Definition: Desperately flooding social media with couple content to publicly mark territory during private relationship chaos.
Example: “Their #RelationshipGoals post reeked of insta-claiming – paragraphs about ‘forever’ right after they nearly broke up.”
Definition: The delusional demand for instant messaging replies, escalating to panic when responses take longer than 15 minutes.
Example: “When Mike’s ‘quick check-in’ became full textpectation meltdown – 37 missed calls because I was showering.”
Definition: Suffocating romantic attachment disguised as devotion, where partners demand total isolation from friends/family.
Example: “Jen’s boyfriend hit her with claustrolove – canceled her girls’ trip saying ‘We don’t need other people, babe.'”
Definition: The triumphant, 4-second orchestra of MIDI trumpets and hard-drive whirring that announced your PC was ready for dial-up suffering.
Example: “Our family computer took 10 minutes to start, but that Windows 95 bootup sound made it feel like a spaceship launching.”
Definition: The abrupt, mechanical thump when a tape hits rewind’s end, followed by the whine of a defeated motor.
Example: “I’d zone out to the cassette rewind thump, praying my Walkman didn’t eat my favorite Depeche Mode tape again.”
Definition: The nostalgic digital chirp of an AOL Instant Messenger buddy logging on, signaling impending gossip or flirting.
Example: “I’d jump across my room at 2 AM hearing that AIM door squeak—my crush was online to discuss Buffy fan theories.”
Definition: The specific, mind-blowing national transformation of going from being bombed back to the stone age (literally) to becoming a global leader
Definition: The relentless, borderline-psychotic national hustle of transforming your resource-poor, war-torn/backwater fishing island into a gleaming global tech & economic powerhouse within like, one boomer’s lifetime. Requires maxing out your location bonus points, investing hard in your citizen’s brain stats, and having leadership so forward-thinking they probably see next Tuesday. Bonus points for doing this while constantly side-eyeing a giant, aggressive neighbor who claims you’re theirs. See: Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea. “Went from third-world dump to producing 75% of the world’s chips? That’s the Asian Tiger Grindset – no oil, just pure brainpower, strategic hustle, and dodging existential threats daily.”
Definition: Describes pulling off an insane national-level glow-up starting with absolutely jack squat. Like when your country was the poorest mf on Earth at birth, had zero roads, a capital city that wasn’t even in your country, got sandwiched between racist neighbors, and got body-slammed by AIDS… but you somehow leveraged a few cows, some shiny rocks (diamonds), and nice scenery (tourism) into becoming one of Africa’s most stable and legit prosperous spots. Pure “started from the bottom, now we here” energy. Big-dick energy for nations. “Dude, how’d they build such a stable economy surrounded by chaos? Total BotsWinning vibes – turned cattle, rocks, and safaris into a success story against all odds.”
Definition: The act of ditching a successful career in fluffy entertainment (usually Disney/Nickelodeon) to become a legit rocket scientist/tech genius/space lawyer, thereby achieving ultimate nerd cred and leaving fans utterly bewildered and impressed. “Everyone expected her to do pop music forever, but nah, she pulled the full Mendler Maneuver – got a PhD and now builds satellites that monitor space weather. Iconic.” Usage: Reserved for the most impressive glow-ups from teen idol to STEM powerhouse. Out-nerding NASA after out-singing Hannah Montana.