you are irrelevant and not cool, even if that’s not necessarily true, ignore them and live your life. The next generation is going to think they are dumb and irrelevant and come up with a word that makes them feel weird too. It is just the natural cycle of life, we just hear about it more with social media. So don’t let Gen Z make you feel bad, as long as you aren’t being racist, sexist or homophobic. Live your life, like what you like, and Gen Z will be irrelevant just like the rest of us eventually are.
Madey
Cover Art by Avery Lynch
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