10 Awesome Words Twitter Popularized

If Twitter were a country, it would be the sixth most populated nation right behind Brazil. It makes sense then that the social network, which recently filed its $1 billion IPO, is home to its own unique lexicon. Some words have been flipped to mean something completely different, while others have simply gained prominence. Just as hip-hop has changed the way a lot of us communicate on the daily, so has Twitter. With that in mind, we picked a few of our favorite words to sprout up since Jack Dorsey’s first tweet back in 2006.

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Can Be Used As: Adjective, Noun

Struggle is nothing new. People on Earth have been struggling since life first sprouted all those millions of years ago. On Twitter, however, struggle takes on a whole different form. Whereas struggle used to imply the hardships one would go through to accomplish something like, say, getting by, voting, or putting food on the table, struggle on Twitter came to identify those who, despite their best efforts, were unable to accomplish something that they should have otherwise ably completed. Sometimes it involves someone trying too hard. Take, for example, the time Omarion came out to at the 2012 BET Awards and did some sort of Michael Jackson meets Michael J. Fox dance number that left everyone at home more confused that the time he changed his name to Maybach O. All the former B2K member had to do was come out, sing his piece, and dip out, but no. He went for the gusto and struggled getting there. Sometimes the struggle comes in spite of the person's best efforts.

Used In A Sentence: "Travis Scott should have warned us for all the struggle exhibited in his BET Cypher freestyle."

Can Be Used As: Noun, Verb

We owe a lot to gay culture-slang, Beyonce's dances, and a host of other appropriations. But one of the biggest gifts of the social media era has undoubtedly been the word Shade. If you frequent Twitter—any of them: black, white, weird, Dominican—you've likely seen someone throw shade or speak of throwing shade. Simply put, to shade someone is to casually diss them. But there's an art to it. According to Shade expert Dorian Corey, shade is meant to be a subtle put down. Or, in his words: "Shade is, 'I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly.' And that's shade."

Used In A Sentence: "You can't tell me Nicki Minaj wasn't throwing shade at Kim Kardashian with those photos she posted on Instagram."

Can Be Used As: Noun, Verb

Fading someone ain't new. Originating in L.A., the term referred to killing someone. Of course, nobody's catching bodies on Twitter, but the term still holds some of the same meaning. To fade someone is to handle a situation physically or verbally, most times physically.

Used In A Sentence: "Shit, if a bunch of motorcyclists rolled up on me while I was driving with my wife and kids, I'd deliver the fade, too."

Can Be Used As: Pronoun

Somewhere along our route to 2013, the words "dude" and "bro" came to be seen as offensive. Not sure when that happened, but in its stead, the word "bruh" took over. Used as a greeting or an acknowledgement, the term bruh, which reportedly originated in California's Bay Area, like bro, is short for brother, and can be used when referring to any male friend or acquaintance.

Used In A Sentence: "Bruh, is Kanye really serious with this new telemarketer voice?"

Can Be Used As: Conjunction

Seeing as how Twitter still only allows for 140 characters per message, some words needed to be shortened. One of them was the word "though," which was recreated as "tho." You've seen it. We know you've seen it because it's one of the most overused words on Twitter. It's usually used superfluously to add credence to a statement.

Used In A Sentence: "Y'all hating on 'Wu Tang Forever' and can't even recite a whole verse from '36 Chambers' tho..."

Can Be Used As: Exclamation

Want to agree with something on Twitter? All you need to do is type four letters: This. This likely means, "This statement is truer than Ray Kelly's hate for black people." Or something similar.

Used In A Sentence: "This --> RT @Drake: Bench players talking like starters, I hate it"

Can Be Used As: Exclamation

You ever see something so ridiculous on Twitter that you have really have nothing to say? Like, when someone tweets that Key and Peele is a great replacement for Chappelle's Show? For times like those all you really need to write is two letters: Oh. As in, Oh, really? Or, Oh, just shut the fuck up.

Used In A Sentence: Oh. "@Complex_Tech: A @Tinder co-founder went on Facebook to call Asians "silly," while his friends continued to make jokes. http://cmplx.it/17RruIx"

Can Be Used As: Verb, Noun

Trolls have been around long before Twitter posted its first tweet. Traditionally, anyone can be a troll, online or off, all they have to do is do, say, or post something proactive with the intent of causing a riff or an argument. You know you've been trolled if you read a message, get pissed, then fire off a couple defensive tweets before you've had time to realize the person you're responding to has a whole timeline saying Riff Raff is this generations Eminem.

Used In A Sentence: "Russell Simmons really thinks this Harriet Tubman video is funny? He must be trolling all of us."

Can Be Used As: Noun, Verb

Ah, the flourish. There's nothing better than seeing one of your homies flourish. The definition isn't subversive, you can check Websters for this one: "Grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way." Your friend get a promotion at work? She's flourishing. Your boy got a new whip? He's flourishing. Basically, any positive momentum can be seen as a flourish.

Used In A Sentence: "My little brother out here flourishing, getting accepted into Columbia Law."

Can Be Used As: Rhetorical Question

Twitter runs on snark. And one of the snarkiest phrases to come about on the network over the past year or so has to be Or nah? It's typically used to signify that the answer to whatever question is being posed is undoubtedly "No," and that you, the person being asked, can't handle the truth. There ain't no future in your frontin'.

Used In A Sentence: "So, the Tea Party still cares about the well being of our country, or nah?"