Even if you're not in its target audience, you have to admit that TikTok has brought a lot into our lives over the past couple of years: new music we might not have discovered otherwise, yummy recipes, cleaning tips and tricks, and so much laughter. But there's another way that the app is contributing to pop culture that some people aren't so happy about, and it's adding the word "cheugy" to the lexicon.
It wasn't until my friend sent me this TikTok video explaining what "cheugy" meant that I had ever heard of it … and at the same time, I was mildly horrified to discover that it was describing me.
I, a 32-year-old mother and unabashed TikTok user, am a cheug — and it's something I'm coming more and more to terms with every day.
Basically, if you're a millennial woman, you're probably a cheug
Sorry if this is coming as bad news to you, but it's just news we all have to accept regardless. According to the TikTok masses, a cheug is anyone who:
- Uses the word "girlboss"
- Loves all things Disney, even as an adult
- Still wears Ugg boots
- Wears shirts with wine- or beer-related slogans, like "Yes way rosé"
- Decorates their house with wooden signs that they probably bought at Home Goods
- Loves watching Friends
- Drinks Pumpkin Spice Lattes
The list goes on and on, and the more I learned about cheuginess, the more I realized that this term absolutely does apply to me. I love the first day of PSL season at Starbucks, Friends will forever be my favorite show, and I have an annual pass to Disney World — and I definitely fit in the millennial age group, which is crucial when it comes to identifying as a true cheug.
The idea of being a "cheug" isn't all that new, though
If you ever fit into the mold of being "basic," then chances are high that you're also cheugy. There's a lot of overlap here; anyone who can quote the movie Mean Girls and flat-irons their hair is likely both basic and a cheug. This is just a new word from Gen Z that we have to adapt to instead … because if you have TikTok-loving kids in your life, you've probably already had the term weaponized against you.
But the thing is, there's nothing wrong with being basic or a cheug.
Most things that cheugy people like are mainstream
Pumpkin-flavored drinks, shows like Friends and The Office, and farmhouse decor are all so mainstream because they're popular — and something can't be popular by definition if a lot of people don't like it.
It stands to reason that anything mainstream is objectively good, or it wouldn't be mainstream … and that means that being a cheug isn't about liking what's lame, it's about liking what's good without paying any regard to the idea of being edgy or different just for the sake of standing out in the crowd.
If you're cheugy and willing to admit it, then you're probably also a lot cooler (and more self-aware) than you give yourself credit for — and no, in my opinion, we're not trying too hard!
It's all just a part of the circle of life
Trends are cyclical, and we're seeing a repeat of the '90s right now, with the popularity of bucket hats, flare jeans, and middle parts — all things that a lot of us (me included) aren't interested in revisiting, but looking around TikTok, it's clear that they're all in style again.
Just like we call the generation before us "boomers," the kids have found a name for us, too. We're cheugy, because we're not kids anymore, and that's OK. Being young and thinking you know it all is a really fun stage of life, but so are the more self-assured years of your 30s, too.
Basically? Don't be lame about this
I've realized that I roll my eyes every time I hear someone older than me complain about being called a Karen or a boomer, so if I roll my eyes at the word cheugy, I'm just as bad as they are. I can take a joke, and I can embrace the title that I have been given without complaint.
I am who I am: A major cheug, and they can pry my PSL out of my cold, dead fingers.
