“No cap.” “FR.” “She ate and left no crumbs.” If you work with younger colleagues, you might find that the Gen Z lexicon has found its way into the workplace. On TikTok, multiple videos have gone viral where users share the snarky sign-offs used by some of their Gen Z coworkers. Rather than traditional closers such as “Sincerely” or “Warm regards”, they prefer email sign-offs like “Yeeting out”, “Bless up” or “Slay, serve, survive”, to name just a few.
With Gen Z bringing phrases of their own to the office table, you can find yourself rather confused when you’re in conversation with them.
Need some help? Here, we share a list of some of the most common phrases and what they (usually) mean. You’re welcome, ✨ bestie ✨.
FR
The acronym for “for real”. Quite literally, fr.
No cap
Like FR, think of “no cap” as a synonym for the word “seriously” or “no lie”. In the same vein, “cap” means “lie”. These terms actually originated from the African American community, and actually date back to at least the early 1900s, pre-dating social media and Gen Z by several decades.
Sleeping on
A phrase used to describe something or someone that should not be underestimated or missed out on. If someone says “don’t sleep on the 12-3-30 trend”, it means to not give the popular 12-3-30 workout trend a miss. (If you have no clue what the 12-3-30 workout is, read about the trend here.)
Understood the assignment
A phrase that praises someone who went above and beyond in order to successfully nail what they need to do. For example, Jenna Ortega, who played Wednesday Addams in the Netflix show “understood the assignment” with her stellar acting. If a coworker says this to you, it’s akin to them giving you a gold star.
NGL
The acronym for “not gonna lie”. Essentially, to tell the truth.
Bussin’
Originating from African-American vernacular as a way of complimenting good food, “bussin” is used to describe something that is really good. If someone tells you that “your beef rendang is bussin’”, congratulations, it means that your beef rendang was awesome.
Cheugy
Pronounced “chew-gee”, this Gen-Z term describes cringey things that are considered uncool and not in style, or people who are trying way too hard to be trendy. According to New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz, the term was coined by 23-year-old student Gaby Rasson before it got popular in a viral TikTok video in 2021. A few things that are considered cheugy: anything emblazoned with the word “#girlboss”, wooden signs with inspirational quotes, and UGG boots.
Ate and left no crumbs
Used to describe how someone completely obliterated (in a good way) a look, a performance, a game, or even another person. “She ate and left no crumbs, fr.”
Rizz
Another word for “got game”, it describes one’s ability to attract a romantic interest. Some people have speculated that “rizz” is short for charisma. If someone “has rizz”, it means that they are super smooth at flirting, when someone has “zero rizz”, it means that for them, charming someone is harder than putting a man on the moon.
W/L
Shorthand terms that are derived from sports, W means “win” and L means “lose”. When someone simply writes a “W”, it means they’re congratulating someone on their success. It’s the opposite of someone taking an “L”, which means to lose. The terms can apply for a variety of scenarios.
