Nairobi News

Nairobi News team has complied some of the buzzwords that best define our lives in the past 12 months.

Bae

No one really knows the origin of the word bae but it is a shortened version of the word baby or babe (because “babe” was too long?).

It is a term of endearment that is usually accompanied by hilarious memes depicting certain situations in relationships.

For example, I love you Bae, #Baebelike and Thanks Bae, when you wake up and you don’t have texts from Bae, among others.

BAE could also mean “before anyone else” but it is mostly used to refer to a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Zero Chills

Zero chills essentially means having no mercy or the patience for nonsense. In extreme scenarios, it could also mean someone is going crazy or acting very uncool.

Keep calm

The phrase resonated the world over and versions of it printed on t shirts, mugs, posters and phone covers.

The original phrase was “keep calm and carry on” but variations of it have emerged like Keep Calm and Marry on, Keep Calm and Love Chickens and so on. So, keep calm and read on.

MCM/WCW

These acronyms mean Man Crush Monday and Woman Crush Wednesday. On these days (not specifically), social media users post photos of their crushes gushing over how handsome or beautiful they are.

TBT

It means Throwback Thursday, a “holiday” created on Twitter and Instagram for posting memories or pictures taken a long time ago –mainly by people find it hard to move on.

Stick to your lane

This was main used while targeting people who comment or have opinions on matters outside of their expertise. It’s also used on people who are not socially aware of their position in society.

Just Sayin’

It is sometimes used at the end or beginning of a sentence to make it seem like it is not rude or offensive where the whole point is to put a message across and not seem like judgment is being passed.

“My hair is way better than yours that is why Mino fell for me, just sayin’” or “some people just need to STFU. Just sayin’”.

Ratchet

The word ratchet was this year mostly associated with Kenyan socialites who dominated the blogs and gossip rags. In this context, it meant cheap, ghetto, nasty behavior or trifling.

No filter
A lot of Instagram users used the hashtag #NoFilter as a way of telling their followers they did not use any built in filters to enhance their photos. But obviously a few people cheated and used them.

Loyal
Borrowed from Chris Brown’s hit song Loyal, the phrase “these girls ain’t loyal” was used to refer to women who cheat on their boyfriends or leave them because they are broke.

I can’t…
The phrase basically meant that you are speechless. Nobody is this speechless, but apparently there were a few who could not finish a sentence without the phrase.

Dabotap
The word is a corrupted version of the words double tap by artistes Mejja, Madtraxx and KidKora on the intrigues of internet dating, on Instagram, which is simply a way of liking someone else’s photo. Depending on how corrupted one’s mind is, it could also mean having a threesome.