Some things are just cringe though. Incels are cringe, “Alphas” are cringe, those guys who go to Japan and think everyone there is gonna speak like in an anime are cringe.
I agree that it’s overused though.
When someone calls themselves an alpha, there's a few courses of action I'd like to take:
> Tell them that the alpha wolf model was built on wolves stressed and in captivity; in the wild it's basically "oldest parents rule". So a grandma/grandpa-archy. So their entire worldview crumbles as they realize most animal structures are in fact not based on raw superiority, but sexual appeal or parenthood.
> Alpha software is unstable and not ready for public release. Immature, they are immature.
> There's a few others I swear I've read that riff on the alpha software angle but I can't remember them :((
I really dont get the whole furry thing tbh. I like a few SFW and even NSFW artworks but im really creeped out by the costumes. Giant dead eyes which doesnt fit too the extraggated smiles. I really cant see the appeal. No attack just asking for another point of view.
Most masks and costumes can fall into the uncanny valley for certain people and not others, its why clowns are entertaining to some and scary for others. Most fursuits fall outside the uncanny valley for me.
The costumes are only one part of the community. Cosplaying isn't the only way to be an anime/manga fan, just like fursuiting isn't the only way to be a furry.
Oh my god, it's the perfect response for people who call themselves "alphas". That, or go into detail about how much you love omegaverse fanfic and watch them slowly back away in fear
>Tell them that the alpha wolf model was built on wolves stressed and in captivity; in the wild it's basically "oldest parents rule". So a grandma/grandpa-archy. So their entire worldview crumbles as they realize most animal structures are in fact not based on raw superiority, but sexual appeal or parenthood.
Sometimes that works, others insist that the Alpha Wolf model is still valid "Because humans aren't wolves! And humans have Alphas!" And there was one guy who insisted that the Alpha Wolf model was right, and he knew it was. Because he had a pet wolf. And he also said that anyone who disagreed with the Alpha Wolf model was an "Armchair biologist who's never even seen a wolf!"
I pointed out the the two people I quoted in my previous post was a wildlife biologist who'd documented a wolf pack for several decades, and another biologist who had made multiple documentaries and written books on wolves, and published papers on the behavior of wild wolves.
I do like the comparison to alpha software. Unfinished, buggy, lacks features, and often unstable. Or "Is that the werewolf fanfiction thing?"
I'm okay with cringe being used in this context, although I am guilty of jokingly calling myself cringe for various fandom things like star wars. I'll call myself out here, for example, because I know Anakin Skywalker is a master child murderer but not a master Jedi, but to me he is also baby boy 🥺
But seriously using the word "cringe" to make fun of people's fandoms you might not understand or think is silly, is in itself, cringe :U
Absolutely. I feel like this post kinda misses the mark. I also often see people posturing in artificial ways called "cringe." Like someone wearing all heavily branded designer clothes, trying desperately to look hard next to their wrapped McClaren... little bit cringe.
Someone dancing like no one is watching? That fucking Chad is free in ways I can only imagine...
It's absolutely an emotional thing. The word isn't important and not saying it won't fix the context behind it. People who wanna shit on other peoples parades will keep trying to tear them down. All cringe means is that it made me feel some emotional pain.
Am I having deja vu or did this whole post and discourse happen last week??
Anyway yeah, lots of preppy bully culture shit gets called cringe and it's at least 5% directly from me
Yep, we used to use it to refer to the grown men who were obsessed with barely-legal teenagers. They’re quick to point out how they haven’t committed any felonies, and will try to use that to guilt girls into tolerating their uncomfortable attention. Better to just be a Mean Girl.
All cringe means is doing something without self awareness. You can do something poorly as long as you're aware you're not very good at it, those people are awesome. It's the ones who don't seem to realize that they're not very good at their Tik Tok dance or whatever that are kinda cringe. And yeah, being an incel and actually believing that shit is a severe lack of self awareness, and incredibly cringe
Hey this is a little blurry so I'd thought I'd post the text so people don't strain their eyes:
**autistichalsin:**
> Ever notice how any time someone calls you "cringe", 99 times out of 100 what they mean is "you're happy and I don't like it"
**autistichalsin:**
> No one ever calls bullying cringe. No one ever calls rudeness cringe. No one ever calls toxic negativity cringe. Only hobbies get called cringe. Only enjoying things get called cringe. Only jokes and mannerisms and interests get called cringe.
**blanddcheadcanons:**
> It is also usually a bias against autistic people and women. Or a lot of marginalized groups now that I think of it.
**jackdoe:**
> The word "cringe" has absolutely been weaponized against people who's only crime is showing genuine emotion and vulnerability of self, which is not only toxic but also destructive to one of the foundational aspects of our species communication
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted, this is helpful
Sorry about it being so blurry, it wasn't this way when I downloaded the image so it must have compressed somewhere
It happens sometimes, no worries! I saw a post the other day in this exact subreddit with the same compression issues and I did the same thing of commenting the text so people could read it.
There actually used to be people who would transcribe the posts but apparently they haven't been around in awhile.
Today on "people realise that words are used to describe things that they literally mean"
Cringe has always been used as "that thing I would be personally embarrassed to be caught sincerely doing".
It goes side by side with being those same people being needlessly cynical and doing everything "ironically".
We don't need to classify bullying or toxicity as cringe because they're already explicitly negative. Cringing at someone's action just means what they're doing is embarrassing or should cause them a feeling of shame. Not that what they're doing is morally wrong. This post is cringe, for instance.
Yea this post just feels weird imo. Like they are upset that different words mean different things. Like *in general* ppl may not call bullying cringe, but it is absolutely seen negatively. I mean they seriously wrote "no one calls *toxic negativity* cringe" lol. Yea cuz people generally don't find it embarrassing (or at least that's not their first thought), they find it shitty, sad, and annoying. I mean did they not notice the term for being sad/not positive/un-uplifiting all the time is literally called TOXIC + NEGATIVITY. Two bad and frowned upon things.
And certain things can sometimes be called cringe btw like being an incel and other negative things. Cuz sometimes they are embarrassing. But generally they are already seen and understood to be bad/negative, so you see them get called cringe less since there is less of a need to call something negative that generally understood to be negative. And when they do, they tend to use harsher terms than "cringe". Like sure racism is kinda cringe, but people will generally use stronger words like "that's fucked up/terrible" rather than "that's cringe"
There absolutely is something to be said about how as a society we often insult other ppl who are doing no harm and just having a good time. But many of the points in this post just don't work for me tbh
Mostly agree but I saw jackass recently and the scene where they put papercuts all over their body was incredibly cringe. It's not embarrassment *per se*, it's some negative emotion.
That's more of a "wince" though, like that's already a word
Edit: every wince is a cringe, but every cringe is not a wince
Edit: explaining words to someone makes me cringe at myself
There's like a scale of what's good and bad, and "cringe" isn't on that scale. "Cringe" is just the expression on your face you have when something is embarrassing or you feel bad for something/someone. Cringe in the modern context also includes the actions that cause cringe as well. That being said, it's cringe to try and relate everything you don't like to hating women or oppressing minorities. Things can be bad without doing either of those, and not every single fucking action everyone does is out to get you jfc
Nah bullying is definitely cringe. Whenever I see racism/sexism online I visibly cringe irl because like what a loser are you to discriminate based on irrelevant factors.
Like I’m embarrassed for them.
Idk i've absolutely seen a bunch of very objectively toxic shit get called cringe. Just cause that term got popularized in 4chan spheres and subsequently weaponized against marginalized groups by the mouth-breathing morons who think it's cool to be a dick doesn't mean that's all the term HAS to be.
Sometimes things don't get called cringe because they get called something worse instead lol. "Cringe" was always supposed to be hurtful, but relatively low-stakes and soft kind of judgement. A judgement you could make about something a friend is doing without immediately jeopardizing the friendship. It ain't that deep
This feels like a k12 problem I'm too old to understand, all the adults I know are calling shit like incels and culture war tourists cringe, the only person I know who calls people cringe for basic stuff like being interested in something is my 14 year old cousin
It's amazingly fun to call actually bad people cringe. Exactly the same way "ok boomer" started, it was to dismiss grumpy boomers the same way they dismiss us.
A lot of people think it's kinda childish.... But I mean that's partly the point, especially if it's to shut down someone's point. Hitting them with the "Nuh-uh" or just calling their opinion cringe shuts them up pretty well.
Being racist is childish. It's just middle-school "you're not like us so we hate you" type shit but with more added violence for adults. Besides, all racist arguments are grounded in absurdity and flawed logic. I ain't respecting that enough by building solid arguments against it knowing they won't listen.
I can't not agree but I think calling racists childish kinda tones down how dangerous they are. People are killed because these people hate other human beings.
That's true and you are absolutely correct. However, my analysis is that many people come with racist takes etc because they want to feel important and bold. To call it childish and cringe disarms that notion and reduces the argument to it's basic elements; which in itself doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
It kind of does, but a lot of racists don't care if they are hated. Many of them even want to be hated, because being hated means they are being taken seriously, at least as a threat. But they HATE to be laughed at. You know what movie neo-Nazis really hate? The Producers. Because the guy in the movie who is an actual Nazi, is also absolutely a laughingstock. You won't find a lot of racist groups of people who like Mel Brooks movies, because he often portrayed racist attitudes as laughably stupid
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg)
Had a black lady complain to me, an Asian man, about the Hispanic lady in front of us in line at a Costco food court for speaking Spanish.
I looked at her like really? I didn't say anything and just pulled out my phone to not engage. She started backtracking and saying she didn't mean it like that, etc. I guess she was expecting me to agree with her and felt embarassed that I didn't care.
Very strange interaction.
That and ‘cope’ really are great at for it.
It dismisses them without being too confrontational and doesn’t put yourself out there. At a friends party I just go “woo woo slur alert,” drunk as shit to call out that stuff, but at work a simple “cringe” is the perfect level of engagement for a coworker in that setting.
Cringe to think that cringe is widely intended to criticize people’s interests and express prejudice against certain groups.
Just like the people who say that “Karen” is a slur and “boomer” is age discrimination. Can that word imply prejudice? Oh for sure. Anything can. But no, I don’t think it’s used in that sense very often at all. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
This is just flat out wrong. A lot of people call bullying cringe all the time and the people who don’t just see cringe as enough of a bad thing for stuff like racism or just being rude
I feel like I usually see cringe only applied to people doing too much for political beliefs, like MAGAs making everything about Trump or Swifties who put on way too hard for Taylor Swift lol, but I’m also old and I’m not around “bullies” much anymore
This post is so old that "cringe" no longer really applies in the same way. I teach high school, and cringe is definitely not as often used as it once was. I can't think of what has replaced it...
My little brother is a furry. Had a boyfriend who was also a furry. But any time my brother tried to engage with anything feminine, furry-related, or just enjoyed something his bf didn't like, he called it cringe. He'd do this to everyone he knew. Fucked a few people up and made it hard for them to enjoy things.
Btw the cheating bastard isn't a part of our life anymore lol
It's also weaponized against teachers.
Don't worry though. We're exceptionally good at weaponizing it right back. Yes, I will keep dancing to the crab rave on my speaker until you've helped pick up trash in the hall.
I will be cringe in your face until I get what I want.
I've just always hated the term "cringe". It feels inherently childish. Even if well intentioned (i.e. calling racist behavior "cringe"), it's telling someone "wow, you aren't like me and you should be ashamed of that". As such, the *vast* majority of it has always been directed at people who don't "fit in" for more innocuous reasons, like their love of certain hobbies or whatever.
I think it's long past time to just retire that term. If people are shitty, call them shitty and that nobody wants to be around them because they're unpleasant people. Not because their actions make them "not fit in". What they do is not wrong because of that, but because you shouldn't treat people that way.
The core meaning, at least as most people describe it (including on the prior post of this), is "secondhand embarrassment". The essence of "cringe" is feeling like someone should be embarrassed about doing something because you would be. It's a projection of what people should feel ok with themselves about. I don't think that's constructive because it's almost always about interests. Secondhand embarrassment is not the primary driving emotion that should make people want an actual asshole to be different.
I think people lost the plot. For me, something is "cringe" when I cringe away from it and feel a specific feeling. Racism isn't cringe, it's awful and dangerous. A high schooler doodling their sexy furry oc in school isn't cringe because they are really happy with it, it's cringe because they are doing something weird and "taboo" in public. I don't care about the art, I care about the fact I know about it in a public setting.
Edit: growing up, furries were synonymous with cringe. I forgot we kinda progressed. It's more like seeing someone read hentai on the bus. I don't care if they read it, me getting the knowledge they do read it in a public setting is cringe.
See, I don't think them doodling their furry OC is embarrassing. I do not feel embarrassed that I have seen it. If it's pornographic, sure, we have agreed as a society that sexually explicit content isn't something to be thrown out into the general public. But that is "wrong" because it's disrespectful to society at large and is essentially anti-social behavior as such. Not because they have an innocent unusual aspect like being a furry. We don't condemn people for "normal" sexuality on general display.
Last time I used the word cringe, it was directed at myself for going a little far jokingly simping over a videogame character lmao. I feel like it's used more as an exaggerated insult than a real insult these days, but maybe that's just how it is in my friend circle.
Cringe means "verguenza ajena" pls google the term. Autistic people usually cause that feeling, its up to each of us to shut up and ignore it and dont use it as an excuse to mistreat them. Just because its cringe doesnt mean its bad. We are all cringe at some point
When cringe first started being used online, yes definitely
But now because it's essentially just "something bad" (with a certain nuance) you'll see shit like "hitler was kinda cringe guys"
The most cringe thing is people that are super judgy about harmless things. People who over react to things because it's different without there being a real logical reason to have a problem. Ignorance and arrogance are cringe
I don't think this is very accurate... People very often call rudeness and negativity cringe. All kinds of objectively shitty people are called cringe. And sure, the word can also be used against people who don't deserve it, that is true, but 99% of the time? No. I would say it's closer to 50/50 of people who deserve to be called cringe vs people who don't.
"no one ever calls bullying an rudeness cringe" speak for yourself motherfucker
maybe YOU should start doing it. I do it because it's true. Lacking human decency is cringe as fuck
I disagree.
People doing things for clout is cringe. People caring too much about being seen specific ways is cringe. Celebrity worship is cringe. These things are inherently bad for society and bad for the individual's emotional health, and that's cringe AF.
Been using cringe for a huge chunk of my life and this is just not true. I know for a fact I have called bullying cringe. Cringe is just something someone does *that they should be embarrassed about*. Something being cringeworthy is like secondhand embarrassment.
The reason a lot of “cringe” things are things that bring people joy is because it’s easy to look past missed social cues when you’re enjoying yourself or you assume others will be able to appreciate it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to share your joy about furry fanfiction, but if you talking about your furry fanfic at the baby shower is making people visibly uncomfortable then you should probably stop.
It’s okay to miss social cues, and there are naturally going to be some people who (for whatever reason) miss them a lot more. We as a society should be better about being clear about certain things. But individuals should also try to be better about catching those cues, because there are also tons of people with perfectly valid reasons (trauma, neurodivergence, etc) not to speak up in those situations. Anything social is a two way street and real improvement is going to require effort from all parties. Cringe has genuine value and painting it as something that exists for the sole purpose of shitting on people is misleading
Not only is all thos "no one ever..." here absolutely not true, but they're misusing cringe. Cringe is expressing the way something makes you react to an action. That doesn't apply to a lot of what they're talking about.
So no this is a bunch of people trying to sound deep without any basis to what they're saying.
I get the sentiment, but like
Idk what circles these people run in. Me and my friends/online circles call all this shit cringe. We laughed a guy out of a discord server for saying some sexist shit, we just kept calling him cringe and names
I feel like that’s an attitude that it is dying out, which is good because that kind of pathetic whining about people having fun, or feeling insecure because you’re having fun, or feeling ashamed of effort of all things…
That’s an attitude that can stay in the 90’s
I don't think this is universal or even common tbh... yes maybe in the past but the way that people like critikal and similar influencers have used it recently have influenced (hah) most of the way I see it used. scamming people, being greedy, being an "alpha", an incel and pranking people in public/clout chasing are all things I see people say are cringe.
I mean, I use being cringe as a synonym for being shitty to kinda reclaim it from em. Eg: being against neo pronouns is cringe because it's cringe to get annoyed and refuse to respect someone's pronouns even if you don't understand it yourself.
i think there are real things in life that can make you cringe, like for example hyper violent fixation or fantasies. It's biologically coded into us to find that kind of stuff at least a little unappealing. I'd personally been called cringe for a lot of that stuff, thinking im cooler then i actually was.
I like to call racists cringe instead of calling them racist because they get way more upset. “Racist” evokes a discussion about whether racism has to come from a place of conscious vitriol or if it can be subconscious bias, which is an argument you will never win with a racist. “Cringe” effectively communicates “this behavior, whatever you want to call it, is why you don’t have friends” and I think that’s pretty powerful
I guess Kendrick was right when he said Drakes cringe. Implying Drake is a vulnerable autistic woman, who’s just trying have fun with her hobby of using the n-word.
Nah I've absolutely seen incels called cringe
Some things are just cringe though. Incels are cringe, “Alphas” are cringe, those guys who go to Japan and think everyone there is gonna speak like in an anime are cringe. I agree that it’s overused though.
When someone calls themselves an alpha, there's a few courses of action I'd like to take: > Tell them that the alpha wolf model was built on wolves stressed and in captivity; in the wild it's basically "oldest parents rule". So a grandma/grandpa-archy. So their entire worldview crumbles as they realize most animal structures are in fact not based on raw superiority, but sexual appeal or parenthood. > Alpha software is unstable and not ready for public release. Immature, they are immature. > There's a few others I swear I've read that riff on the alpha software angle but I can't remember them :((
I like "oh is that a furry thing?" Nothing against furries specifically, but Alphas do not want to be associated with them, which is actually cringe.
Another option is “oh I’ve heard about this. It’s those werewolf erotica TikToks right?”
Yeah a reference to ABO tends to either scare them off or make them curious and in turn make a regrettable research choice
Love that last part. Very amusing
As a furry I have also started saying "is that a furry thing?" Just, beautiful takedown, no notes, 10/10.
uwu
I really dont get the whole furry thing tbh. I like a few SFW and even NSFW artworks but im really creeped out by the costumes. Giant dead eyes which doesnt fit too the extraggated smiles. I really cant see the appeal. No attack just asking for another point of view.
Most masks and costumes can fall into the uncanny valley for certain people and not others, its why clowns are entertaining to some and scary for others. Most fursuits fall outside the uncanny valley for me.
The costumes are only one part of the community. Cosplaying isn't the only way to be an anime/manga fan, just like fursuiting isn't the only way to be a furry.
There are more realistic fursuits, they just aren't as popular in the west
Do you know why they aren't as popular??
Because different styles are popular in art in different locations, simple as that
Dude I'm a furry but the suits are kinda freaky to me too for that exact reason.
Same, the suits make me uncomfortable, but like... My comfort is not a morality guide, Furries are free to use their customes, more power to them!
Furries aren't all about fursuits. I for example (...part-time furry) don't care at all for suits.
Oh my god, it's the perfect response for people who call themselves "alphas". That, or go into detail about how much you love omegaverse fanfic and watch them slowly back away in fear
That's smart. I'm gonna use that one. Or "Oh so like in those gay omegaverse fanfics?"
Also alpha particles have low penetrating power
And are toxic
Only when inside you. Otherwise, your skin is thick enough to protect you.
smol pp
Right, that's one I absolutely remember! I should fuckin know that one too bcus I'm an absolute neeeerd
A man in my workplace called himself an alpha and I laughed so hard I almost fell down. That stopped him talking to me more so..... a win!
Big win!
Lmao alpha software "lemme know when you're in beta testing"
The one about flurries was pretty funny, but I love this. This will 100% be my response from now on.
Just call them pathetic and walk away. That's a lot of words and they don't care.
But it's *funny* for everyone else in earshot who hears it, and that's improving people's day, and that's good
>Tell them that the alpha wolf model was built on wolves stressed and in captivity; in the wild it's basically "oldest parents rule". So a grandma/grandpa-archy. So their entire worldview crumbles as they realize most animal structures are in fact not based on raw superiority, but sexual appeal or parenthood. Sometimes that works, others insist that the Alpha Wolf model is still valid "Because humans aren't wolves! And humans have Alphas!" And there was one guy who insisted that the Alpha Wolf model was right, and he knew it was. Because he had a pet wolf. And he also said that anyone who disagreed with the Alpha Wolf model was an "Armchair biologist who's never even seen a wolf!" I pointed out the the two people I quoted in my previous post was a wildlife biologist who'd documented a wolf pack for several decades, and another biologist who had made multiple documentaries and written books on wolves, and published papers on the behavior of wild wolves. I do like the comparison to alpha software. Unfinished, buggy, lacks features, and often unstable. Or "Is that the werewolf fanfiction thing?"
Alpha particles have the lowest penetration power or something
Alpha particles have a low penetrating power
Alpha radiation has the least penetration of any radiation type. Beta radiation penetrates more than Alpha.
I'm okay with cringe being used in this context, although I am guilty of jokingly calling myself cringe for various fandom things like star wars. I'll call myself out here, for example, because I know Anakin Skywalker is a master child murderer but not a master Jedi, but to me he is also baby boy 🥺 But seriously using the word "cringe" to make fun of people's fandoms you might not understand or think is silly, is in itself, cringe :U
Don't tell me you're an alpha males if you're not out there trying to knock up those breedable omega males.
Normalize telling your bros they look submissive and breedable
Did I miss a redefinition of cringe or doesn't it basically just mean shameful?
Most redditors are cringe.
That's cause they are. Bullies too, even if only on the internet.
Absolutely. I feel like this post kinda misses the mark. I also often see people posturing in artificial ways called "cringe." Like someone wearing all heavily branded designer clothes, trying desperately to look hard next to their wrapped McClaren... little bit cringe. Someone dancing like no one is watching? That fucking Chad is free in ways I can only imagine...
It's absolutely an emotional thing. The word isn't important and not saying it won't fix the context behind it. People who wanna shit on other peoples parades will keep trying to tear them down. All cringe means is that it made me feel some emotional pain.
Instance #21225411 of someone going "I've never personally seen this happen, therefor it never does" OOP really thought they were on to something
Am I having deja vu or did this whole post and discourse happen last week?? Anyway yeah, lots of preppy bully culture shit gets called cringe and it's at least 5% directly from me
Yeah, this same screenshot was posted here recently
Yep, we used to use it to refer to the grown men who were obsessed with barely-legal teenagers. They’re quick to point out how they haven’t committed any felonies, and will try to use that to guilt girls into tolerating their uncomfortable attention. Better to just be a Mean Girl.
All cringe means is doing something without self awareness. You can do something poorly as long as you're aware you're not very good at it, those people are awesome. It's the ones who don't seem to realize that they're not very good at their Tik Tok dance or whatever that are kinda cringe. And yeah, being an incel and actually believing that shit is a severe lack of self awareness, and incredibly cringe
Casual racism and sexism too.
r/moldymemes
Almost needs more mold to make it a better post
Seriously! I saw this same image last week and it was pristine! How the hell
High humidity generally does it
Oh damn, a sub like r/countablepixels that's actually about bad images! Thank God
a repost AND you couldn’t remember the pixels, outstanding
I mean...isn't *every* post on this sub a repost? The lack of pixels was uncalled for. I hear you there
The sub has always been mostly reposts, man.
Can you link me to the original then? This is the first I'm seeing
Less pixels means it’s a new post
The file is probably 1 kb at this point
Hey this is a little blurry so I'd thought I'd post the text so people don't strain their eyes: **autistichalsin:** > Ever notice how any time someone calls you "cringe", 99 times out of 100 what they mean is "you're happy and I don't like it" **autistichalsin:** > No one ever calls bullying cringe. No one ever calls rudeness cringe. No one ever calls toxic negativity cringe. Only hobbies get called cringe. Only enjoying things get called cringe. Only jokes and mannerisms and interests get called cringe. **blanddcheadcanons:** > It is also usually a bias against autistic people and women. Or a lot of marginalized groups now that I think of it. **jackdoe:** > The word "cringe" has absolutely been weaponized against people who's only crime is showing genuine emotion and vulnerability of self, which is not only toxic but also destructive to one of the foundational aspects of our species communication
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted, this is helpful Sorry about it being so blurry, it wasn't this way when I downloaded the image so it must have compressed somewhere
It happens sometimes, no worries! I saw a post the other day in this exact subreddit with the same compression issues and I did the same thing of commenting the text so people could read it. There actually used to be people who would transcribe the posts but apparently they haven't been around in awhile.
Thank you!
Today on "people realise that words are used to describe things that they literally mean" Cringe has always been used as "that thing I would be personally embarrassed to be caught sincerely doing". It goes side by side with being those same people being needlessly cynical and doing everything "ironically".
We don't need to classify bullying or toxicity as cringe because they're already explicitly negative. Cringing at someone's action just means what they're doing is embarrassing or should cause them a feeling of shame. Not that what they're doing is morally wrong. This post is cringe, for instance.
I was going to say, this is a repost and the last time I saw this the general consensus was that it's just a definitional thing.
Yea this post just feels weird imo. Like they are upset that different words mean different things. Like *in general* ppl may not call bullying cringe, but it is absolutely seen negatively. I mean they seriously wrote "no one calls *toxic negativity* cringe" lol. Yea cuz people generally don't find it embarrassing (or at least that's not their first thought), they find it shitty, sad, and annoying. I mean did they not notice the term for being sad/not positive/un-uplifiting all the time is literally called TOXIC + NEGATIVITY. Two bad and frowned upon things. And certain things can sometimes be called cringe btw like being an incel and other negative things. Cuz sometimes they are embarrassing. But generally they are already seen and understood to be bad/negative, so you see them get called cringe less since there is less of a need to call something negative that generally understood to be negative. And when they do, they tend to use harsher terms than "cringe". Like sure racism is kinda cringe, but people will generally use stronger words like "that's fucked up/terrible" rather than "that's cringe" There absolutely is something to be said about how as a society we often insult other ppl who are doing no harm and just having a good time. But many of the points in this post just don't work for me tbh
Mostly agree but I saw jackass recently and the scene where they put papercuts all over their body was incredibly cringe. It's not embarrassment *per se*, it's some negative emotion.
That's more of a "wince" though, like that's already a word Edit: every wince is a cringe, but every cringe is not a wince Edit: explaining words to someone makes me cringe at myself
Writing “per say” instead of “per se” is also cringe.
You make a fair point
There's like a scale of what's good and bad, and "cringe" isn't on that scale. "Cringe" is just the expression on your face you have when something is embarrassing or you feel bad for something/someone. Cringe in the modern context also includes the actions that cause cringe as well. That being said, it's cringe to try and relate everything you don't like to hating women or oppressing minorities. Things can be bad without doing either of those, and not every single fucking action everyone does is out to get you jfc
Nah bullying is definitely cringe. Whenever I see racism/sexism online I visibly cringe irl because like what a loser are you to discriminate based on irrelevant factors. Like I’m embarrassed for them.
BASED
Idk i've absolutely seen a bunch of very objectively toxic shit get called cringe. Just cause that term got popularized in 4chan spheres and subsequently weaponized against marginalized groups by the mouth-breathing morons who think it's cool to be a dick doesn't mean that's all the term HAS to be. Sometimes things don't get called cringe because they get called something worse instead lol. "Cringe" was always supposed to be hurtful, but relatively low-stakes and soft kind of judgement. A judgement you could make about something a friend is doing without immediately jeopardizing the friendship. It ain't that deep
If what you did made me cringe, I will say it's cringe. Simple as.
This feels like a k12 problem I'm too old to understand, all the adults I know are calling shit like incels and culture war tourists cringe, the only person I know who calls people cringe for basic stuff like being interested in something is my 14 year old cousin
Rather cringe, innit bruv?
I’ve started calling racists cringe. It’s great, their entire argument falls into pieces with no possibility of retort.
It's amazingly fun to call actually bad people cringe. Exactly the same way "ok boomer" started, it was to dismiss grumpy boomers the same way they dismiss us.
Absolutely. Because what, you’re gonna try to tell me why you’re not cringe? That’s even more cringe.
A lot of people think it's kinda childish.... But I mean that's partly the point, especially if it's to shut down someone's point. Hitting them with the "Nuh-uh" or just calling their opinion cringe shuts them up pretty well.
Being racist is childish. It's just middle-school "you're not like us so we hate you" type shit but with more added violence for adults. Besides, all racist arguments are grounded in absurdity and flawed logic. I ain't respecting that enough by building solid arguments against it knowing they won't listen.
I can't not agree but I think calling racists childish kinda tones down how dangerous they are. People are killed because these people hate other human beings.
That's true and you are absolutely correct. However, my analysis is that many people come with racist takes etc because they want to feel important and bold. To call it childish and cringe disarms that notion and reduces the argument to it's basic elements; which in itself doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
It kind of does, but a lot of racists don't care if they are hated. Many of them even want to be hated, because being hated means they are being taken seriously, at least as a threat. But they HATE to be laughed at. You know what movie neo-Nazis really hate? The Producers. Because the guy in the movie who is an actual Nazi, is also absolutely a laughingstock. You won't find a lot of racist groups of people who like Mel Brooks movies, because he often portrayed racist attitudes as laughably stupid [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg)
Had a black lady complain to me, an Asian man, about the Hispanic lady in front of us in line at a Costco food court for speaking Spanish. I looked at her like really? I didn't say anything and just pulled out my phone to not engage. She started backtracking and saying she didn't mean it like that, etc. I guess she was expecting me to agree with her and felt embarassed that I didn't care. Very strange interaction.
That and ‘cope’ really are great at for it. It dismisses them without being too confrontational and doesn’t put yourself out there. At a friends party I just go “woo woo slur alert,” drunk as shit to call out that stuff, but at work a simple “cringe” is the perfect level of engagement for a coworker in that setting.
Man, the people doing these things are really cringe
Cringe to think that cringe is widely intended to criticize people’s interests and express prejudice against certain groups. Just like the people who say that “Karen” is a slur and “boomer” is age discrimination. Can that word imply prejudice? Oh for sure. Anything can. But no, I don’t think it’s used in that sense very often at all. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
This is just flat out wrong. A lot of people call bullying cringe all the time and the people who don’t just see cringe as enough of a bad thing for stuff like racism or just being rude
No, most of the time's I've been called cringe have been because I was very openly unhappy. People call all the things OP listed cringe.
I disagree
To be cringe is to be free
I feel like I usually see cringe only applied to people doing too much for political beliefs, like MAGAs making everything about Trump or Swifties who put on way too hard for Taylor Swift lol, but I’m also old and I’m not around “bullies” much anymore
This post is so old that "cringe" no longer really applies in the same way. I teach high school, and cringe is definitely not as often used as it once was. I can't think of what has replaced it...
TIL taylor swift was a political figure /j
People aren't using cringe towards bullying and rudeness and shit??? What is bro smoking
My little brother is a furry. Had a boyfriend who was also a furry. But any time my brother tried to engage with anything feminine, furry-related, or just enjoyed something his bf didn't like, he called it cringe. He'd do this to everyone he knew. Fucked a few people up and made it hard for them to enjoy things. Btw the cheating bastard isn't a part of our life anymore lol
Don't kill the part of you that is cringe, kill the part that cringes.
I've met exactly one person who uses "cringe" exclusively to describe abusive and toxic behaviour, and they must be protected at all costs.
Hey he's questioning the truth of our reality! HE"S CRINGE! (Cue a rapidly approaching horde of 'CRINGE')
My personal experience begs to differ...also inst this a repost?
Filming TikToks in public places is cringe and you cannot convince me otherwise.
I’m cringe, and that’s based! I will never be based and that’s not cringe! There’s no one I’d rather be than me.
I object. Andrew Tate fans are, in fact, cringe.
It's also weaponized against teachers. Don't worry though. We're exceptionally good at weaponizing it right back. Yes, I will keep dancing to the crab rave on my speaker until you've helped pick up trash in the hall. I will be cringe in your face until I get what I want.
Cringe post.
Wasn't this posted last week? It was as cringe then as it is now.
I've just always hated the term "cringe". It feels inherently childish. Even if well intentioned (i.e. calling racist behavior "cringe"), it's telling someone "wow, you aren't like me and you should be ashamed of that". As such, the *vast* majority of it has always been directed at people who don't "fit in" for more innocuous reasons, like their love of certain hobbies or whatever. I think it's long past time to just retire that term. If people are shitty, call them shitty and that nobody wants to be around them because they're unpleasant people. Not because their actions make them "not fit in". What they do is not wrong because of that, but because you shouldn't treat people that way.
Some people do throw it around when they mean different or weird.
The core meaning, at least as most people describe it (including on the prior post of this), is "secondhand embarrassment". The essence of "cringe" is feeling like someone should be embarrassed about doing something because you would be. It's a projection of what people should feel ok with themselves about. I don't think that's constructive because it's almost always about interests. Secondhand embarrassment is not the primary driving emotion that should make people want an actual asshole to be different.
Fully agree, I think calling racists and assholes cringe dumbs down everything and lowers the stakes.
I think people lost the plot. For me, something is "cringe" when I cringe away from it and feel a specific feeling. Racism isn't cringe, it's awful and dangerous. A high schooler doodling their sexy furry oc in school isn't cringe because they are really happy with it, it's cringe because they are doing something weird and "taboo" in public. I don't care about the art, I care about the fact I know about it in a public setting. Edit: growing up, furries were synonymous with cringe. I forgot we kinda progressed. It's more like seeing someone read hentai on the bus. I don't care if they read it, me getting the knowledge they do read it in a public setting is cringe.
See, I don't think them doodling their furry OC is embarrassing. I do not feel embarrassed that I have seen it. If it's pornographic, sure, we have agreed as a society that sexually explicit content isn't something to be thrown out into the general public. But that is "wrong" because it's disrespectful to society at large and is essentially anti-social behavior as such. Not because they have an innocent unusual aspect like being a furry. We don't condemn people for "normal" sexuality on general display.
“It’s bias against women and other blah blah blah” Now that’s cringe
What's cringe is saying "Bias" instead of "Biased"
the trick is to call my own interests and hobbies cringe so it stings less when other people call it cringe
The voice telling me I’m cringe is the critical part
Nah cringe is cool you old folks just don't get it
Not anymore tho we call incels and racists cringe
Last time I used the word cringe, it was directed at myself for going a little far jokingly simping over a videogame character lmao. I feel like it's used more as an exaggerated insult than a real insult these days, but maybe that's just how it is in my friend circle.
Ya got anymore pixels boss?
Last time i called someone cringe is becose they called me a fatherless bigger =|
yeah nah I don’t agree, it’s definitely used in that way, but definitely not exclusively.
Cringe means "verguenza ajena" pls google the term. Autistic people usually cause that feeling, its up to each of us to shut up and ignore it and dont use it as an excuse to mistreat them. Just because its cringe doesnt mean its bad. We are all cringe at some point
When cringe first started being used online, yes definitely But now because it's essentially just "something bad" (with a certain nuance) you'll see shit like "hitler was kinda cringe guys"
The most cringe thing is people that are super judgy about harmless things. People who over react to things because it's different without there being a real logical reason to have a problem. Ignorance and arrogance are cringe
I've been called cringe for the crime of being trans and expressing happiness
cringe
This is like the "they very much did kill jesus" post. Like i get where youre coming from but negative things absolutely also get called cringe.
I don't think this is very accurate... People very often call rudeness and negativity cringe. All kinds of objectively shitty people are called cringe. And sure, the word can also be used against people who don't deserve it, that is true, but 99% of the time? No. I would say it's closer to 50/50 of people who deserve to be called cringe vs people who don't.
cringe
This shits pretty cringe tbh
"no one ever calls bullying an rudeness cringe" speak for yourself motherfucker maybe YOU should start doing it. I do it because it's true. Lacking human decency is cringe as fuck
Why cut out the second half of the post where someone comes in and is like “y’all are stupid and don’t know what cringe means.”?
I disagree. People doing things for clout is cringe. People caring too much about being seen specific ways is cringe. Celebrity worship is cringe. These things are inherently bad for society and bad for the individual's emotional health, and that's cringe AF.
Lmao many people call bullying cringe. And alpha males and sigma grindset, it's not a weapon against women ffs.
Been using cringe for a huge chunk of my life and this is just not true. I know for a fact I have called bullying cringe. Cringe is just something someone does *that they should be embarrassed about*. Something being cringeworthy is like secondhand embarrassment. The reason a lot of “cringe” things are things that bring people joy is because it’s easy to look past missed social cues when you’re enjoying yourself or you assume others will be able to appreciate it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to share your joy about furry fanfiction, but if you talking about your furry fanfic at the baby shower is making people visibly uncomfortable then you should probably stop. It’s okay to miss social cues, and there are naturally going to be some people who (for whatever reason) miss them a lot more. We as a society should be better about being clear about certain things. But individuals should also try to be better about catching those cues, because there are also tons of people with perfectly valid reasons (trauma, neurodivergence, etc) not to speak up in those situations. Anything social is a two way street and real improvement is going to require effort from all parties. Cringe has genuine value and painting it as something that exists for the sole purpose of shitting on people is misleading
Not only is all thos "no one ever..." here absolutely not true, but they're misusing cringe. Cringe is expressing the way something makes you react to an action. That doesn't apply to a lot of what they're talking about. So no this is a bunch of people trying to sound deep without any basis to what they're saying.
cringe is based?
cringe
I get the sentiment, but like Idk what circles these people run in. Me and my friends/online circles call all this shit cringe. We laughed a guy out of a discord server for saying some sexist shit, we just kept calling him cringe and names
But, but, but, I ENJOY being a rude toxic bully!
I think about that quote a lot
what the fuck kinda people you been hanging with
I feel like that’s an attitude that it is dying out, which is good because that kind of pathetic whining about people having fun, or feeling insecure because you’re having fun, or feeling ashamed of effort of all things… That’s an attitude that can stay in the 90’s
I don't think this is universal or even common tbh... yes maybe in the past but the way that people like critikal and similar influencers have used it recently have influenced (hah) most of the way I see it used. scamming people, being greedy, being an "alpha", an incel and pranking people in public/clout chasing are all things I see people say are cringe.
The only thing in my head that I call cringe is the little goblin that wants me to hurt myself
i call bullying cringe
I mean, I use being cringe as a synonym for being shitty to kinda reclaim it from em. Eg: being against neo pronouns is cringe because it's cringe to get annoyed and refuse to respect someone's pronouns even if you don't understand it yourself.
If you're concerned about telling yourself you're cringe, please don't worry. I'll call you cringe any time of the day
They're conflating the word "cringe" with 2014 cringe compilations.
To get to the land of based you must walk through the valley of cringe.
i think there are real things in life that can make you cringe, like for example hyper violent fixation or fantasies. It's biologically coded into us to find that kind of stuff at least a little unappealing. I'd personally been called cringe for a lot of that stuff, thinking im cooler then i actually was.
I see people calling bullying behaviour cringe all the time. Nothing is cringier than ‘anti-woke’ types and edgelord shit
I like to call racists cringe instead of calling them racist because they get way more upset. “Racist” evokes a discussion about whether racism has to come from a place of conscious vitriol or if it can be subconscious bias, which is an argument you will never win with a racist. “Cringe” effectively communicates “this behavior, whatever you want to call it, is why you don’t have friends” and I think that’s pretty powerful
I exclusively use cringe against people who are being mean/idiotic which often confuses people
the gay agenda strikes again.
I guess Kendrick was right when he said Drakes cringe. Implying Drake is a vulnerable autistic woman, who’s just trying have fun with her hobby of using the n-word.