Chat, are we cooked? A guide to internet slang in 2026.

If you've recently found yourself wondering why someone is talking to "chat," calculating their "aura," calling a friend "twin," or lamenting their "Chungus life" on a daily basis, you're not alone.

Terms that once lived in niche corners of Twitch, TikTok, and group chats now spread across the internet in a matter of days. Some, like "W" and "chat," emerged from livestreaming culture. Others, like "brainrot" and "Tung Tung Tung Sahur," were born of the internet's increasingly surreal sense of humor and its growing reliance on AI. A few, like "Chungus," have survived so long they've now been reinvented by the internet...