Study 100% classroom-safe (SFW) conversational English cards right in your browser. Click 🔊 Listen to hear the spoken pronunciation, or click Reveal Meaning & Example to flip each card.
AI slop ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Low-quality AI-generated material, especially output produced in volume with little concern for accuracy, coherence, or usefulness.
Register: Critical · derogatory · Full entry & examples →
algospeak ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Altered words, spellings, euphemisms, or symbols people use because they believe platform algorithms may restrict the original wording.
Register: Platform culture · descriptive · Full entry & examples →
anxious attachment ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A relationship pattern marked by hyper-vigilance toward text reply times, fear of abandonment, and frequent need for reassurance.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
astroturfing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Coordinated marketing or campaigning disguised as spontaneous grassroots enthusiasm from ordinary internet users.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
avoidant attachment ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A relationship pattern where closeness triggers a need for distance, slow replies, and emotional self-sufficiency.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
Bare Minimum Monday ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Starting the workweek at a deliberate, low-pressure pace to prevent Sunday-night anxiety and mid-week burnout.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
beige flag ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: An odd, quirky, or mildly boring habit in a partner or dating profile that is neither a toxic red flag nor a green flag.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
benching ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Keeping a romantic prospect on standby with occasional friendly texts while actively dating other people.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
bossware ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Employee-monitoring software that tracks mouse movements, keystrokes, or active status dots on remote workers’ laptops.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
breadcrumbing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Sending sporadic, non-committal messages or likes just often enough to keep someone emotionally invested without intending a relationship.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
cancel culture ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Collective social withdrawal of support from a public figure or brand following an offensive statement or boundary violation.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
canon event ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A formative experience jokingly treated as an unavoidable part of someone’s personal storyline, often embarrassing or difficult.
Register: Storytelling metaphor · often ironic · Full entry & examples →
career cushioning ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Quietly updating a resume, networking, and lining up freelance options while still employed in case of sudden layoffs.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
chronically online ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: So immersed in internet culture or disputes that your references, assumptions, or priorities seem disconnected from ordinary offline experience.
Register: Critical or self-mocking · Full entry & examples →
cleanfluencer ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: cleanfluencer: home‑cleaning online influencer.
Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →
clickbait ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A headline, thumbnail, or piece of content built to win clicks, often by withholding the point, exaggerating, or misleading.
Register: Critical · publishing language · Full entry & examples →
code-switching ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Shifting between linguistic registers, dialects, or sociolects depending on the social group, setting, or power dynamic.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
coffee badging ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Swiping into the office just long enough to grab coffee and be seen by management before heading home to finish work remotely.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
context collapse ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: When multiple distinct audiences—such as family, coworkers, and close friends—simultaneously see a message meant for one group.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
cushioning ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Maintaining flirty text threads with backup crushes to soften the blow in case a primary relationship ends.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
dead internet theory ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: The idea that much online activity is automated or artificial rather than human; stronger versions make unsupported claims that most of the internet is fake.
Register: Theory / meme · not established fact · Full entry & examples →
dog whistle ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Coded phrasing that sounds ordinary to a general audience while carrying a targeted secondary signal to a specific subgroup.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
doomscrolling ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Continuing to scroll through distressing news or negative posts, often longer than you intended.
Register: Informal · digital habits · Full entry & examples →
echo chamber ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A closed social or algorithmic environment where participants encounter only beliefs and slang that reinforce their existing views.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
emotional labor ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Managing one’s own feelings and tone to keep customers, coworkers, or partners comfortable and regulated.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
finfluencer ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: finfluencer: influencer who gives advice on financial investments.
Register: informal · Full entry & examples →
future faking ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Making grand promises about future trips, milestones, or commitment early in dating to create instant intimacy without follow-through.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
gaslighting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Manipulating someone into doubting their own memory, perception, or sanity—though often used loosely online to mean any disagreement.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
gatekeeping ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Controlling or restricting who is allowed to claim membership, authenticity, or status within a subculture or hobby.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
ghosting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Ending or abandoning an ongoing connection by stopping communication without an explanation.
Register: Informal · relationships and contact · Full entry & examples →
green flag ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: An encouraging sign that someone or something may be trustworthy, compatible, or worth pursuing.
Register: Approving · reassuring · Full entry & examples →
hallucination ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: hallucination: confident but incorrect AI response.
Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →
hard launch ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Announcing a new romantic partner unmistakably on social media with a clear, full-face photo and tagged profile.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
haunting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: haunting: hard to forget, staying in the mind.
Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →
ick ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A feeling or expression of disgust or aversion. “The ick” can describe a reaction that makes someone suddenly feel put off.
Register: Informal aversion · Full entry & examples →
imposter syndrome ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Persistent internal doubt that one’s achievements are undeserved and that colleagues will eventually expose one as a fraud.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
in-group ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A social circle or subculture whose members share identity markers, insider vocabulary, and mutual recognition.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
lore ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: The background story and accumulated details of a fictional world, community, or person. A “lore drop” reveals a new piece of that backstory.
Register: Storytelling · often playful · Full entry & examples →
loud quitting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Openly voicing dissatisfaction with company leadership or resigning publicly on social platforms rather than leaving quietly.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
love bombing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: love bombing: manipulative over‑affection tactic.
Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →
main character energy ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A confident, cinematic sense of being the protagonist of the moment; sometimes a criticism of acting as if everyone else is a supporting character.
Register: Admiring or critical · Full entry & examples →
masking ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Consciously suppressing natural reactions or exhaustion in order to appear calm, outgoing, and socially conventional.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
moral panic ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Widespread public anxiety that a new youth subculture, slang register, or media trend threatens social order.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
mouse jiggler ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A tiny hardware plug or script that moves a cursor slightly so a remote worker’s chat status stays green while away.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
orbiting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: orbiting: stopping direct contact while still watching or interacting online.
Register: informal · Full entry & examples →
people pleasing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Habitually prioritizing others’ comfort and agreement over one’s own boundaries to avoid conflict or disapproval.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
pocket watching ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Obsessively monitoring or speculating about how much money another person makes or how they afford their lifestyle.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
pookie ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: An affectionate name for a loved person, such as a partner, friend or relative; as an address, roughly sweetheart or darling.
Register: Affectionate, cutesy or playful · Full entry & examples →
quiet cutting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Reassigning employees to lower-status roles or Eliminating their projects so they resign voluntarily without severance.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
quiet firing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: quiet firing: act of neglect that pushes employees to quit.
Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →
quiet quitting ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Performing the exact duties specified in one’s job description during paid hours while declining unpaid overtime or hustle culture.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
rage applying ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Sending out dozens of job applications in a single burst of frustration after being passed over or micromanaged at work.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
rage bait ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Content designed to provoke anger so people will react, argue, share, or keep watching.
Register: Critical · media language · Full entry & examples →
ratio ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A social-media response showing stronger pushback than approval, or a reply that gets more support than the post it challenges.
Register: Combative · platform-dependent · Full entry & examples →
red flag ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A warning sign that something may be wrong or deserves closer attention, especially in a relationship or decision.
Register: Warning · sometimes exaggerated · Full entry & examples →
rejection sensitivity ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Intense emotional distress triggered by perceived criticism, delayed text replies, or subtle shifts in conversational tone.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
rent-free ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Occupying someone’s thoughts without effort or invitation, usually in “living rent-free in my head.” It can describe delight, annoyance, or fixation.
Register: Teasing · sometimes dismissive · Full entry & examples →
resenteeism ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Staying in an unsatisfying job out of financial necessity while feeling openly bitter and disengaged every day.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
revenge bedtime procrastination ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Staying up late scrolling or gaming to reclaim personal leisure hours after an exhausting, overscheduled workday.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
roster ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A rotation of several casual dating prospects someone texts or sees simultaneously before choosing to commit to one.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
scroll fatigue ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A feeling of being mentally worn out by prolonged scrolling through feeds or other online material.
Register: Emerging · informal · Full entry & examples →
side quest ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: An optional detour from the main objective in a game, or a spontaneous little adventure away from your original plan in everyday life.
Register: Playful · gaming metaphor · Full entry & examples →
situationship ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A romantic connection whose status, expectations, or commitment have not been clearly defined.
Register: Informal · dating language · Full entry & examples →
soft launch ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Hinting at a romantic relationship online without clearly identifying the partner or explicitly announcing the relationship.
Register: Social media · indirect reveal · Full entry & examples →
stonewalling ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Shutting down a conversation by refusing to reply, giving one-word answers, or withdrawing completely during a disagreement.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
talking stage ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: The early phase of romantic interest where two people text daily and hang out casually before defining exclusivity.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
task masking ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Typing loudly, carrying a laptop briskly, or keeping spreadsheets open to look intensely busy in an open-plan office.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
tasteslop ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A critical label for AI-generated style or lifestyle content that appears tasteful and curated but feels generic, derivative, or empty.
Register: Emerging · critical · Full entry & examples →
third place ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: A social space outside home and work—such as a pub, cafe, or Discord server—where informal community life happens.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
touch grass ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Step away from the internet and regain some real-world perspective. Often a dismissive response to an overly online argument.
Register: Teasing · often dismissive · Full entry & examples →
trauma dumping ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Sharing intense, unprocessed personal distress with an unprepared acquaintance or public chat without checking their capacity first.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
vibe coding ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Building software by repeatedly prompting an AI and reacting to the result, especially when the person pays little attention to the underlying code.
Register: Technical culture · debated scope · Full entry & examples →
virtue signaling ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Publicly expressing an approved opinion primarily to demonstrate moral alignment and earn social status within a peer group.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
voluntold ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Being assigned an extra task or committee under the polite illusion that you volunteered for it voluntarily.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
weaponized incompetence ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: Pretending to be bad at a household or workplace task so that someone else gets frustrated and takes over the responsibility.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →
zombieing ↗
Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻
Plain English: When someone who ghosted months ago suddenly resurfaces in your DMs or story replies acting as if nothing happened.
Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →