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۔

Deliberately starting the week light to avoid burnout.

A scheduling tactic, not laziness. The claim is that a soft Monday produces a better Tuesday.

“She blocks Monday mornings for admin only.”

پیر کے دن کام ہلکا رکھنا تاکہ ہفتہ بہتر گزرے۔

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۔

A harmless but odd trait. Neither a warning nor a virtue.

Coined against red flag and green flag. It is a joke format more than a judgement.

“He alphabetises his spice rack. Beige flag.”

ایسی عادت جو نہ اچھی ہے نہ بری، بس عجیب ہے۔

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۔

Burnout caused by having too little to do, not too much.

Underused and worth knowing. It looks identical to burnout from the outside and needs the opposite fix.

“It was not overwork, it was boreout. He had nothing to build.”

کام کی کمی سے پیدا ہونے والی تھکن اور بےزاری۔

The dulling effect of hours of low quality content.

Also the content itself. Oxford named it word of the year for 2024.

“Two hours of shorts and my brain rot is measurable.”

بےمعنی مواد زیادہ دیکھنے سے ذہن کا کند ہو جانا۔

Keeping options warm while still employed.

Not job hunting exactly. Answering recruiters, keeping the CV current, staying visible.

“Everyone started career cushioning when the funding news broke.”

نوکری کرتے ہوئے متبادل راستے کھلے رکھنا۔

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۔

Noticed something someone was trying to hide.

"I clocked that immediately." Neutral to mildly confrontational.

“I clocked the padded timeline in the first meeting.”

بھانپ لینا، پکڑ لینا۔

Coming into the office briefly to be seen, then leaving.

A response to attendance mandates that measure presence rather than output.

“Three days a week became coffee badging by the second month.”

دفتر میں صرف حاضری دکھانے کے لیے تھوڑی دیر آنا۔

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۔

Spending to feel better about a future you find bleak.

The financial cousin of doomscrolling. Named in 2024 as savings rates fell among under-thirties.

“Doom spending is why the savings target never moves.”

مایوسی میں خرچ کرنا کیونکہ مستقبل تاریک لگتا ہے۔

Reading bad news for far longer than you meant to.

Named during 2020 and now general. The scrolling is compulsive rather than informative.

“An hour of doomscrolling before bed and then no sleep.”

بری خبریں مسلسل اور بےقابو ہو کر پڑھتے رہنا۔

A phase you are openly in.

"My saving era", "my quiet era". A light way to announce a change in behaviour.

“I am in my reading era, no late nights.”

زندگی کا ایک دور یا مرحلہ جس میں آپ اس وقت ہیں۔

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۔

Fear of missing out.

Old enough to be understood everywhere, still the clearest name for the feeling that drives most bad decisions in markets and calendars.

“Buying at the top is usually FOMO wearing a strategy costume.”

یہ خوف کہ کہیں کچھ چھوٹ نہ جائے۔

Making someone doubt their own memory or judgement.

From the 1944 film Gaslight. Widely overused for ordinary disagreement, which is worth knowing before using it: it names a serious pattern, not someone being wrong.

“Insisting the deadline was never Friday when it is in the email is gaslighting.”

کسی کو اس کی اپنی یادداشت پر شک دلانا۔

Withholding information to stay the only one who has it.

Also used about who is allowed to call themselves a fan or a professional.

“Not sharing the supplier list is gatekeeping.”

معلومات چھپا کر رکھنا تاکہ صرف آپ کے پاس رہے۔

Disappearing from a conversation without explanation.

Now as common in hiring and business as in dating. Being ghosted by a company after four interviews is the version most people meet first.

“Two rounds of interviews and then they ghosted me.”

بغیر بتائے رابطہ ختم کر دینا۔

Joking self-aware rationalisation of a purchase or decision.

A humorous admission that the reasoning is bad. Common in personal finance content.

“If I return one thing and buy another, the second one is free. Girl math.”

خرید کا مذاقاً بنایا گیا جواز جو خود بھی جانتا ہے کہ غلط ہے۔

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۔

A sign that someone is a good person to deal with.

The opposite of a red flag. Increasingly used about colleagues and clients, not just partners.

“She sent the agenda before the meeting. Green flag.”

اچھی علامت، بھروسے کے قابل ہونے کی نشانی۔

Announcing it outright.

The counterpart to a soft launch. Names, faces, no ambiguity.

“He hard launched the startup with a press release.”

کھل کر اعلان کر دینا۔

A sudden small thing that kills attraction or respect.

Specific and trivial by definition. The word exists because the trigger is never a big thing.

“He talked over the waiter and it gave me the ick.”

کوئی چھوٹی سی بات جس سے اچانک دلچسپی ختم ہو جائے۔

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۔

Saying openly that you are not spending, instead of making an excuse.

A reaction against quiet overspending under social pressure. Naming the budget out loud makes it easier to hold.

“I am not skipping dinner because I am busy, I am loud budgeting.”

کھل کر کہنا کہ آپ خرچ نہیں کر رہے، بہانہ بنانے کے بجائے۔

Leaving while saying publicly why.

The opposite of quiet quitting. A resignation post that names the reasons.

“His loud quitting post got more reach than the company page.”

نوکری چھوڑتے وقت کھل کر وجوہات بتانا۔

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۔

A deliberate break of months between jobs.

Framed as planned rather than as a gap to be explained away in interviews.

“She took a micro-retirement after the acquisition closed.”

دو نوکریوں کے درمیان جان بوجھ کر لیا گیا لمبا وقفہ۔

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۔

A view of your finances that does not match the facts.

Works both ways: people who are fine and feel broke, and people who are struggling and feel comfortable.

“Six months of runway and still panicking is money dysmorphia.”

اپنی مالی حالت کے بارے میں غلط تصور رکھنا۔

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۔

Someone behaving as though following a script.

From non-player character in games. Insulting when aimed at a person, which is most of the time.

“The support replies were pure NPC.”

ایسا شخص جو بندھے ٹکے انداز میں ردعمل دے۔

A one-sided sense of knowing someone you have only watched.

Applies to creators, founders and public figures. Worth naming because it shapes how people treat brands.

“The apology video worked because the audience is parasocial.”

ایسا رشتہ جو ایک طرفہ ہو، جہاں آپ کسی کو جانتے ہیں مگر وہ آپ کو نہیں۔

Making someone leave by starving them of work and progression.

The employer side of quiet quitting. No difficult conversation, no severance, no paper trail.

“No projects for four months is quiet firing, not a quiet quarter.”

کسی کو کام اور ترقی سے محروم کر کے خود چھوڑنے پر مجبور کرنا۔

Doing your job to its description and nothing beyond it.

Not resignation. A withdrawal of unpaid discretionary effort, usually after that effort went unrecognised.

“Half the team is quiet quitting since the bonus was cancelled.”

ملازمت صرف اتنی کرنا جتنی طے ہے، اس سے زیادہ نہیں۔

Applying for other jobs immediately after a bad day.

Usually a symptom rather than a plan. Managers who hear it should treat it as feedback.

“After that review he spent the evening rage applying.”

برے دن کے بعد غصے میں دوسری نوکریوں کے لیے درخواستیں دینا۔

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۔

Screenshots or messages that prove what was said.

"Show receipts" is a demand for evidence. Directly useful in work disputes.

“I have receipts, the scope changed twice after signing.”

ثبوت، خاص طور پر پرانے پیغامات یا اسکرین شاٹ۔

A joke format: any small sign taken as proof the economy is failing.

Used ironically about trivial things. Occasionally used seriously, and the ambiguity is deliberate.

“Free biscuits gone from the pantry. Recession indicator.”

کوئی چھوٹی سی بات جسے مذاقاً معاشی بحران کی علامت کہا جائے۔

A warning sign about a person or a deal.

Old phrase, new frequency. Now applied to vendors and job interviews as much as relationships.

“They will not put the scope in writing. Red flag.”

خطرے کی علامت۔

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۔

An unplanned detour away from the thing you meant to do.

Affectionate. Applied to whole afternoons and occasionally to whole careers.

“Went for milk, came back three hours later. Side quest.”

اصل کام چھوڑ کر کسی اور دلچسپ کام میں لگ جانا۔

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۔

A relationship that both people are deliberately not defining.

More than friendship, without the label or the commitments.

“They have been in a situationship since March.”

ایسا تعلق جسے دونوں فریق جان بوجھ کر نام نہیں دیتے۔

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۔

Hinting at something before announcing it.

From product releases, now used about relationships and jobs too. A photo with one unidentified hand in it is a soft launch.

“She soft launched the new job with a desk photo.”

کسی بات کا اشارہ دینا، اعلان سے پہلے۔

Saving less on purpose in order to spend on the present.

A rejection of extreme frugality rather than an absence of a plan. Contested, and worth arguing about honestly.

“Soft saving works until the rent rises.”

مستقبل کے بجائے حال پر خرچ کرنے کے لیے کم بچت کرنا۔

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۔

To check in briefly.

Old corporate English, included because it is the phrase Gen Z most reliably mocks. Use it knowing that.

“Let us touch base Thursday.”

مختصر رابطہ کرنا۔

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۔

Deliberately buying less and using things until they wear out.

A reaction against haul culture. Presented as an aesthetic, which is the joke and the point.

“Underconsumption core is just how our parents lived.”

کم خریدنا اور چیزوں کو آخر تک استعمال کرنا۔

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۔

Not to be taken seriously, usually as a criticism.

Sharper than it looks. Calling a proposal unserious says it does not deserve engagement.

“A three day estimate for that build is unserious.”

ایسا جسے سنجیدگی سے نہ لیا جائے۔

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۔