WTF Is Mewing? Looksmaxxing? Rizz Face?! Gen Alpha Slang You’ll Need At The Kids’ Table This Thanksgiving

I like to think that I’m pretty up-to-date with the latest TikTok trends. And if I wasn’t a cusp baby (1997 babies, WYA?) I’d probably say something atrocious like, “I’m hip,” because it’s true. But sometimes, I hear a sentence out of the mouth of a Gen Alpha and I just have to admit defeat: I’m old and sometimes I really don’t know what the fuck the “kids” are talking about. I recently heard someone talk about the Rizzler and how his signature “rizz face” is just “mewing” and I swear I thought they were speaking another language.

So, I’m not as tuned in to social media as I thought I was, but the great thing here is that you’re reading this article so you probably aren’t either. And I’m not just saying that because misery loves company — it’s because we can both learn together. Will I ever use “mewing” in a sentence after this? Probably not — but hey, at least I’ll know WTF is going on.

What Is Mewing?

It turns out that all this ruckus (there are over 500K videos under “#mewing” on TikTok) is being caused by something so minute. Mewing is simply the act of pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, resulting in a snatched jawline. Now as someone who rocks a permanent double chin in any candid picture that’s ever been taken of me, this is a trend I can get behind.

What Is Looksmaxxing?

So mewing is apparently under the umbrella of “looksmaxxing” (I know, I’m getting a headache too). Looksmaxxing is just a term that’s used to describe anything you do to make your body look better or more attractive — there’s “softmaxxing” which is more subtle things you can do like (like mewing) and then there’s “hardmaxxing” which encompasses things like plastic surgery.

Why Does Mewing Have To Do With “Rizz Face”?

Now if you’re still a little confused as to how all of this got started, I’m going to break it down in the simplest way possible. The Rizzler is a 7-year-old child who got famous because he’s got a quirky personality that made him viral. And one of the things that’s made him so funny is his “rizz face” which is, again, just him mewing with an eyebrow down. And because we can’t ever be serious, this has caught on and actually become popular, mostly amongst teens. So there you have it folks. Whether you feel like you’ve lost braincells or just a few minutes of your valuable time, at least you know what’s going on.