Kids Are Saying 'Clock It' And It's Got Nothing To Do With Telling The Time

Hot off the heels of “six-seven” and kids calling everything “chat”. This week we’re asking: WTF does “clock it” mean?Kids are saying it more and more, and adults everywhere are (yet again) confused by what it actually means – we’re not the only ones, even some Gen Alphas are baffled. TikTok creator and teacher Philip Lindsay, who is known for translating these viral phrases to befuddled parents and teachers everywhere, is also stumped. “I cannot get a solid definition or origin for this word,” he said in a recent YouTube short. “From what I can figure out it’s actually not a very new phrase, and there doesn’t seem to be just one definition of it.”Some kids are using “clock it” and then tapping their middle finger to their thumb. So I think it’s fair to say it’s got nothing to do with telling the time. “This word is huge right now among teenagers – it’s been trending for quite a while but it’s really starting to uptick in its usage,” said Mr Lindsay.He linked its popularity to a Justin Bieber meme which originates from a viral clip of the singer from this year angrily telling paparazzi, “It’s not clocking to you right now that I’m standing on business, is it?”.Mostly though, young people seem to be using it as a sassy and subtle way to call someone out – especially when used alongside the hand gesture. Some people might even say, “I clocked that tea”, which is kind of like saying you’ve exposed or called out the truth.The hand gesture itself has actually been around for a while. Dancer and ballroom performer Dashaun Wesley said in a TikTok video: “I’ve been seeing people saying this [*does hand gesture*] is ‘clock that tea’. Come on, you all know this has derived from the ballroom culture ... It’s a ballroom community thing. We’re showing the love.”In this context, it’s used almost like clapping or showing praise for something. This tracks with what Mr Lindsay is hearing from kids. He said he’d heard it used as a compliment. “Say you walk in and you’re wearing something nice. Somebody notices, they’re like ‘Oo clock it’ [with the hand gesture].”Parents.com noted that “clock it” also has roots in drag and ballroom culture, “where ‘to clock’ someone meant to notice something about them that might not be immediately obvious, especially something they were trying to hide”.“Thanks to reality shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and its prominence on social platforms, it filtered into Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s vocabulary,” the site added.Mr Lindsay has also heard the phrase used when teens “want to acknowledge something that somebody said, or you want them to acknowledge something you’ve said, like ‘clock this’”.And it’s also been used in the context of when people get in a disagreement – so, if two people are arguing and one of them loses, that person “got clocked” or “clocked it”.Whew, I need a nap.Related...Kids Keep Saying 'Six-Seven' And Nobody Seems To Know What It MeansKids Keep Saying 'Chat' And It's (Probably) Not What You Think It MeansUK Porn Age Verification Is Here – But What If We’re Sending Teens Somewhere Worse?

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