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
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.
