In today’s world, Generation Z – those born between the years 1997 and 2010 – have been relentlessly barraged with labels: if it’s not Gen X-ers calling us immature and anxiety-prone, then it’s Baby Boomer politicians accusing us of taking over the world with TikTok. But one nickname in particular has managed to supersede them all: woke. Although the term ‘woke’ has come to be associated with overzealous political correctness and cultural elitism in recent years, it ultimately still connotes notions of social consciousness and awareness of injustice. Gen Z has constructed a distinct reputation for ourselves, one of aggressive inclusivity and acceptance. It’s also always been the conventional wisdom that each generation grows more progressive and socially enlightened than the previous one, pushing for greater justice in society than their parents did. But…is that really true? Or does bigotry – a phenomenon rooted in disgust and divisiveness – simply rebrand itself as time goes on?

Although there’s certainly a small portion of Gen Z that’s wrapped up in the hyper-conservative online realm of trad wives and misogynistic podcasters, bigotry has manifested itself in Gen Z in more insidious ways—and on a much larger scale. An alarming number of slang terms we use on a daily basis have discreetly prejudiced or outright discriminatory meanings. Browse through one Instagram or TikTok comments section, and you’ll find them all.

The term ‘zesty’ is used to describe a man who is homosexual or who displays ‘feminine characteristics,’ often employed in a ridiculing and insulting manner. ‘Bop’ is a denigrating term used to describe a woman who has dated or had sex with many men. The term ‘acoustic’ is supposedly a ‘clean’ rendition of the word ‘autistic’—it’s used to belittle and mock someone who is unintelligent, behaves abnormally or is disabled. ‘Pick me girl’ is a phrase that was originally meant to describe a woman who revolves her identity around male validation, but is now used whenever someone finds themselves remotely irritated with a woman—if she’s short and mentions it often, she’s a ‘pick me’; if she’s tall and mentions it often, she’s a ‘pick me’; if she spends a lot of time with her boyfriend, she’s a ‘pick me’; if she has male friends, she’s a ‘pick me’; if she talks about her abilities and accomplishments, she’s a ‘pick me’.

It’s easy for us Gen-Zers to disregard and overlook the true connotations of these terms, simply because of how normalized and widely used they’ve become. It’s also difficult for older generations to hold us accountable for employing them; these terms are really only circulated in spaces dominated by our age group – like TikTok and Instagram Reels – and the words themselves are quite arbitrary, strange and difficult to decipher for those who aren’t already familiar with them.

Nonetheless, when we truly examine and unpack these words, it doesn’t take a genius to see the parallels between Gen Z slang and derogatory terms that were once casually used by older generations to ridicule certain groups, but are now deemed completely dehumanizing and unacceptable. ‘Bop’ is simply a synonym for ‘slut,’ ‘acoustic’ a synonym for ‘retard,’ ‘zesty’ a synonym for the f-slur. Gen Z isn’t any less prejudiced than Millenials and Gen-Xers were when they were teenagers; the language employed by those older generations was policed, but the discriminatory ideas that inspired them weren’t dismantled at all.

Any word that is laced with bigotry is an awful one, no matter how normal and harmless it may seem. Not only do these terms ridicule, offend and dehumanize the people targeted by them (like women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and disabled people), but your usage of them can have dire effects on your own life. Twenty years from now, words like ‘bop’ and ‘acoustic’ could be flagged and abandoned for their discriminatory meanings, just like the words ‘slut’ and ‘retard’ were. If you commented or posted a video of yourself employing one of these terms, your ability to be admitted to schools, programs and jobs may very well be nonexistent.

Now, we’re not necessarily suggesting that Gen Z eradicate every element of fun and controversy from our colorful diaspora of slang…but there’s a difference between amusement and blatant discrimination. If you ever find yourself using a popularized slang term to denigrate, insult or embarrass someone because of something they can’t control (like their gender, sexuality, race or disability status), check yourself. There are countless qualities and characteristics of older generations that us Gen Z-ers ought to emulate more…but bigotry certainly isn’t one of them.