The words, and the work.

Performed excellently, left nothing behind.

Frequently extended to "ate and left no crumbs". Praise, unrelated to food.

“She ate that presentation.”

بہترین کارکردگی دکھانا۔

Presence, and the points you gain or lose for how you carry yourself.

Scored as a joke: "minus a thousand aura" after an embarrassing moment.

“Tripping on the way to the stage cost him serious aura.”

شخصیت کا اثر یا رعب۔

Admirably willing to say an unpopular thing.

Praise for conviction rather than for being correct. Carries political freight in some corners of the internet, so read the room.

“Refusing to ship on Friday. Based.”

اپنی بات پر ڈٹ جانا، چاہے مقبول نہ ہو۔

Agreed, or fine, or is that so.

A one-word yes. Said flatly it can also mean "we will see about that", so tone matters.

“"Can you send it by six?" "Bet."”

ٹھیک ہے، منظور۔

Trying slightly too hard with something that was fashionable a few years ago.

Not an insult about age, an observation about being one cycle behind. Often self-applied.

“The office motivational posters are deeply cheugy.”

ایسی چیز جو دو سال پہلے تک اچھی لگتی تھی، اب نہیں۔

In serious trouble, or finished.

"We are cooked" means the situation is beyond saving. "He cooked" without the pronoun means the opposite, that someone performed brilliantly. Context carries the whole meaning.

“Deploy on Friday afternoon and we are cooked.”

مشکل میں پھنس جانا یا کام تمام ہو جانا۔

Embarrassing to watch.

Now a noun as well: "the cringe was unbearable". Aimed at trying too hard more than at failing.

“The corporate rap video was pure cringe.”

شرمندگی محسوس کرانے والا۔

Deliberately unrealistic optimism, usually said about yourself and half joking.

Clipped from delusional, but affectionate rather than clinical. Often paired with "delulu is the solulu", meaning the unrealistic belief is what gets you to try.

“I applied for a job three levels above me. Delulu, but I got the interview.”

جان بوجھ کر حد سے زیادہ پرامید ہونا، اکثر مذاق میں اپنے بارے میں۔

To show off, or the thing being shown off.

"Weird flex but ok" is the standard reply to a boast about something nobody envies.

“Mentioning his watch in a standup was a strange flex.”

فخر جتانا یا دکھاوا کرنا۔

Excessive praise, to the point that it stops being credible.

Accusing someone of glazing is accusing them of flattery, usually toward someone powerful.

“Every reply was glazing the founder, nobody asked about the numbers.”

ضرورت سے زیادہ تعریف کرنا جو مصنوعی لگے۔

The best. From GOAT, greatest of all time.

Strong praise, used casually enough that it has lost most of its weight.

“That engineer is goated at debugging.”

سب سے بہترین۔

It resembles, or it gives off the impression of.

Followed by a noun. "It is giving startup" means it looks and feels like a startup.

“The new logo is giving 2014.”

ایسا لگ رہا ہے جیسے۔

Something you cannot stop thinking about.

Usually about an embarrassment or a joke rather than a worry.

“That client email is living rent free in my head.”

ایسی بات جو ذہن سے نکلتی ہی نہیں۔

Lowkey means slightly or secretly. Highkey means openly and very.

Hedges attached to opinions. Lowkey softens an admission, highkey amplifies it.

“Lowkey nervous about the demo. Highkey excited about the launch.”

لو کی یعنی تھوڑا سا یا چپکے سے، ہائی کی یعنی کھل کر اور بہت زیادہ۔

Acting as though the story is about you.

Can be a compliment about presence or a criticism of self-absorption. Tone decides.

“He walked into the pitch with main character energy and it worked.”

ایسا رویہ جیسے ساری کہانی آپ کے گرد گھومتی ہو۔

Mediocre. Not bad enough to complain about, not good enough to recommend.

A verdict, not a description. Calling something mid is dismissive in a way "average" is not.

“The food was mid, the service saved it.”

معمولی، نہ اچھا نہ برا۔

No exaggeration, I am being truthful.

Cap means a lie. "No cap" asserts honesty. "Capping" accuses someone of lying.

“We shipped it in four days, no cap.”

بالکل سچ، کوئی مبالغہ نہیں۔

Content written to make you angry enough to share it.

Worth naming because recognising it is the defence. Applies to headlines and to colleagues.

“That headline is rage bait, do not reply to it.”

ایسی بات جو جان بوجھ کر غصہ دلانے کے لیے کہی جائے۔

When a reply gets more approval than the post it answers.

A public verdict that you were wrong. Used as a verb: to be ratioed.

“He posted the price increase and got ratioed by his own customers.”

جب جواب اصل بات سے زیادہ پسند کیا جائے۔

Built different means unusually capable or unusually strange.

Sincere or sarcastic depending entirely on tone. Safer as a compliment about work than about a person.

“He debugs without coffee. Built different.”

عام لوگوں سے مختلف، غیر معمولی۔

Charm, specifically the ability to talk to someone you are attracted to.

Short for charisma. Used as a noun and a verb. Saying someone has rizz is a compliment about social confidence, not looks.

“He talked his way into the meeting, the man has rizz.”

دلکشی یا بات کرنے کا ہنر، خاص طور پر کسی کو متاثر کرنے میں۔

Bitter about losing or being corrected.

Mild. Calling a colleague salty in a meeting will still land badly.

“He has been salty since the account moved teams.”

ہارنے یا ٹوکے جانے پر ناراض ہونا۔

Making me laugh a lot.

Short for "sending me over the edge". Nothing to do with sending anything.

“The typo in the headline is sending me.”

بہت ہنسا رہا ہے۔

Someone doing far too much for a person who is not interested.

Usually mocking. Can be affectionate between friends but rarely reads that way from a stranger.

“He rewrote the whole deck because she raised an eyebrow. Simp.”

کسی کے لیے حد سے زیادہ کرنا جو دلچسپی نہ رکھتا ہو۔

Is very good. Almost always about music or food.

Present tense only. "That song slaps."

“The new album slaps.”

بہت زبردست ہے۔

Did something impressively well.

Sincere praise most of the time, mildly ironic when overused. Has softened into a general "well done".

“Two clients signed in one week. Slay.”

بہت خوب، شاندار کام کیا۔

Suspicious, does not add up.

From the game Among Us but now general. Milder than accusing someone outright.

“Three invoices from the same new vendor is sus.”

مشکوک، کچھ ٹھیک نہیں لگ رہا۔

Go outside. Said to someone who has been arguing online too long.

A dismissal aimed at people whose sense of proportion has been lost to a screen.

“Forty replies about a font. Touch grass.”

باہر نکلو، اصل دنیا دیکھو۔

Did exactly what the situation called for.

Genuine praise. Frequently used about someone who read the room correctly rather than someone who worked hardest.

“She dressed for the client, not for us. Understood the assignment.”

بالکل وہی کیا جو موقع کا تقاضا تھا۔

A quick read of the mood.

Also a request for one. "Vibe check?" in a group chat means tell me how everyone is doing.

“Vibe check before we walk into that review.”

ماحول یا موڈ کا اندازہ لگانا۔

Talking a great deal, usually without saying much.

"Yap session" is a long unfocused conversation. Self-applied it is affectionate.

“Forty minutes of yapping and no decision.”

بہت زیادہ اور بےمقصد بولنا۔