Dating lexicon · Youth and internet slang
“Cringe” means embarrassing, making you squirm on someone’s behalf – Germany’s Youth Word of the Year 2021.
“Cringe” comes from the English “to cringe”, to flinch. It means the feeling when something is so embarrassing you’d rather duck out of sight – whether for yourself or out of second-hand embarrassment for someone else.
In Germany the English word was chosen as Youth Word of the Year (Jugendwort des Jahres) 2021. It has long since become part of everyday vocabulary.
In chats it often turns up self-mockingly: “Just accidentally sent you a voice message with me snoring, so cringe”. Just as well, someone might find a photo, a saying or a chat-up line “cringe”.
On DaddyBoy
If the person you’re chatting with calls himself “cringe”, a relaxed “Happens to the best of us, I thought it was rather sweet” helps. If someone finds something of yours “cringe”, don’t take it too hard: the word gets used quickly and often in an affectionate, teasing way. If in doubt, ask what exactly they mean – that usually eases things straight away.
Related
- Aura“Aura” means presence and coolness, counted like a points account – “minus 50 aura” after an awkward moment. German youth word of 2024.
- goofy“Goofy” means clumsy, silly or a bit odd – Germany’s Youth Word of the Year 2023.
- sus“Sus” means suspicious or questionable, short for “suspicious” – it became well known through the game “Among Us”.