If being cheugy is wrong, she doesn’t want to be right!
I thought I was being cute when I recently posted a video on Instagram Stories drinking out of my giant water bottle that has encouraging sayings on the side like, “Keep going!” and “You’re almost there!” (I got it because someone had told me that it’s important to develop an affinity with your water bottle so you’ll gulp down more H2O during the day.) And then just one word greeted me in my Instagram DMs. It was from my daughter Carrie. That word?
“CHEUGY.”
Sadly, this was not the first time she’d described something I was doing with that new-fangled term that oozed with disdain. So, what exactly does cheugy mean? Well, it’s an American neologism (I had to look that up too: “A relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted into mainstream language”) coined in 2013 and popularized by Generation Z as a pejorative to describe lifestyle trends associated with the early 2010s and millennials. It also describes people who are the opposite of trendy or are trying too hard. Ouch.
The word has been around for a while, but for some reason only recently entered my world. Maybe it’s because the older I get, the cheugier I seem. And when Carrie sent me the listicle on BuzzFeed of all things cheugy, I realized I seem to have taken up permanent residence in Cheugyville.
We’ve known for a while about side parts and skinny jeans being deemed out of style by the young arbiters of our cultural moment. But did you know that blonde hair is out, too? Yes, friends…blonde hair — especially if it isn’t natural — is cheugy. According to the Buzzfeed list, so are leggings, graphic tees (does this mean I have to put away my “I’m not for everyone” T-shirt?), and jean jackets! Jean jackets? Noooooo! I love my jean jacket! And what am I going to wear to the grocery store if leggings are now cheugy? Enjoy watching The Office, Friends, or How I Met Your Mother? So sorry, those made the list, too. But the biggest affront on the BuzzFeed list of cheugy things is…lasagna! How can this hearty Italian mainstay be hopelessly out of fashion or “trying too hard?” I’m sorry, Gen Zers, I have to draw the line at lasagna. And I’m going to tell your parents not to let you have any when you come home…or walk downstairs.
I actually don’t mind these youngsters calling me or anyone out for our dated looks or habits. After all, they’ve been through hell, robbed of their youth because of Covid and saddled with anxiety and depression because of the screwed-up world they’re inheriting. And didn’t we accuse our elders of being cheugy in our own way? Wasn’t tuna fish casserole cheugy? Weren’t stockings with girdles cheugy? What about bobby socks and saddle shoes? Pretty cheugy, right?
Cheugy is just a new word for a younger generation claiming their place in culture. Out with the old, in with the new. (Remember when the kids of the 60s said, “Never trust anyone over 30?” I’m sure those over 30-year-olds would have been referred to as cheugy, if the word was around back then.)
So for now, I will bask in my cheuginess. I will wear my leggings, continue to dye my hair blonde until I have the guts to go gray, and throw my jean jacket over a graphic T-shirt and those aforementioned leggings. After all, one person’s cheugy is another’s timelessness. And please pass the lasagna.
