An Iowa school is catching flak for having no “rizz.”
A teacher in a school district near the Nebraska border is being accused of banning the word short for charisma along with over two dozen slang words popular among Gen Alpha — kids born after 2009. The Fremont-Mills Community School District teacher wouldn’t be the first to ban slang. Many teachers nationwide have taken to social media detailing words they don’t allow in class.
But the fight over language at the school in Iowa reached a heated pitch when parents and a free speech group pushed back and accused the teacher of instituting a ban that violates students’ First Amendment rights. Parents and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to school administrators and said the teacher punished students who used the slang words with detention.
“Our concern is that this teacher is imposing a blanket ban on a long list of words, phrases and even references, including ordinary words like ‘Ohio’ and ‘chat,’ without regard to their context,” said Aaron Terr, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based nonprofit advocating for free speech. The word “Ohio” has come to mean something weird in the new student vernacular.
The group’s Dec. 10 letter to Kurt Hanna, principal of the secondary school, included a picture of a large paper sign it said was hanging in the teacher’s classroom titled “X BANNED WORDS X” with a handwritten list of about 30 words and topics students should not reference.
The words include “skibidi,” and “sigma.”Skibidi is a largely nonsense word that can mean cool or dumb, and Sigma often just means good or best, depending on the context. Topics include drugs and Nazis.
A classroom poster of banned words at Fremont-Mills Community School District was contested by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which argued that students’ free speech rights were being violated.
Officials at the rural school district explained in two emails to the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, that they were aware of the parents’ issue and that the poster was removed at the end of the school’s first quarter. Officials did not say why the poster was removed.
The sign was part of a civics classroom assignment that included “a list of words that could disrupt learning or negatively impact peers (that) was developed in collaboration with students,” according to a district statement last week.
“The grievance in question was previously addressed with the complainant but will be investigated further after more information was received this afternoon,” Hanna wrote in an email Dec. 10.
District officials did not specifically address whether the words had been banned and whether that ban was still in place.
Related: Did you just get mogged by a skibidi rizzler? Gen Alpha slang explained
Lawyer says ‘preemptively banning’ words violates students’ rights
In the free speech group’s letter to the school, Terr said the purported ban, including threats of 30-minute detentions, violated students’ freedom of speech.
“It is well-established that public school students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate,” Terr’s letter to Hanna states. “… While schools may restrict student speech in limited situations for limited purposes, in the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.’”
The letter alleges at least 10 students received detention for using words from the list.
Government employees preemptively “banning students from ever saying the word ‘Ohio’ or referring to Nazis or drugs in any way, is overreach, and it makes little sense in a social studies class where those may well be topics of discussion,” Terr told the Register in an interview.
School officials did not specifically address whether students received detention, but they defended maintaining classroom discipline.
“Students may also have consequences for speaking at a time when student discussion is not permitted,” officials wrote. “The level of consequence is based upon building or district level rules or policies and not determined by individual teachers.”
The statement added: “Our goal is not to censor or stifle student speech, but to guide students toward language that fosters a positive and inclusive learning environment.”
No ‘skibidi toilet’ here: Other classroom bans
Teachers nationwide are banning the same slang words listed on the Fremont-Mills’ sign.
They include common words that have been co-opted such as “Ohio” or variations of words, such as “rizz” for charisma.
Shifts in language can reflect news or social media events, such as references to the September arrest of rapper and businessman Sean “Diddy” Combs with slang such as “Diddy party,” or a viral social media sensation like “Skibidi Toilet” about a YouTube series following an army of toilets created by animator Alexey Gerasimov.
In an October 2024 TikTok video, teacher and content creator Hailey Bryant listed a number of words that she no longer allows to be said in her classroom.
“Words I have had to ban as a high school teacher: skibidi, fanum tax, fat, fluffy, gordo … mewing, not the word, the action,” Bryant said in the video. “… anything that ends with ‘ookie.’ Grande, Diddy. There’s probably 10,000 more. That’s all I can think of.”
In March, educator and content creator Angela Santalo also put out a video of “forbidden” classroom words.
She started off with the show “Skibidi Toilet.”
“‘Skibidi Toilet,’ ‘Skibidi Toilet.’ No, we’re done,” she said.
Students who do not follow the rules could face discipline, she said.
Creating an actual list of banned words is probably not considered a best practice, but it is understandable why a teacher might choose to post one, said Mandi Jung, a Minnesota middle school teacher and education content creator known online as Sabocat Teacher.
Mandi Jung
In her videos, Jung sometimes talks about how she avoids saying certain words or phrases that might distract her students.
Teachers are under a lot of pressure in an era of changing state laws and a charged political climate, she said.
“We as teachers are expected to be perfect, do everything perfectly for everyone,” Jung said, “and we’re not given the support, the time, (and) the understanding that may come with the expectations.”
Related: An Iowa school suspended a student for wearing a T-shirt depicting a gun. Now she’s suing
What are those darn kids saying?
Here’s some of the more popular Alpha Gen slang:
Ate/eats: If you say someone “ate,” it means you are saying that they did something exceptionally well or deserving of praise, according to Keyhole. “Did you hear Charli XCX’s latest album? She ate.”
Aura points: “Aura points” refer to a lighthearted way of measuring coolness, based on a TikTok trend, according to Polygon. “Did you see her new shoes? She definitely just gained some aura points.”
Cap/No cap: To “cap” means to “lie, to boast, or to front,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (although this meaning hasn’t officially made it yet). “No cap” means you are being truthful or honest. “Joe said he didn’t take my food, but I think that’s cap.”
Drip: Drip means cool, stylish or fashionable clothing, according to Arizona State University. If someone is “dripped out,” it means they are dressed stylishly. “I just went to the mall and bought some new drip.”
Fanum tax: The act of stealing someone’s food without their permission. The origin comes from online comedy creator Fanum, who is a part of streamer and Youtuber Kai Cenat’s “influencer crew,” according to Business Insider. Fanum is known for jokingly taking other’s food and calling it a “tax.” “I took his fries when he wasn’t looking — he had to pay the Fanum tax.”
Goat: An acronym meaning “Greatest of all time.” LeBron James is the goat. He’s been goated since he was in Cleveland.
Gyatt/Gyat: Gyatt or gyat (Ge-yaht) is used to express strong excitement, surprise, or admiration, often in reference to seeing a large butt, according to Dictionary.com. It can also be used as a term by itself for a large butt.
Looksmaxxing: “Looksmaxxing” is an online movement dedicated to maximizing your physical appearance, often through a variety of techniques including improving your jawline, skincare and muscles, according to The BBC. “Riley’s been obsessed with looksmaxxing videos on TikTok lately.”
Mewing: Mewing is looksmaxxing technique aimed at improving your jawline by holding your tongue on the roof of your mouth, according to the BBC. Mewing comes from a controversial British orthodontist named John Mew. who developed a practice called “orthotropics.” According to the BBC, there is little evidence supporting its effectiveness. “Dude, are you seriously mewing right now? Are you looksmaxxing?”
Mog: To “mog” someone is to be significantly more attractive than them, and thereby lower their attractiveness in comparison, according to Vice News. “He mogged everyone else at the party with his drip.”
Ohio: No, they aren’t really talking about the Buckeye state. Unfortunately for Ohioans, “Ohio” has a slang meaning of strange, weird, cringe or dumb. The origin likely originates from a number of memes like “it’s all Ohio,” or “Can’t even X in Ohio” that circulated in online culture in the 2020s, according to Know Your Meme. “Did you see how she was dressed at school today? She’s so Ohio.”
Rizz: A shortening of the word “charisma,” used to state that someone has success in attracting romantic partners, according to Merriam-Webster. “He spent the entire party rizzing up the girls.”
Rizzler: A rizzler is someone who is successful at flirting with people, according to The New York Times.
Sigma: A “sigma” (based on the Greek alphabet) is a male who has overcome the hierarchy of “alpha” and “beta” males, often characterized by silent success, or someone who is a social outcast by choice and “plays by their own rules,” according to Know Your Meme. Colloquially, it can just mean good or best.
Skibidi (Skibidi Toilet): “Skibidi” refers to a series of surrealist videos popular on Youtube, which features an army of human-headed toilets fighting a war against another army of camera-headed men, according to Forbes. Skibidi as a slang word is largely meaningless and simply a reference to the video series.
Slay: If you “slay” something, it means you do it particularly well, according to Dictionary.com. “”Did you hear Charli XCX’s latest album? She’s slay.”
Stand on business: Standing on business (sometimes spelled ‘standing on bidness), means to take care of your responsibilities or put your money where your mouth is, according to USA TODAY. “I told you I was going to do that; I stand on business.”
What’s up brother? Saying “what’s up brother,” accompanied with raising your index finger upward, is a reference to the popular streamer Sketch, who uses the expression as a sort of catchphrase, according to USA TODAY.
Contributing, Michael Loria, USA TODAY; and Cole Behrens, USA TODAY Network.
Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa teacher accused of banning Gen Alpha slang like ‘Ohio’ and ‘rizz’
