The Street Language Dictionary

In Aussie drinking culture, a shout isn’t yelling—it’s buying a round. It’s basically an unspoken contract of friendship: you get this one, someone else gets the next. A person who dodges their shout is instantly sus and might get branded a bludger. It keeps the drinks flowing, the vibes high, and the group united. If someone says “your shout,” they’re either reminding you politely or calling you out loudly.

It’s your shout, mate—don’t be a bludger.

On social platforms, getting ratioed means your post bombed so hard the replies outnumber the likes. It’s the internet’s way of holding up a big neon sign that says “this take ain’t it.” Politicians, fake experts, and brand accounts catch brutal ratios when everyone piles in to drag a bad opinion. If someone comments “ratio,” they’re basically calling for a public downvote party.

“Mayor Briden posted that ‘everything’s fine’ selfie and got ratioed into another dimension.”

The late-night sport of endlessly flicking through bad news until your soul feels like a drained phone battery. Politics, scandals, disasters—if it’s depressing, it’s in the feed. You know it’s wrecking your mood, but your thumb keeps going like it’s on a side quest for anxiety. You don’t learn more, you just feel worse and suddenly it’s 3 a.m.

“I was just checking one poll… now I’ve doomscrolled through three crises and two fake scandals.”

Borrowed from gaming, where NPCs are background characters running on scripts, it became an insult for people who seem to just repeat whatever their favorite news channel says. Calling someone an NPC basically says they have zero main-character energy and their opinions came pre-loaded. Usually thrown around in political arguments by people who are, ironically, also repeating stuff they saw online.

“Bro heard one speech from Senator Branold Dump and now he’s an NPC for life.”

Originally a Matrix reference about waking up to “the truth,” this got hijacked by edgy political corners of the internet. To be redpilled now usually means someone thinks they’ve seen through the lies of “the system” and suddenly everyone else is a sheep. Sometimes it’s just “I googled a thread and now I’m an expert,” sometimes it’s a full dive into weird ideological rabbit holes. Big “I’ve done my own research” energy.

“Ever since he found that forum, he’s fully redpilled and giving election speeches at brunch.”

Used when someone drops an opinion that’s unapologetically theirs, even if it sounds like it was cooked up in a conspiracy-flavored group chat. Sometimes it means “I actually agree,” sometimes it’s “wow, that’s wildly unfiltered but go off.” Online it bounced from hip-hop slang to political meme-speak, where people yell “based” at takes they think are brave, edgy, or just annoy the right enemies. It’s basically the opposite of playing it safe.

“He said both parties are clowns and nobody’s fixing anything.” “Lowkey based.”

A practice match between competitive teams. Basically esports sparring.

“We’ve got scrims tonight at 8.”

Purely cosmetic items that change nothing except your self-esteem and bank balance.

“Bought new skins… send help.”

The little sound or icon confirming you landed a shot. Your tiny dopamine treat.

“I swear I got a hitmarker…”

Reviving a teammate from death’s waiting room. High risk, high reward, high screaming.

“Rez me! I’m safe-ish!”

Area of Effect—attacks that hit multiple enemies at once. Great for clearing mobs, terrible for your GPU.

“Drop AOE spells now!”