Taking to TikTok to share his thoughts on the matter, Adam (@etymologynerd) revealed that the colloquial word 'slay' appears to be declining in popularity,

Aleksic, who has a degree in linguistics from Harvard University, explains that "slay is starting to fall out of fashion" because it's become so widely used and has "lost that exclusivity" it once had.

But fret not, for there's a new term that will be gracing our lips soon.

Studying viral search terms, Adam predicts we'll be hearing a lot more of the term - 'I'm gagged' - a phrase that has become popular in the queer community, who were looking to replace 'slay' once it went mainstream.

He shows us that "gagged" is currently "trending in the gay community," which was also how "slay" started in early 2022, and he predicted it was only a matter of weeks before people stopped using "slay", and instead started saying "I'm gagged" to convey shock or excitement.

'If we know anything about how language spreads on social media, it's that straight white girl adopt what gay and Black people are saying, and then everyone else adopts what straight white girls are saying,' he explains.

'That's exactly what happened with the words "slay," "serve," "tea," and "mother."

This pattern is nothing new according to Adam. "We're in a never-ending cycle of marginalized groups creating slang… to build community and shared identity, and then other people taking that slang to capitalize on its perceived coolness".