The term “brainrot” has become a part of modern day student slang, a shorthand for anything mind-numbingly silly, nonsensical, or easily quotable. It highlights the potential for witty insight on the absurdity of web culture. Sayings like “six seven” and “rizz” are frequently used in student humor and have become more common than ever. However, in school corridors it has become a tired crutch, a lazy descriptor that falls flat at describing genuine humor. While it initially may have been a clever nod to the surreal side of the virtual world, its excessive use in schools lessens its impact, transforming it from comedic to clumsy and cliche

“Brainrot” originally playfully acknowledged the phenomenon of viral content, the short, often low context videos that dominate platforms like TikTok. It was a shared inside joke within a generation of youth growing up in the digital era, a way of connecting upon the mutual experience of having watched something delightfully absurd. The term “brainrot” was a perfect, humorous term for something that was just plain strange and laughable, a quick and clever way to express a shared sense of confusion and amusement.

However, repeated use and obsession with the term and its subcategories have diluted its meaning. When a teacher asks for reflective judgment or commentary and a student’s only response is something almost nonsensical, it’s not a clever quip — it’s an intellectual dead end. This is where the term has lost its value. It’s a way for students to dismiss something they don’t understand or don’t want to engage with, rather than attempting to articulate a more interesting opinion. Instead of fostering thought, it stifles it: a useful method of avoiding critical thinking and intentional humor.

The solution isn’t to ban these terms, but to educate students about how to be more precise and intentional with their language. We can all appreciate a good joke, and “brainrot” certainly has the potential to be one, but its humor relies on its careful application. It is a term that’s best reserved for a laugh in the lunchroom, not as a replacement for a thoughtful conversation or a well reasoned argument. 

Let us reclaim the word’s original meaning: a clever, accurate descriptor for the internet’s most outlandish content. Let us not lower it to the status of intellectual laziness. The web is full of complex, rich ideas, and we do ourselves a disservice when we reduce them to one overused word.

In the end, it’s about saying something that counts. Intentional “brainrot” as a punchline can be comedic and fresh, but when it becomes the only line, the joke stops being funny. Let us challenge ourselves to be more clever and concise with language. Let us make sure that our vocabulary is as quick and responsive as the world we live in. We can and must do better than just simply “brainrot.”