Crashing out: how gen Z adopted the perfect term for our unstable era
Name: Crashing out.
Age: Psychologically ancient, lexically new.
Appearance: Emotional.
What do you mean by lexically new? The latest edition of the journal American Speech has recognised the term 'crash out' and it was runner-up for the publication's 2024 word of the year, losing out to 'rawdog'.
'Crash out' is two words. Don't start with me, seriously.
What does it mean? To the TikTok generation, to crash out is to become suddenly, uncontrollably angry or distressed.
As opposed to fall asleep really quickly or exit a tennis tournament early? This sense of crashing out originated as a slang term in African American Vernacular English and may be more than a decade old.
But it's become better known recently thanks to TikTok? Correct. The young people of today, overwhelmed by stress and emotionally impaired by their social media addictions, are finding themselves prone to visceral outbursts.
Are they now? You really don't want to take that tone with me today.
Sorry, carry on. The widespread nature of this phenomenon among gen Z has in turn popularised the expression. 'I like that there's a term for it now,' one 24-year-old social media user told the New York Times.
There was always a term for it. Don't say 'hissy fit', because it's not the same thing.
I wasn't going to say that. It's also true that similar outbursts were once covered by the term 'meltdown' – the emotional equivalent of a collapsing nuclear reactor core – but crashing out is more nuanced.
I wasn't going to say meltdown, either. Perhaps you're from the era when such behaviour was known as 'acting out', suggesting a performative element to the outburst.
Actually, I was going to say 'conniption'. That really does date you. To about 1833.
I suppose crashing out isn't as full blown as having a conniption. It depends – the definition has stretched to include everything from a momentary loss of composure to a mental breakdown.
However you label it, it's all just 'losing it', isn't it? I'm going to do some breathing exercises now.
Is that a preventive measure to avoid crashing out? One of them. Others include self-soothing – calming some or all of your senses – and taking a break from social media.
So one of the cures for a condition popularised by TikTok is … getting off TikTok? Inevitably, yes.
Do say: 'Regulating stress levels is central to maintaining an emotional balance.'
Don't say: 'Don't worry, you're just having what is technically known as a tantrum.'
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