Welcome to the internet’s inside joke: Try to keep up

BY KAHA GEDI

The internet doesn’t wait for anyone. One minute, someone invents “Italian brain rot,” and suddenly everyone can recite it word for word like it’s been around for years. A day later, people are threatening to eat their Uber drivers on TikTok and adding to the everlasting list of slang. By the time you have a half understanding of something, there’s: new vocabulary, new trends, and new brain rot leaving you in the dark once again.

I live in this culture, and sometimes I don’t understand where these things came from. On the outside, it looks like nonsense, but some can be a means of humour, and connection. In this article, I will discuss some of the new brain rot/terms/trends that have come up on social media.

“By the time you understand one trend, a dozen more have already passed you by.”

“I’m So Hungry I Could Eat…” A simple joke that escalated

This trend is exactly what it sounds like. People on TikTok started filming themselves saying things like, “I’m so hungry I could eat a baby,” just to see how the person they are with reacts. The joke is shocking, and it’s not serious, but it’s strange enough to get a funny, or confused response.

It started with things like “a baby” or “my dog,” and pretty quickly, people began pushing it further. Some said they could eat their Uber driver. Others mentioned random people from their past, and even their math teacher, while in class with them. The more oddly specific, the better. It’s not crazy.  It’s just a reaction video: say something weird, see what happens. Like a lot of these trends, it spread fast and got more chaotic the longer it lasted.

Rejection Cakes: Making the best of a college “No!”

While some people post emotional videos of getting into top colleges, others have taken a different path when they don’t get accepted: baking a rejection cake.

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You get the bad news, and instead of getting upset, (or maybe while still being a little upset), you bake a cake about it. Some people decorate theirs with messages like “Didn’t want to go anyway,” or just write the school’s name on top and cut into it. It’s supposed to be a funny way of dealing with something disappointing. You didn’t get in, but at least you got dessert.

“Italian Brain Rot”: The use of AI getting worse

This is a recent trend. It’s catchy, gets stuck in people’s heads, and causes them to repeat it. It’s an AI-generated video introducing each of these characters, with small dialogue after each one. The crazy part is, some of these words aren’t even Italian, and the dialogue afterward has been exposed to be offensive to some religions and sexually suggestive. Here is a full rundown of the characters:

1. Ballerina Capuchina
2. Burrito Bandito
3. Lirili Larila
4. Frigo Camello Bufo Fardello
5. Assassin Cappuccino
6. Tropi Tropi
7. Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Tung Sahur
8. Brr Brr Pataping
9. Tralala Tralala
10. Shimpanzi Bananini
11. Lirili Larilà
12. Bombardiero coccodrillo

Yes, it looks and is ridiculous as you think.

Specifically, for “Tralala Tralala,” the AI-generated voice says in Italian “Porco Dio e porco Allah.” Translating to “Pig God and Pig Allah,” or “Damn God and damn Allah.” As you can see, this is highly offensive not only to Muslims, as it directly mentions their God, but to people who believe in God in general. This isn’t just some silly brain rot, but it’s blasphemy, and it makes me wonder when it was okay for people using AI to discreetly disrespect religions disguised as brain rot.

To sum up, the internet moves so fast that it’s almost impossible to keep up. Trends show up out of nowhere, go viral overnight, and disappear before you even figure out what they meant. Some are funny, some are strange, and some definitely cross the line, but they all spread like wildfire.

What this really shows is how young people are constantly reshaping culture, even if it only lasts a day. Whether it’s a made-up slang word, a weird meme, or a TikTok trend, it’s all part of how people: connect, joke around, or just make sense of the moment. Not every trend matters, or deserves fame, but the ones that catch on say something about what people are feeling, or at least what’s grabbing their attention in this day and age.