The last week of summer 2025 was marked by more number-based slang, a movie blockbuster that you may not have heard of, and a viral video that brought the entire world together to say, “give that kid that hat!”
What is KPop Demon Hunters?
KPop Demon Hunters is an animated film from Sony that started streaming on Netflix in late June. It quickly became the most-watched original animated film on the platform, and by August, it was the most-watched film on Netflix ever, surpassing 236 million views. KPop Demon Hunters is so popular, Netflix rushed a “sing-along” version into actual theaters. It opened on Aug. 23, on 1,700 screens, and, despite its audience largely already having seen the movie, it took first place at the box office, and grossed around $20 million. All without you and I ever having heard of it.
The film itself is a musical in which a K-pop girl group called Huntr/x fight demons by night while selling out stadiums by…night, also. Critical praise for KPop Demon Hunters is nearly universal, with critics praising its catchy songs, quality animation, positive message, and its energetic pace.
What (and why) is 2016 nostalgia?
There are over a million videos on TikTok tagged “#2016.” Some of them, no doubt, were shot in that bygone age, but most of them are nostalgia videos, meant to re-create the unique vibe and look of nine year ago. Remember? Everyone was excited about the presidential election, we all had fidget spinners, and we were all listening to that golden oldie “Hello” by Adele? Oh, and everything apparently looked like this:
The 2016 aesthetic is achieved through a TikTok filter, but the popularity needs more explanation. 2016 was only nine years ago.
“Steve, didn’t nine years ago just happen, like three years ago?” you may be asking. Maybe to you. And to you everything is about the same as it was then. But if you’re 18 years old, 2016 was half a lifetime ago. 2016 nostalgia isn’t really about the style or cultural difference between then and now; it’s a more of a personal kind of nostalgia, where young people are remembering who they were “back then,” not what the world was like. In any case, nostalgia cycles are getting smaller and smaller, in a shrinking recursive cycle. I can only assume it will catch up to itself soon and everyone will start being nostalgic for the present.
What is a Mason 67 Kid?
There is a new genre of male out there, and his name is Mason.
Last week, I defined Gen Alpha’s favorite slang term, “6-7” by pointing out that it doesn’t mean anything, but it does identify the person who says it as a certain kind of person. Culture watchers online have identified that person, stereotyped him, and named him Mason 67 Kid.
A Mason 67 Kid is a white, suburban Gen Alpha boy who plays baseball, rocks a fluffy “ice cream” haircut, and says “6-7” a lot. His sunglasses are Pit Vipers. He wears Yeezy slides. His polyester-as-hell ice cream shorts can be purchased at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
The name comes from this video that first identified the trend:
Others quickly latched on. Here’s a Mason:
And an AI Mason:
There are a million more Masons at the hashtag.
This is the first stereotype of Generation Alpha—children under 15—I’ve seen, and it will be interesting to see if it sticks. In a way, it’s just “white kid” and doesn’t say anything at all about anything. Just like 6-7.
What does “41” mean?
Since we’re doing number-based slang that only Gen Alpha says, have you heard of “41” yet? The number 41 is mostly a response to the whole 6-7 thing. Its origin is Blizzi Boi’s “41 Song (Yung Smiley Saks! Remix),” which you can see here:
In the (terrible) song, Blizzi Boi raps about how he is 41 years old and has 41 goals or maybe 41 gold. It’s a bad song, and Blizzie Boi should know better at his age, but apparently the kids like it, because they started saying “41” a lot. Like 6-7, you say it in answer to any question that calls for a number. “What time is it? 41!” So far, 41 is only a fraction as popular as “6-7,”, but maybe there are enough children looking for a new number to say that it will overtake the original.
In the future, look for 59 to gain popularity, or maybe 12.
What does “chopped” mean?
In young people slang, “chopped” is not the past tense of “chop.” It means “ugly” and is often applied to someone’s face or outfit, but anything that isn’t aesthetically pleasing could be referred to as “chopped,” as could anything that is generally not good, like an awkward situation.
(For more slang terms from generations Z and Alpha, check out my glossary of young people slang.)
Viral video of the week: Polish CEO snatches cap from young fan at US Open
Bet you’ve already seen this week’s viral video, but if you haven’t, it’s a clip of the crowd at the US Open, and captures the moment when tennis player Kamil Majchrzak tried to give his hat to a young fan, only for it to be snatched out of the kid’s hand by Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek.
This clip has spread everywhere because it contains all the ingredients of a perfect 2025 meme:
The kid looks like a tennis version of Mason 67.
Everyone already suspects CEO’s would steal candy from a baby, and here’s proof.
Self-righteousness is a powerful emotion.
You just knew it was going to ruin this CEO’s life, and it totally did! (Here’s his apology.)
It also typifies 2025 internet culture in that I could not find the original clip anywhere. Instead, I found thousands of viral reaction posts, commentary videos, and frame-by-frame breakdowns, all of which are trying to grab some of that attention, and all of which are unnecessary. We all had the same reaction. What commentary can you offer on this? No one needs to break down this video because we can see it for ourselves. Content-about-content is a plague on the land, a cycle as recursive as nostalgia for 2016, an entire culture becoming a snake eating its own tail.
